OPERATING ROOM The
EarlySense All-in-One System
data; and a central display unit at the nurses’ station that presents real-time information on up to 40 patients at a time and transmits information and alerts to handheld devices. “With The EarlySense Sys-
tem, the alarm frequency in a typical 12 hour shift will only be two or three alarms,
compared to the hundreds of alarms per shift experienced when using devices such as telemetry and oximetry, which were initially intended for the acute care environment,” explains O’Malley. “This allows nurses to respond to the pertinent needs of patients, instead of checking in routinely due to the sound of an often unwarranted alarm.”
Tracking your most important asset “Patients, while being the most important hospital asset, are notori- ously the most difficult to track,” said Ari Naim, CEO of CenTrak. “The technology exists today to help monitor where a patient is at all times, how long they have been there, and where they are mov- ing. This can help increase response times, optimize patient flow and enhance patient safety if they wander into restricted areas.” According to Naim, use of Real-Time Locating Systems (RTLS) for monitoring patients, via active-RFID, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and other technologies, is increasingly recognized as a piv- otal component to improving patient satisfaction and maximizing reimbursement. A RTLS solution can provide a hospital visibility into which patients have checked-in, how long they have been waiting, as well as their current status and location. He points out how greater visibility in this area helps hospitals meet patient needs in a timely manner, improving the patient experience and, in turn, Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Provid- ers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores. Centrak’s RTLS solution integrates with a hospital’s EHR so that the movements of each patient — from entry/hospital admittance, to their progress and treatments administered
greater physical interaction with monitors. As a result, er- gonomics is a higher priority.” GCX, which develops medi- cal device mounting solu- tions, recently introduced two
The VHM-PL medical-grade, adjustable arm
new adjustable arms, the VHM-P and VHM-PL, to make it easier for hospitals to manage the myriad medical equipment cables in patient rooms. The medical-grade arms feature seamless, unibody construction, can accommodate up to eight cables, conceal approximately 80 percent of cabling, facilitate one-handed positioning and provide swivel/tilt and pivot-tension adjustments and parallel linkage for consistent viewing angle. The VHM-P and VHM-PL also offer durability and ease of cleaning to fight the spread of infection, and are designed to allow easy removal/replacement of covers. Additionally, the VHM-PL locking version provides quick and safe vertical repositioning of the mounted device without interrupting workflow.
“As monitoring and electronic health records converge, there are
a variety of possible bedside workstation configurations that com- bine monitoring and IT hardware such as additional screens and keyboards,” added Daugbjerg. “Such a workstation may also need to be reconfigured as the hospital’s approach evolves. GCX’s modu- lar design and flexibility accommodate this variety of needs and facilitates technology updates. The mounting hardware can often be upgraded or reconfigured down the road rather than replaced.”
Accessing patients remotely
As the healthcare industry seeks out ways to care for more patients in an effective and affordable manner, the use of telemedicine has rapidly expanded. According to the American Telemedicine As- sociation (ATA), nearly 1 million Americans are currently using remote cardiac monitors, and over half of all U.S. hospitals now use some form of telemedicine.3
CenTrak’s 31-day disposable patient tag
within ancillary departments, up until their departure — are au- tomatically updated in the EHR and time-stamped for hands-free documentation. Hospitals can also use this integrated solution to record patient-provider interactions, as well as associated equipment to provide hospital administrators with contact-tracing information should there be an infectious outbreak.
Managing multiple monitoring solutions As patient monitoring technology evolves and expands, healthcare facilities must find ways to manage all of the various solutions they use at a patient’s bedside. Numerous monitors and their associ- ated stands and cables can cause clutter if not well managed, and potentially interfere with the delivery of care. GCX Vice President of Sales and Product Development Cris Daugbjerg points out how patient monitors are becoming even more critical to data and deci- sion support as they are integrated with EHRs and other technology systems. Healthcare facilities must carefully consider where and how monitoring solutions are positioned in a room so that clinicians can more easily access and interact with them.
“A patient monitor is no longer just a static device placed on a wall for viewing,” said Daugbjerg. “Today, caregivers must have
20 May 2016 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS •
hpnonline.com
During late November and December 2015, REACH Health conducted its 2016 U.S. Telemedicine Industry Benchmark Sur- vey among 390 healthcare executives, physicians, nurses and other professionals throughout the United States. Roughly two-thirds of respondents indicated that telemedicine was the top priority or one of the highest priorities for their healthcare organization – a 10 percent increase from the 2015 survey results.4 “Telemedicine decision-making is rapidly moving from individual departments and specialties to an enterprise initiative,” said Steve McGraw, President and CEO of REACH Health. “Both hospitals and health systems reported significant increases in the average number of telemedicine service lines which are active or being implemented in concert.”
McGraw further noted that the top three telemedicine program objectives identified by survey participants all related to patient ben- efits: improving patient outcomes, improving patient convenience, and increasing patient engagement and satisfaction. The fourth most common objective was providing rural or remote patients access to specialists. HPN
References:
1. Obamacare’s Killer Burden on Nurses, TIME Magazine,
http://time.com/88535/obamacares-killer- burden-on-nurses. 2. Alarm Fatigue: A Patient Safety Concern,
http://www.aacn.org/WD/CETests/Media/ACC3342.pdf.
3. Telemedicine Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), American Telemedicine Association (ATA), http://
www.americantelemed.org/about-telemedicine/faqs#.VvlYose7a98.
4. 2016 U.S. Telemedicine Industry Benchmark Survey Report, REACH Health,
http://reachhealth.com/ resources/telemedicine-industry-survey.
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