Implementation of Vocera communication systems in healthcare

¶ … Vocera communication system

Vocera is a contemporary marvel introduced in the healthcare industry to transform communication strategies between staffs and patients. In simpler terms, one should think of Vocera as a hands-free phone, a pager, a Bluetooth or even as walkie-talkie that provides instant communication through a wearable communication devices and speech recognition technology. It can also symbolize a central computer that controls the wireless communication via the personal Vocera communication devices referred as badges. After trying various ways and strategies to use in transforming communication between the healthcare providers and patients in case of emergencies, the last resort was to implement a Vocera communication system. Vocera healthcare communication system resembles a viable way of using existing Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) that supports voice communications. The diagram below shows a diagrammatic view of Vocera (Surhone, Timpledon, Marseken, 2010).

Nurses were already using the Electronic sunrise system but it was inefficient, particularly when dealing with Emergency issues. Nurses consider that implementation of Vocera would be a consultative style because of its effectiveness to both the patients and the nurses. Prior to its implementation, it is necessary to conduct a detailed survey and quantify measures of success that would benchmark improvements after the implementation process. There are varies healthcare providers that are already using the system, for instance, the American healthcare providers, and based on the performance of the system in these hospitals, it is with certainty that the results will be positive. This is because from the previous surveys conducted; comprehensive results record significant improvements in communication between the healthcare providers, delivering benefits in major areas, for instance, workflow, and improved patient care and enhanced reactions in emergency cases (Surhone, Timpledon, Marseken, 2010).

In this project, I intend to use the same approach in order to improve communication system. When the Vocera communication system succeeds, there is high anticipation that the system will deliver higher principles of patient care with greater efficacy. According to the current state, the hospital was already using the WLAN infrastructure, or rather the Electronic Sunrise system, which uses various applications, for instance, providing easy access to healthcare records system. However, this system proves ineffective and the nurse wants to leverage tremendous value from their healthcare environment. Xxxxxxx asserts that in a hospital environment, nurse encounter numerous challenges in reaching out to people through paging and telephone, and, there is a need to implement a more effective system that is first and effective, especially in cases of Emergency situations (Surhone, Timpledon, Marseken, 2010).

For that reason, nurses ought to be keen in looking out for an application that would improve the current state of healthcare communication system. Vocera communication system is, therefore, a suitable solution that emerges with strong potential. However, implementing this system is not as simple as it sounds, and they should rather demonstrate a good understanding of healthcare and have feasible experience of implementing the system in a hospital environment. In addition to offering effective services to the patients, Vocera communication system assists in re-engineering the nursing process in order to improve the livelihood of patients. For the success of the implementation process, this research project used the communication transformation model. This model is process-led, which evaluates communications prerequisites for hospital employees and recognizes how several hospital units and teams could help improve efficiency in hospital environments if they are capable of transforming communication ways (Surhone, Timpledon, Marseken, 2010).

In essence, Vocera is a modern communication system that uses a voice-activated badge, and worn around the neck on a lanyard for efficient transmission of voice communication beyond a WLAN infrastructure. This system supports individual-to-individual communication in addition to group communication and eradicates the need for 'page and wait', allowing almost immediate contact between hospital staff. This system reduces communication inefficiencies between individuals and nurses, while continuing with their nursing duties of enhancing productivity and effectiveness in addition to patient care. Prior to implementation of the system, there is a need to conduct an extensive research of the work practice among the employees within the hospital environment, as this helps record a baseline against the benchmarks that requires improvement. I strongly support implementing the Vocera communication system based on the daily lives lost in hospitals as patients waits for immediate attendance by nurses whom might be unaware of emergencies happening either in patient's rooms or in emergency rooms (Surhone, Timpledon, Marseken, 2010).

2.0. The Current State

Most hospitals and healthcare system are at the helm of evaluating strategies that addresses patient safety issues, endorse clinicians and take advantage of the modern system that improves the healthcare aspects of patients. Implementation of the Vocera Communication system is an improved system that eliminates medical faults and improves patient care by connecting nurses in the health system and beyond to the accurate data at the needed time scale. The current communication system, which is the Electronic Sunrise system, is ineffective considering the numerous challenges that patients are encountering while waiting for treatment (Surhone, Timpledon, Marseken, 2010).

Electronic sunrise system is a one healthcare system that functions the way that nurses wants, by saving the time patients take before getting treatment, and assisting the manage information that improves patient care. However, in comparison to the Vocera system, most nurses consider sunrise system as ineffective. One of the reasons they give is the lapse of time while using this system. While using this system, nurses waste a lot of time before responding to patients, and this deteriorates their health as well as some losing their life before obtaining any health treatment. Electronic sunrise system is a healthcare system with complete enterprise clinical structures including an electronic Health Record and computerized physician order entry (CPOE) solutions that ensures effective patient treatment within the hospital environment (Surhone, Timpledon, Marseken, 2010).

The system coordinates care across the entire hospital locations and across various departments and units. ER is effective in making critical decisions as well as automating various processes for purposes of maintaining accuracy and safety for ailing patients, and improves patient care outcome and nursing performance. In essence, the Electronic Sunrise system is an extensive healthcare system covering a wide scope and facilitated by various elements. For instance, the systems contains an integrated Electronic Health Record (E.H.R), that links nurse and administrators with collective patient information and workflow to enhance accuracy, effectiveness and patients safety across healthcare setting, departments and locations (Surhone, Timpledon, Marseken, 2010).

