June 12, 2008 - Motion Computing said this week Island Hospital in Anacortes, WA implemented the Motion C5 Mobile Clinical Assistant (MCA) to extend the functionality of its MEDITECH Magic Health Care Information System.
With the C5, the hospital is improving several processes, such as nursing documentation, while offering a significant savings and more hygienic solution than the traditional Computers on Wheels (COWs). The addition of the C5 is the latest step in Island Hospital’s initiative to improve patient care through technological upgrades at the point of care.
Prior to deploying the C5, Island Hospital’s nursing staff used COWs to record vital patient information. These devices were heavy and bulky, required access to outlets for regular charging, and were difficult to disinfect. Additionally, since they were shared devices, clinicians had to log in and out of the system multiple times during each shift, which created delays in updating electronic health records. The hospital turned to the C5 after a search for a solution that would enable the staff to continue using MEDITECH, and easily document and scan patient arm bands and medications to enhance care delivery and reduce medication administration errors, while improving workflows and nursing productivity.
The C5 was developed by Motion and Intel to meet the demands of a hospital environment. It has a sure-grip handle, a sealed case for easy cleaning and disinfecting, a 10.4-inch screen for viewing clinical information with minimal scrolling, durable construction that minimizes the impact when dropped, and stylus pen input so clinicians can enter text and navigate software without being tied to a keyboard. The C5 also includes integrated bar-code and RFID readers for patient identification and/or electronic medication administration, an integrated camera and built-in wireless connectivity.
One of the primary benefits reported by the Island Hospital staff is that the C5 is easily cleaned and disinfected, requiring just one quick and thorough wipe down with the standard cleaning protocols used by the hospital. Another benefit was a significant reduction in time consuming log-ins, from 18 to 24 times per nurse per shift, to only four or fewer. The hospital also said the cost of deploying the C5s was thousands of dollars less per unit than that of the COWs.
“The Motion C5 is improving nursing productivity, and also ensuring that we are taking the steps necessary to enhance compliance with cleaning and disinfection protocols,” said Barb Ringhouse RN, MN, assistant administrator for patient services at Island Hospital. “With the C5, nurses now have unimpeded access to patient information, they no longer have to contend with other clinicians for access to devices, and can more efficiently do real-time, point-of-care charting.”
As of today, Island Hospital has implemented the C5s in the emergency department, medical surgical floors and higher acuity settings such as the ICU. Clinicians use the devices for nursing documentation, bar-coded medication scanning, order entry and other scenarios. For example, an Island Hospital RN uses her C5 as a patient education tool to show patients reference copies of X-rays she accesses wirelessly and displays in real time.
“The fact that the C5 was built for the medical environment and designed by clinicians made it an easy choice for us,” said Rick Kiser, assistant director of information systems at Island Hospital. “We reviewed several other tablet solutions, but there wasn’t anything else that offered anything near what we needed. We are still early in our deployment phase, but have identified several other areas within Island Hospital where we believe we’ll see improved productivity and patient care benefits with the C5.”
For more information: www.motioncomputing.com, www.meditech.com.