The Key Challenges for RCH It's no secret that clinicians are hard to track down. They increasingly rely on wireless technology to receive information and make decisions, big and small, about patient health. Often doctors and nurses cannot respond immediately to current communication tools, such as overhead paging, while they are attending to their patients. Similarly, it can take time to locate people to answer phones or pagers. RCH was no exception. Staff wanted to be able to reach the right people, and have the right information at the right time. They were unsure of how to go from a paper-based hospital to a stateof- the-art world-class, children's hospital. The Solutions After a visit to the CISCO research labs in the U.S, RCH came across IBM's Mobility Solutions and Vocera. The Vocera Solution for Healthcare from IBM enables instant wireless voice communication that users can control with naturally spoken commands. So, instead of responding to pagers or 'phone calls, a clinician can use the Vocera Communications Badge that operates with simple voice commands such as "Call Dr. Smith" or "Call pharmacy". The voice prompt instantly connects staff to the people they need, thereby reducing phone tag, overhead paging, or the need to physically search for a person. What's more, Vocera not only allows hospital staff to communicate instantaneously on campus, it also enables calls to and from traditional phone and mobile networks. The Benefits After Vocera was implemented RCH identified immediate benefits: - Clinicians can be contacted while they attend to patients
- Patient information can be received at the bedside
- Increased staff satisfaction among those using Vocera
- Ease of equipment and record location
|
