By Jeff Meyers, The Press-Republican, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Jul. 8–PLATTSBURGH — An electronic tracking system is helping officials at CVPH Medical Center manage patient movement more efficiently.
The hospital initiated the pre-admittance bed-tracking system a month ago, allowing staff from departments and patient floors to communicate via an electronic paging system that reduces the need to call one another when patients are being admitted or discharged.
“The phones are quiet now,” said Marty Picard, a patient-care coordinator for the Medical Center. “The system tracks patient movement and patient needs. Information is automatically sent from one unit to another simply by pushing a button.”
JUST ONE CALL
In the past, when patients were admitted to the hospital from the Emergency Department, Surgical Wing or other department, staff from the admitting unit would call Admissions, who in turn would call the patient floor. The patient floor would then call the admitting unit back when a bed was open.
“It would typically take seven phone calls once a patient came through the door,” said Rhonda Kowalowski, supervisor of In-Patient Services at the hospital. “Now, with pre-admit tracking, there’s usually only one call to the charge nurse on the intake unit. Everything else is handled electronically.”
“We were encumbered by the process of using the phone,” Picard added. “The system worked well if things were calm, but when things get busy, it’s not always that easy to get calls in or calls back.”
The system can be followed at a central location where staff can identify the status of the hospital’s 180-plus beds in minutes. An electronic table lists each bed and shows whether it is occupied, empty and being prepared for the next patient or awaiting a new patient.
The chart also lists the specific needs for the patient, so each can be matched with the specialty available on each inpatient wing.
“A hospital room is very much different than a hotel room,” Picard said. “In a hospital, the needs of the patient have to be matched with the special skills of the staff and the nursing units.”
REAL-TIME PROCESS
Staff members have electronic pagers that allow for communication among the different units. Once a room is cleaned following a patient discharge, for instance, that information is keyed into the system, and Admissions and other units know immediately it is available.
“It simulates real-time communication across the organization,” Picard said.
Officials are expecting the new system to be especially beneficial during times when the hospital is busy.
“Capacity protocol is a template for disciplines to follow when we have too many admissions,” Kowalowski said. “This procedure will no doubt speed up the admission process.”
CVPH has not reached full capacity since the system has been put into place. The hospital typically enters capacity-protocol periods during winter months when patient volume increases for such reasons as flu outbreaks.
Officials are looking at the system as one of several steps to help alleviate long waiting periods in the Emergency Department, which is responsible for a large number of daily admissions to the hospital.
“We have many programs in effect and in place to try to address that issue,” said Chris Blake of the hospital’s Public Relations Office. “This is part of a house-wide effort to improve patient flows.”
TREATING PATIENTS
As a patient-care coordinator working the late-night shift, one of Picard’s duties was to collect hard-copy admission sheets to identify patients being admitted the next day following surgeries and coordinate those admissions with upcoming discharges and empty beds.
Now, he and other PCCs can follow bed changes through the automated system, freeing time to spend with patients.
“Nurses intrinsically want to treat patients, and support staff want to get in after discharge to prepare rooms for the next patient,” he said. “The system gives everyone here more time to do their jobs.”
The process is also useful in preparing patients for transfer from one unit to another. Staff members can set up a patient’s needs prior to the move to ensure a smooth transition for patients.
The system has been installed with several security measures to protect patient confidentially, Kowalowski noted.
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