Innovative, new technology that helps enhance the patient experience is what we get excited about. We know that for many, medical procedures can seem complex and sometimes confusing- our goal is to simplify the experience and make it easy for you, and your loved ones.
Pullman Regional Hospital recently invested in PatientTrak, a cloud-based patient tracking system. This system allows for each member of a patient's medical team, such as doctors, surgeons, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, physical therapists, and nurses to know where a patient is in their surgical journey at any time. The system, displayed on touchscreen boards, allows the medical team to make notes, easily collaborate on patient care needs, and keeps them all on the same page about where a patient is.
Dustene Johnston, Director for Pullman Regional Hospital Same-Day Services Department, explains that “this system allows for faster and more accurate notification of how a patient is progressing through the perioperative area.”
Not only is this system benefiting the care team, it’s also able to communicate with a patient’s family member, whether they’re in the hospital or across the country, via text messages. “With PatientTrak, as a surgeon is starting to finish a case, a text can be sent to the family instructing them to return to the consult area. This provides more communication and helps to ensure the family is able to easily meet with the surgeon for an update,” says Johnston. Family members can also receive text message updates on how the surgery is progressing and when the patient is ready to be discharged. This communication helps to provide peace of mind to family members and eliminates the possibility of family members not being available to meet with the surgeon post-surgery.
Prior to the installation of PatientTrak, white boards were used to keep track of patients. “Each of these boards had to be updated every time there was a change, which in the surgical world, can be often. Additionally, as procedural and surgical volumes continue to increase, we have outgrown the space constraints on the whiteboards. With PatientTrak, anytime a change is made in one area, it updates at all areas. This decreases the number of phone calls and confusion,” says Johnston.
Pullman Regional Hospital is currently in Phase I of the PatientTrak rollout. There are 3 larger centralized touch screen monitors located in Same Day South, Same Day North, and the OR. Additionally, because the system is cloud-based, staff can log into the system from any computer; this allows for easy monitoring and updating. In Phase II, HIPAA compliant monitors will be installed in family waiting rooms, staff break rooms, and other areas that are identified to further be able to update families and staff of the current surgical progression.
Johnston is excited about this upgrade, “by coordinating care and patient flow, the entire system is simplified. Surgeons will no longer struggle to find family members, CRNAs will know when each patient has been consulted, admitting RNs will know when medications have been ordered, OR RNs will know when the patient is ready for surgery, Pharmacy will know when patients arrive to PACU to time medications, and each RN in the process will know who they are transferring the to. The PatientTrak system will help us to further our surgical excellence and provide a more simplified and streamlined process.”
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