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Hospitals Transform Care Delivery and Work Processes With Patient Care Visibility System From Awarix

Posted on: Monday, 5 February 2007, 09:01 CST

Leading health care organizations are seeing the light and flocking to a new category of health care technology--patient care visibility systems.

More than 15 health care provider organizations across the country and abroad have adopted Awarix's groundbreaking technology within the past year.

The patient care visibility system uses a visualization platform and location technology (such as ultrasound and radio frequency identification) to provide real-time information on patient location, room status and clinical events. As a result, all hospital staff members have access to "visual controls," enabling them to immediately obtain vital patient information simply by glancing at electronic whiteboards, which are placed throughout the hospital. The system provides status information on more than 75 clinical and administrative processes.

"Using visual control systems to manage patient care delays is a whole new concept for the health care industry. The technology has been proven in other industries, though, as it has become the building block for LEAN, Six Sigma and other quality improvement initiatives," says Scott McFarland, CEO of Awarix. "Being able to use such a tool in the health care environment, however, promises to revolutionize how care is delivered to patients. Patient care visibility systems can transform patient flow and employee workflow processes, making it possible to more effectively meet the needs of patients in a timely manner--which translates into better clinical outcomes and even saved lives."

With such systems in place, health care providers are experiencing comprehensive, system-wide improvements by providing staff members with visual controls that supply real-time data on patient status. Such heightened awareness helps organizations increase efficiency and effectiveness by:

enabling staff members to take immediate corrective action because problems, abnormalities or deviation from standards are visible

displaying the status of various processes in a highly visible and easy-to-interpret format

providing instructions, which could help staff members make the best use of their time

conveying pertinent information, which makes it possible for staff members to take appropriate action at all times

supplying immediate feedback to staff members

Already, major integrated delivery networks such as Ascension Health (St. Louis), Catholic Healthcare West (San Francisco) and Tenet Healthcare Corp. (Dallas) are finding that the Awarix system is providing visual controls that help hospitals achieve substantial clinical, patient throughput and operational improvements.

At St. Vincent's Hospital, Birmingham, Ala., the patient care visibility system serves as the enabling technology of a 15-point capacity management improvement program. The system specifically helps turn over med-surg beds more efficiently, thereby decreasing the need for the emergency department to hold or "board" patients while waiting for an open bed. As a result, the hospital can provide needed--sometimes life-saving--care to incoming patients. The overall program has resulted in a significant decrease in hospital wide diversion hours, says Neeysa Biddle, president of St. Vincent's Hospital.

"Certainly, having the capacity to meet the day-to day emergency health care needs of our communities should be a top priority for all health care providers. Even more important, though, as a hospital that provides emergency care, it is our obligation to optimize capacity at all times, including times of crisis. That's why we are addressing the patient throughput issue via a multi-faceted initiative that includes a patient care visibility system," Biddle says.

In addition to improving diversion rates, the system has quickly resulted in the following improvements for early adopters:

Revenue increases of more than $5 million

Patient volume jumps of more than 12%

Bed turn rate improvements of more than 19%

Visibility systems can also help caregivers improve clinical quality, says Fran Gappa, R.N., a nursing supervisor at Southeast Alabama Medical Center, Dothan, Ala.

"We can just look at the board and know that the patient is a myocardial infection patient. So, we know that certain tasks need to be carried out to make sure that the patient is receiving the highest quality care. It makes it much easier for us to intuitively know what needs to be done," Gappa says.

About Awarix

Awarix, Birmingham, Ala., is the leading developer of enterprise patient care visibility systems, a new category of health care technology that enables hospitals and integrated delivery networks to streamline throughput, improve caregiver effectiveness and increase patient satisfaction. The Awarix system provides a 360 degree view of the patient's status in real time via electronic patient care communication "whiteboards" that present real-time information about patients' locations, the status of patients' various tests results, updates on patient safety issues and the expected time of the patients' discharges. By presenting a graphic representation of the hospital's floor plan, clinicians and other users can determine exactly what is happening with patients simply by glancing at the whiteboards. Location technology and geospatial visual technologies are integrated with existing clinical systems to create this synthesized single view of patient status. With the Awarix system, health care providers have been able to quickly increase revenues via increased capacity, eliminate emergency department diversion, improve patient care quality and enhance employee and patient satisfaction.

Source: Business Wire

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