July 23, 2004 04:06 PM
A hospital with wireless PDAS
This should be a model for other hospitals. Check out the article published today:
St. Francis recognized as leader in wireless technology
By Mike Bockoven
michael.bockoven@theindependent.com
Publication Date: 07/23/04
The implementation of a wireless network at St. Francis Medical Center has been roughly a decade in the making. Vaughn Minton said the hospital is at a point now where people are beginning to notice.
St. Francis was recently named one of the 25 Most Improved hospitals for wireless technology by Hospital and Health Networks, the journal of the American Hospital Association. The distinction, which was drawn from national surveys of hospitals across the country, is an achievement, Minton said, but not by any means a goal.
"The whole point of doing all this is so we can make better decisions," Minton said. "It's more than keeping up with technology. We've installed a majority of applications in the name of patient safety and having more information to make better decisions."
St. Francis has a system through which nurses at a patient's bedside collect most of their information on a personal digital assistant (PDA), and the information is then fed into a network. Minton said 80 percent of all paperwork relating to patients is now done electronically because of the system.
While the system has been around for a number of years and no one innovation brought the hospital to the attention of the journal, Minton said the technology has vastly changed certain aspects of hospital business. For example, most billing is now done electronically, and health information for a patient can be accessed and cross-referenced far more easily.
The hospital also has plans for a bar code system on all medications to be implemented in August, increasing patient safety. The hospital currently has such a system for dispensing pain-control medication.
According to Hospital and Health Networks, St. Francis is in good company. Analysis from its survey this year shows 90 percent of the Most Wired hospitals provide access to medical records online, 8 percent offer access to medical histories, 88 percent offer online access to patient demographics, and 69 percent offer online access to nurses' notes for appropriate personnel.
"These hospitals realize the power of the electronic medical record to improve quality, safety and the patient experience," Alden Solovy, executive director of the journal, said in a written statement.
While the wireless aspect of the hospital has grown and continues to grow, Minton said, St. Francis had to be careful about how fast it implemented new technology. Specifically, it can be difficult for a hospital the size of St. Francis to have the support staff necessary to prevent significant "downtime," or a span of time when the wireless technology is not working.
The solution, he said, was to implement technology at an acceptable speed and to focus on providing support on a constant basis.
There are other pieces of technology that the hospital is also excited about, Minton said. In particular, the hospital's Web site, located at www.saintfrancisgi.org, has a lot of potential as a tool for the future.
"We have put a lot of emphasis on our Web site," he said. "From what I've observed, it's been very effective and helpful for patients and staff."
Click here to return to story:
http://www.theindependent.com/stories/072304/new_hospital23.shtml
© The Grand Island Independent
Posted by leo at July 23, 2004 04:06 PM
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