MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
Helping clinicians to do their job ‘better, faster, and safer’
Paul Lawrence, managing director at Ascom, offers ‘a simple guide to help choose the best communication devices for clinicians’, and presents a bespoke communication solution for emergency response locations created by the company in consultation with healthcare clients, ‘specifically to help in the frontline fight against COVID-19’. The global provider of ICT, mobile workflow, and communication systems, says the system ‘highlights the importance of being flexible and offering innovative solutions that have a positive impact and support clients in challenging times’.
Mobile devices and apps have transformed the landscape for clinicians, providing many benefits – from faster patient response times, to better clinical decision-making and improved patient outcomes. Today’s mobile devices offer more than just voice and text features; they have GPS location, high-resolution cameras, ‘man-down’, and safety alarm buttons. They can be used for standalone communication, or in conjunction with software that integrates and interoperates with clinical devices and electronic patient records. The result is a much broader spectrum of functionality and uses for mobile communications in medical setting systems, with the potential to significantly enhance and improve the work of clinicians. In a crowded provider market, however, how can you be sure that your workforce has the right mobile devices to enable them to work ‘smarter’ and safer, and focus on patient care, instead of running around trying to find a landline or a colleague? Are these mobile devices able to work just as effectively for your team in challenging times, and in emergency response locations, when use of more ‘traditional’ hospital infrastructure is not feasible.
Here are my suggestions on what to consider when choosing a mobile solution, and in selecting a mobile solutions provider that can offer fast an innovative solutions to support and enhance the performance of your staff:
Communication capabilities Make sure that the handsets offer more than just voice and text. The latest smartphones can handle calls, texts, alerts, photos, and messages, and can close gaps in critical communications. For example, at the Royal Bolton Hospital, software on handsets used by critical care clinicians is integrated with an electronic observations system that sends alerts and crucial clinical information to the handsets
42 Health Estate Journal July 2020
The Ascom i63 VoWiFi handset keeps mobile workers connected to patients, critical data, equipment, events, and colleagues.
when patients are showing signs of deterioration. A system of different sounds and ‘traffic lights’ based upon the severity of the case enables doctors to acknowledge and triage cases. With technology evolving quickly, make sure that the handsets you choose can regularly be updated as needed.
Purpose built for the healthcare environment It is tempting to choose a consumer grade solution, but keep in mind that they are not made to withstand the rigorous demands of clinical work. With consumer grade solutions, the size of the devices often makes it impossible to call them ‘mobile’, while if repeatedly dropped, the screens can easily break and, overall, such devices will underperform and will not last, making their purchase a costly affair, as most of these devices cannot be fixed, but instead need to be replaced. A couple of other key things to keep in mind: do they have a hot-swap battery to ensure constant operation during long shifts?, and are they easily disinfectable in areas with strict infection control policies? These are just a few of the key factors to consider.
The new i63 handset combines stylish design with reliable VoWiFi performance to deliver smoother workflows and easy management.
Integration with other systems Person-to-person
communication is, of course, only one aspect of the clinician’s job. A handset must be able to push information from medical devices, record vital signs, and allow staff to undertake paperless audits, adding value by increasing staff efficiency and quality of care. They should also be able to integrate with clinical systems and electronic health records, and cope with the requirements of single patient rooms, where patients and staff can feel isolated. At Chase Farm Hospital in
London, for example, the Ascom nurse call system is linked to the nurses’ smartphones, ensuring that they can contact anyone, including patients, directly, and know what is going on in their clinical area, even when they are elsewhere. The use of smart mobile devices saves nurses ‘admin’ time every day, and increases the time spent caring.
Worker safety
Often overlooked, staff safety is key to providing a high standard of care, especially in secure mental health
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