Before the FDA's requirement that drug makers put bar codes on drugs dispensed in hospitals, Lancaster General Hosptal was implementing a bar-coded administration system.
Nationally recognized for efficiency and quality of care, Lancaster General, Lancaster County, Pa., is a 521-bed, non-profit facility that offers a variety of acute-care medical services. A Magnet Hospital for clinical excellence and member of the 100 Top Hospitals in America for five of the last six years, Lancaster General acted on an opportunity to bring the benefits of ultramobile computing and wireless technology to patients’ bedsides.
Hospitals are constantly looking at new ways to improve patient safety and improve information flow. With a wide range of new hardware and software programs on the market, Lancaster General decided to survey the options. The goal: to build a wireless system for doctors and nurses, using engaging – not intimidating – technology.
Lancaster General chose the Motion tablet PCs as its hardware device because of the large, bright 12.1-inch display, which allows caregivers to view a full-page document without scrolling. In addition, Lancaster liked the lightweight, clipboard-sized shape, integrated wireless capabilities, ultra-low-power Intel processor and the pen-based input made possible by the Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition operating system.
To date, Lancaster’s nurses and doctors are using 170 Motion tablet PCs in 21 units for a variety of tasks. Nurses are using the devices for entering orders, retrieving laboratory results, checking e-mail and conducting patient education.
Nurses are using 150 Motion tablets for medication management purposes via MedPoint-MedAdmin ä software from Bridge Medical Inc. The MedPoint application uses bar-code technology to increase patient safety with a bedside medication verification application, which communicates with the hospital’s pharmacy, registration and administration systems.
“This is a productivity tool,” says Lancaster General’s Jon White, M.D. “There is an initial investment in effort, but a tremendous return in productivity and quality of care.”
With this patient safety application, doctors, nurses, patients and prescribed drugs are assigned unique bar codes. During medication administration, a nurse scans his bar-coded identification badge to log onto the system and then scans the patient’s bar code and medication package to verify through the Motion tablet PC that the right patient is receiving the right dose of the right medication at the right time.
The MedPoint software is interfaced with the hospital's Cerner pharmacy information system.
Each doctor-written prescription stays with the patient’s chart, and a copy is scanned via a Pyxis Connect Scanner to the pharmacy and entered into Cerner. The Motion tablet, running the MedPoint software, prompts nurses electronically at the point of care to compare and verify the pharmacy transcription with the written physician order.
MedPoint also electronically documents the medication administered to the patient, eliminating a paper-based process.
Before rolling Motion tablet PCs out to a unit, Lancaster General ensures nurses get hands-on experience with the devices, says Sherri Swezey, manager of PC services and support.
Motion tablet PCs, combined with the hospital’s information systems and bar-code software, have helped improve patient safety and improve information flow for Lancaster’s nurses. The new patient safety application quickly began to show results in line with the primary goal to improve the quality of care, says Tina Suess, R.N., system administrator.
Because of the Motion tablet’s mobility, nurses now have wireless access to a number of Lancaster’s information systems from anywhere in the hospital, including at the patient’s bedside. The nurses can wirelessly access the Siemens hospital information system to enter or review patient orders and test results. In addition, clinicians can access a library of medical reference information.
Lancaster General’s tradition of excellence continues as it provides its nurses access to increasing amounts of information via Motion tablet PCs and improves patient safety by reducing medication errors.