The software used in EHR is effective in advancing healthcare enterprise to a meaningful use. The system integrates with comprehensive applications and helps maximize the benefits offered by the Electronic Health Record. However, based on the emerging trends and technologies as well overcrowded emergency rooms because of few nursing practitioners the system fails to offer interoperable and complete connected care. Another element that increases the efficiency of the ESS is the availability of a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) solutions. This is an element designed with over 250 order sets and facilitated by the systems' most sophisticated order and result item catalog to enhance physician roles (Surhone, Timpledon, Marseken, 2010).

However, it is beyond the hospital's financial initiative to install the system into every patient's room and this makes it difficult for the patients to receive absolute care. In addition, the ESS system facilitates the presence of strong, intelligent nursing decision support. This is an element that integrates multifaceted, sophisticated evidence-based nursing practice procedures with everyday nursing processes to facilitate knowledge-based recoding and smooth workflow for the nurses. This element is useful to nurses only because they are capable of making a follow-up on patient's healthcare records, but less helpful to patients because their health status continues deteriorating even in the presence of this element (Surhone, Timpledon, Marseken, 2010).

This is a challenge counterbalanced by implementation of Vocera communication system, which only requires fixing the system inside the room and no recording required. In essence, one should look at Electronic sunrise system, in terms of installing a cell phone inside the Emergency room or patient's room and patients or any other individual can alert nurses in case of Emergency situations. The main users in this case are any individual that is the scene of emergency cases, other than the patients and nurses. However, there is delay of response n after the patient communicates. This is because of the bureaucratic system followed before the message reaches the right personnel. In other words, lack of direct contact between nurses and patients deteriorate or rather worsen the patient's health status. The likelihood of systems breakdown might have a tremendous effect on the flow of data from one department to the other. In broader terms, the existence of data from the user of the system or from department to department is ineffective and un-predetermined (Surhone, Timpledon, Marseken, 2010).

3. System issues or problems

The current Electronic Sunrise System (ESS) comes along with challenges experienced in the operating system. The current system partially effective for the implementation of medicals services offered in hospitals. This has posed a great challenge to the medical personnel in administering the health services to those who need them. The system is slow performance lacks full mechanization. Inefficiency of the current system facilitates implementation of the Vocera communication systems. This new system addresses the significant communication challenges that hospitals face in their current state (Surhone, Timpledon, Marseken, 2010).

The new Vocera system enables instant communication between the patients and the medical attendants, a situation which is almost impossible in the current system. Unlike the current system, the new Vocera system comprises of features such as a lightweight, wearable communication Vocera badges and a hands-free communication between the staff members and their patients. The benefits related with the new system outweigh the current system in existence. With the current new trends, there are efforts to implement the new Vocera systems.

The ESS system as applied in hospital causes lack of contact between the patient and their medical assistants. This for instance happens when patients call for assistance. The call may not reach the attendant directly and this causes delays in the general operations in the hospital. There lacks quick attendance to the victims, which may cause worsening of the current health status or even result to death, incase the patients unattended as per emergency needs. Breakdown communication systems pose a great challenge in the operation of the electronic machines in the current system. Breakdown alters the workflow of any health departments especially in the hospitals attending to a large number of patients. The machines used can wear off since most are not manufactured using the current technology (Surhone, Timpledon, Marseken, 2010).

Communication challenges is also very evident when it comes to usage of the ESS system this current system lacks to provide a smooth flow of information between the parties involved, that id the patients and their doctors. The communication errors increase the hospital mortality level, which is the increase in the death of patients because of ineffective hospital skills. This has led to hospitals worldwide trying to implement other systems that operate effectively in terms of communication. This is especially with the new Vocera system. This new system solves problems of care delays and poor services offered to the patients admitted in hospitals. The current system in operation is has its characteristics such as the machines in use are bulky in nature, hence not easily portable. Most bulky machines operate on one location and it is difficult to run those heavy machines especially when it comes to repair in times of a breakdown (Surhone, Timpledon, Marseken, 2010).

The problems caused by inefficiency of the current systems lead to issues. In short, terms, the problems result to issues. The current system is not fully effective, in terms of delays and breakdowns. All these operational problems have led to poor health-care among the patients. This leads to degradation of health among people and this is a major issue, which extends to affecting a country's economy. Lack of proper health care also causes death tot the patients. We conclude that there should be implementation of the new Vocera system, before the issues associated with the current ESS system get out of control (Surhone, Timpledon, Marseken, 2010). The diagram below (figure 1) is a Network configuration diagram. The diagrams illustrate the network configuration used to authenticate the Vocera Communications solution.

Figure 1

4. Proposed innovation

Immediate communication between hospital staffs and patients is very critical in providing quality healthcare, enhancing efficient nursing operations and productivity in hospital environments. Most communications options in use today in hospitals, for instance, Electronic sunrise system, paging, paging among other are insignificant in conveying messages between patients and hospital staffs. However, when these communication gadgets are in use, there is waste of time, since nurse take a lot of time tracking down the records of every patient in order to read their medical history and their location before advancing any treatment.

This failure to reach patients at the right time elevates stress levels and cuts down productivity. For those reasons, my proposed innovative health care system is the implementation of a Vocera communication system, which functions as a wireless platform that offers a hands-free, voice- regulated communications throughout any networked building or environment. The system functions in a way that, the calls made by either the patient or the nurse are manageable and established by the set up by the Vocera Server, however the actual call occurs between two badges on the information network, and keeps the server out of the loop in the course of making the call. This system allows fluid and immediate voice recognition and communication among the nurses groups and all the way through an organization (Surhone, Timpledon, Marseken, 2010).