Nurse phone electronic checkout
When a nurse checks in for her shift, she scans her ID badge at a reader. A computer then programs a cellphone with that nurse's assigned phone number for the duration of her shift. She can then be reached any time. When her shift is done, the nurse turns in the phone to be reprogrammed for the next shift.
Patient bar code bracelet for room phones
Upon being admitted, each patient is issued a paper ID bracelet with a bar code. When the patient is moved to a different room (for example, pre-op, recovery, ICU, etc.), a nurse scans the bar code and the Internet phone in the room is reprogrammed with the patient's assigned phone number.
MONA REEDER/DMN
That way, a single phone number follows patients throughout the hospital, so family and friends can always reach them. Eventually, radio frequency identification (RFID) chips – a wireless tracking technology – will be embedded in the bracelets so that sensors in each room detect when a patient enters and instantly reprogram the phones.
RFID asset tracking
Nortel says research indicates that nurses typically spend a total of one hour of their eight-hour shifts searching for medical equipment that's been stashed in cabinets, cupboards and bins.
Nortel's system uses RFID so that nurses can type into a computer what they need, and a virtual map shows where that equipment is located. If the nurse is too busy to fetch the item, the system also tracks the location of hospital employees, and the nurse can page whoever is closest to the item to bring it and track the movement of that employee on the monitor.
Nortel says it can cut equipment loss and theft by 40 percent using this technology.
Patient emergency clinician notification
When the equipment hooked up to a patient detects a medical emergency, Nortel's system determines which doctors and nurses should respond based on their relevant skills and proximity to the patient and automatically sends out an electronic alert. If the primary responder is busy, backup caregivers are paged.
Electronic patient discharge
Waiting for hours to be discharged is excruciating for the patient and the hospital, which wants to get new patients admitted as quickly as possible.
Nortel's system allows a nurse to electronically blast out a discharge request to all the doctors who saw that patient. The physicians are then offered the sort of automated voice menu system familiar to anyone who's ever called their bank or phone company. "Press 1 to discharge. Press 2 to speak with the nurse."
When all the doctors – whether they're on duty or on the golf course – have replied with discharge orders, another automated call goes out to the patient's family members, informing them that they can pick up their relative.
Nortel estimates the average discharge time is eight to 12 hours and says this system can cut four hours off that.
When a nurse checks in for her shift, she scans her ID badge at a reader. A computer then programs a cellphone with that nurse's assigned phone number for the duration of her shift. She can then be reached any time. When her shift is done, the nurse turns in the phone to be reprogrammed for the next shift.
Patient bar code bracelet for room phones
Upon being admitted, each patient is issued a paper ID bracelet with a bar code. When the patient is moved to a different room (for example, pre-op, recovery, ICU, etc.), a nurse scans the bar code and the Internet phone in the room is reprogrammed with the patient's assigned phone number.
MONA REEDER/DMN
That way, a single phone number follows patients throughout the hospital, so family and friends can always reach them. Eventually, radio frequency identification (RFID) chips – a wireless tracking technology – will be embedded in the bracelets so that sensors in each room detect when a patient enters and instantly reprogram the phones.
RFID asset tracking
Nortel says research indicates that nurses typically spend a total of one hour of their eight-hour shifts searching for medical equipment that's been stashed in cabinets, cupboards and bins.
Nortel's system uses RFID so that nurses can type into a computer what they need, and a virtual map shows where that equipment is located. If the nurse is too busy to fetch the item, the system also tracks the location of hospital employees, and the nurse can page whoever is closest to the item to bring it and track the movement of that employee on the monitor.
Nortel says it can cut equipment loss and theft by 40 percent using this technology.
Patient emergency clinician notification
When the equipment hooked up to a patient detects a medical emergency, Nortel's system determines which doctors and nurses should respond based on their relevant skills and proximity to the patient and automatically sends out an electronic alert. If the primary responder is busy, backup caregivers are paged.
Electronic patient discharge
Waiting for hours to be discharged is excruciating for the patient and the hospital, which wants to get new patients admitted as quickly as possible.
Nortel's system allows a nurse to electronically blast out a discharge request to all the doctors who saw that patient. The physicians are then offered the sort of automated voice menu system familiar to anyone who's ever called their bank or phone company. "Press 1 to discharge. Press 2 to speak with the nurse."
When all the doctors – whether they're on duty or on the golf course – have replied with discharge orders, another automated call goes out to the patient's family members, informing them that they can pick up their relative.
Nortel estimates the average discharge time is eight to 12 hours and says this system can cut four hours off that.
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