The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way healthcare institutions work. The challenges that hospitals used to face on a daily basis have become even more pronounced. Staff shortages, especially among health staff, are one of the biggest concerns.
Hospitals admitting COVID-19 patients, including the Voivodeship Hospital in Opole, were placed under tough restrictions to reduce the risk of the spread of the virus. This poses new challenges for doctors and nurses who treat COVID-19 patients.
Read on to learn how they use the SiDLY telemedicine wristbands and platform to mitigate these problems.
The health of quarantined patients had to be constantly monitored by reduced numbers of staff. Each visit to the ward meant that workers had to put on protective clothing and decontaminate. It made their daily work activities, even talking to patients, significantly more difficult and slowed them down in their duties. To make matters worse, the number of new patients arriving to the hospital was increasing.
SiDLY provided the hospital with 70 telemedicine wristbands connected to the platform, with some of them distributed to patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. The wristband provides measurements of the patient?s vital signs:
- pulse
- temperature
- blood oxygen saturation ? a crucial parameter in those infected with the coronavirus
and sends data to the platform accessible to health staff 24 hours a day. With that, one nurse can monitor the health of several patients without the need to be physically present in the isolation room. The measurements are fully automated and performed more frequently than in the case of routine monitoring by the staff. This way the workers can save time that they would normally spend on manually checking the parameters and following the isolation room procedures. The greater amount of data helps in making better health decisions.
In addition, the wristband features a fall detector, SOS key and it supports remote voice calls between the patient and nurse.
Mr. Julian Pakosz, Medical Care Director at the Voivodeship Hospital in Opole, notes that
?the system can be used for the following purposes:
– monitoring patients in isolation areas,
– detecting falls,
– as a mobile nurse call system for direct two-way voice communication between the patient and staff,
– minimizing the non-essential direct contact with the isolated patient for epidemiological safety reasons (savings in personal protective equipment),
– providing remote access to all data through the platform?.
Ability to monitor the status of multiple patients
The wristband provides multiple measurements in a small amount of time and makes it possible to monitor patients? health on an ongoing basis. With easy access to historical data, the staff can detect patient deterioration and respond to it accordingly. The management of the hospital says that ?an important feature of the system is that it gives us a quick insight into historical measurements taken in the last hours or days. With that, we can assess the dynamics of patient?s illness?.
Reduction of the risk of COVID-19 infection
The remote measurements and voice calls feature to limit direct contact with the infected patient to an absolute minimum. Consequently, the risk of the infection spreading among the staff and other patients is significantly reduced.
Workforce management optimization
The system helps to optimize staffing. Through the platform, a single worker can monitor the status of multiple patients without the need to be physically present in the isolation rooms.
Greater functionality of the call system
The SOS key and the voice calls feature make SiDLY a fully-fledged call system. Unlike the bedside call button, the wristband offers the ability to talk to the operator (nurse) from any location: the room, corridor or bathroom.
SiDLY offers complete remote care (telecare) system for hospitals. The system is comprised of a telemedicine wristband worn by the patient and a telemedicine platform accessible to the health staff.
The platform allows the staff to monitor the status of patients on an ongoing basis and provides access to historical data.
The wristband has various features, depending on the setup:
- SOS button
- GPS tracker
- voice calls to the operator (two-way voice communication)
- fall detector
- monitoring of vital signs: pulse, saturation, body temperature
If your hospital or healthcare facility is looking to improve the safety of its staff and optimize workforce management, do not hesitate to contact us.
Żaneta Dąbkowska,
+48 725 992 566
zaneta.dabkowska@sidly.org
www.sidly.eu