Telmediq recently launched a patented Near Field Communications (NFC) solution into our award-winning Telmediq Healthcare Communications Hub. We've been demoing the opportunity at recent events, with 4 interactive hospital settings designed to simulate common situations such a bathroom needing service, a patient transfer request, and a supply re-stock request.
Telmediq RFID tags can be discreetly placed in any room or shelf, with each chip containing all the meta data about its location and use. Being tied into the smart integrations of Telmediq's Healthcare Communication Hub, each RFID contains not only its location and/or stock item details, but also includes patient information and on-call service contacts. As demonstrated in the video above, the tap triggers a pre-populated message with common tasks like “water request” or “patient transport”, which the nurse can then send immediately or edit before sending, without having to return to the work station.
Service Requests and their Impact on Nurse Workflow and Patient Care
Although a nurse’s primary responsibility is patient care, tertiary to that are the coordination activities required to support patient care. If a room needs cleaning, a patient needs transporting, office supplies run out or a supply closet needs restocking, the nurse must return to the workstation to place a call to request service. In the name of efficiency, many hospitals have routed these requests through call centres, who then contact on-site supervisors to co-ordinate the request. This breakdown in communication creates inefficiencies of its own.
From a nursing perspective, continuous interruptions of this sort add to both the administrative overhead and physical demands of a nurses job. In an environment where nursing time is a scarce resource, substantial savings could be made by automating these tasks at the time and place they are observed.
Automating Non-Clinical Tasks with Telmediq NFC
Although Near-Field Communication (NFC) solutions have been making their way into medical facilities to track strategic mobile assets and to identify and locate patients and manage staff, this technology holds great potential in supporting supply chain management and in automating non-clinical tasks that nurses must often take on.
Hospitals can invest in inexpensive smartphone devices, or leverage existing BYOD devices, to interact with Telmediq RFID (a form of near-field communication) chips, triggering a service contact with a simple tap.
Service requests can be made the moment they are needed, with each tap triggering a pre-populated message with the specific details of each RFID, avoiding delays or errors due to misunderstanding. Nurses do not need to think about whom to contact, the RFID chip contains the data for the appropriate contact or group contact based on the hospitals schedules and pre-programmed routing.
Chief Nursing Officers can take advantage of out-of-the box reporting available with our NFC integration to better understand work call requests and supply information to aid in effective supply chain management.
The implementation potential for near-field communication automation is endless and easily customizable. Contact us to learn more.
