Improving Medication and Specimen Collection Efficiency at Prominent Hospital with CipherLab's RS35 Touch Mobile Computers
Established in 1945, the hospital is a medical center-level teaching facility with over 4,000 professionals in Taiwan. It serves military personnel, their families, and the general public, offering over 1,900 hospital beds and managing approximately 6,000 outpatient visits daily. Committed to advancing the medical care environment, the hospital invests in cutting-edge equipment and aligns with strategic development priorities across departments. To improve workflow for unit dose medication delivery and specimen collection for inpatient care, the hospital has decided to upgrade its equipment.Obstacles in Achieving a Productive Healthcare Workflow
The primary challenge faced by the hospital lies in the congestion at the nursing station handling unit dose dispensing, hindering efficient medication delivery to nursing units. The process involves nurses logging into the hospital system through a PC on a medical cart, a smartphone, or a mobile computer and using a barcode scanner to confirm medication reception by scanning prescription bag barcodes. This sequential process causes delays and inefficiencies, especially when nurses from various stations repeat the same steps for finalizing medication reception.
In addition to unit dose dispensing challenges, the specimen collection presents further complexities. Nurses must attach barcodes to blood tubes for patient and tube ID. In confined patient rooms, logging into the hospital system and scanning patient ID wristband and tube barcode using the medical cart's PC and scanner is challenging. Furthermore, relying solely on a smartphone for specimen collection is occasionally inadequate, especially when dealing with 1D barcodes.The challenges mentioned primarily stem from performance and durability issues in hospital mobile devices, needing frequent reliance on PCs and scanners on medical carts. Both mobile computers and smartphones lack a rugged design, and smartphones, though efficient with 2D barcodes, cannot read 1D barcodes. Thus, manual data entry becomes necessary, resulting in time-consuming and prone to errors. Further, the mobile computers used in the hospital demonstrated poor barcode reading performance and slow reading speed, further contributing to operational challenges.
Moreover, the frequent disinfection and cleaning protocols damaged the plastic surfaces of devices, causing them to become sticky and leading to patina development on USB Type-C connectors over time. In addition, the complex and busy working environment often results in the dropping of mobile devices at nursing stations, leading to breakages and disruptions in critical healthcare workflows. Due to concerns about maintenance costs, the mobile computers were left unused for extended periods of time.
Addressing these multifaceted challenges is essential to enhance the hospital's operational efficiency and maintain the highest standards of patient care.
Enhanced Efficiency in Operational ComplexitiesCipherLab, in collaboration with our partner, has introduced innovative solutions using the RS35 touch mobile computers to address the challenges faced by the hospital. By replacing the traditional PC and barcode scanner on the medical cart, the RS35 handheld terminal allows hospital staff to conduct unit dose medication delivery at each nursing station separately, significantly enhancing the workflow efficiency. Similarly, for specimen collection, nurses can use the RS35 within patient rooms, eliminating the need for the entire medical cart and optimizing space utilization.
Moreover, the RS35 has successfully passed disinfection qualification tests for various cleaning agents, including Isopropyl alcohol and bleach, ensuring compliance with the hospital's rigorous cleaning protocols. To counteract the issue of patina on the power connector after disinfection, CipherLab recommends the use of our Snap-on charger featuring a pogo pin connector. This connector and its matching receptacle with a flat metal surface are designed to withstand environmental factors such as moisture, dust and other contaminants.
The RS35 is designed to support wet finger use, with an IP65 rating and 1.5-meter drop resistance. This makes it ideal for use in busy healthcare environments, such as hospitals, where it can reduce the risk of device damage and ensure uninterrupted operation. Furthermore, CipherLab's AppLock on RS35 simplifies access to essential hospital apps, aiding healthcare professionals in tasks like nursing station stocktaking and central warehouse inbound and outbound management.
Overall, the introduction of the RS35 touch mobile computer brings a comprehensive and efficient solution to the hospital's workflow challenges, enhancing both operational effectiveness and durability.
Realizing the Hospital's Commitment
In conclusion, the hospital's commitment to advancing medical care has been met with transformative results through the implementation of CipherLab's RS35 touch mobile computer. The challenges in unit dose dispensing and specimen collection, coupled with issues of device durability and performance, have been effectively addressed. Positive feedback from the Head Nurse underscores the RS35's success in enhancing scanning performance and improving critical workflows. This strategic upgrade not only ensures operational efficiency but also aligns with the hospital's dedication to delivering high-quality patient care in a cutting-edge medical environment.