Seeking a better bedside experience for patients, Rapid City Regional Hospital in Rapid City, South Dakota, reportedly has implemented so-called “350 Motion C5 mobile clinical assistants,” which are expected to extend the functionality of the facility’s MEDITECH Client Server Health Care Information System.
Streamlining clinical documentation to improve the bedside experience, this device also is expected to improve workflow processes after it is implemented.
C5s are currently used by occupational therapists, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, social workers, dietary workers and case managers. On the move from floor to floor, these people need a portable solution to document patient interactions.
In addition to recognizing handwriting with the C5 pen-like stylus, C5 is lightweight, simple to disinfect through the use of hospital sanitary wipes. With the device, hospitals can reduce the time it takes to transcribe data and get more time by the patient bedside.
Officials Rapid City Regional Hospital say they were looking for a technological solution in each patient room to help improve clinical documentation processes. But the hospital lacked the space for larger technologies like desktop computers. The hospital was aware of the latest technological improvements in the field, and figured out that a mobile device could be the answer it was searching for.
As they have been in other places, C5s are successful at the Rapid City Regional Hospital. Although haven’t been completely deployed throughout the hospital, many clinicians are already trying them out in isolated situations.
“Because the staff uses the device with so many different patients on different floors and rooms, the sealed case for easy cleaning, and highly portable design made the C5 the perfect choice for our highly mobile staff,” said Dick Latuchie, the hospital’s chief information officer.
Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Raju's articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Michael Dinan
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