OVERVIEW
Traceability is becoming more and more crucial in a hospital environment. But finding the right tools to guarantee this for surgical kits in an operating room turned out to be no easy task for AZ SintJan. They nevertheless got the job done, thanks to the right hardware, the Memor 10 mobile computer from Datalogic and software from PHI DATA.
AZ Sint-Jan Brugge-Oostende AV is an independent care facility that aims to provide high-quality, humane and affordable care. The hospital has 1,221 beds spread across three campuses: Sint-Jan campus and Sint-Franciscus Xaverius campus in Bruges, and Henri Serruys campus in Ostend. More than 300 doctors and 3,000 other staff work hard every day to provide meticulous and highly specialized care. A wide range of medical, nursing and paramedical disciplines are available to more than 300,000 patients for basic care all the way to highly specialized care.
THE CHALLENGE
Looking for a suitable solution, not only for a highly specific environment but also for general use, AZ Sint-Jan aimed for a uniform and forward-looking digital environment where the right technology makes a difference for the care providers. This needed to include a method which improved the traceability of surgical kits (a surgical kit contains all the necessary instruments for an operation), so it is always possible to check which patient was treated with what equipment in the event of questions or problems. “We did have an early in-house solution, but this wasn’t suitable for use in operating rooms, extremely annoying for an application that was supposed to reduce administration in exactly that place”. explains Jan Suykerbuyk, an IT business application manager at AZ Sint-Jan. “That was why we went in search of a solution that could support the care provider in the way it should.”
Memor 10 – Robust, damp-proof, user-friendly and precise
Initially the hospital went in search of a scanner suitable for recording the necessary information about the surgical kits used in this highly specific environment. “Because PHI DATA was an existing supplier of the hospital, we decided to consult them as well,” says Jan Suykerbuyk, “and they responded with a pleasant surprise: not only could they supply us with the right hardware, the Memor 10 mobile computer from Datalogic, but the necessary software to simplify the recording process as well, including sending this information over FTP to a specific file, which can be fed into the existing electronic patient record and processed after validation.”
Once the choice had been made to use the Memor 10 from Datalogic, the implementation needed to move quickly. “We wanted to get the solution up and running before the next accreditation, so we could prove all the more how much we're future-proofing our hospital,” explains Jan Suykerbuyk. “Datalogic and PHI DATA did everything necessary to help make this rapid pace possible: development within a month, the Memor 10 devices delivered after four weeks, our feedback on the first working version processed within two working days - to summarize: nothing went wrong with this tight timescale. The constructive collaboration as genuine partners searching together for a pragmatic solution to a specific problem definitely contributed to the success too, according to Jan Suykerbuyk. The end result met the expectations perfectly. The Memor 10 is a robust, damp-proof, ergonomic, user-friendly hand-held scanner that functions perfectly in an operating room. “You'd think that should be obvious, but actually the damp-proof aspect really fell short with some of the other solutions proposed, for example,” explains Jan Suykerbuyk further.
Memor 10, a hardware that supports, not obstructs
The scanner built into the Memor 10 device does exactly what it needs to, Suykerbuyk continues: “The Memor 10 device is similar to a smartphone, which you use to scan in what needs to be recorded: first to identify the patient and next the surgical kit.” The built-in intelligence ensures that the care providers cannot make mistakes with this: if they scan product information instead of patient information, it automatically plays an error sound, so they can immediately correct this, which saves on extra administration in sorting out mistakes later. “Scan, scan and send: there's nothing more to it,” Jan Suykerbuyk says in summary, “but this makes a world of difference to simplifying our administration.”
“Not only is the solution suitable for the environment and intuitive for the user, but there's consideration for the future too,” adds Jan Suykerbuyk. “With the open standards and interfaces of the solution that PHI DATA built for us, integration with other software is also possible. The solution's ease of use also got the hospital thinking about other future applications. “If it's this easy for us to bridge the gap between a demanding physical environment like the operating room and the digital infrastructure, then there should be ways of adding value in other parts of the hospital too, for example linking patient information to the medication or implants used for this patient. The Memor 10 is the first mobile device that can be used for a variety of applications in our hospitals, and we probably don't realize even half of what could be possible with this device.” After all, the hand-held terminal now in use has everything needed: computer, software, apps, database, WiFi, touch, calling and more. These multi-functional devices are truly revolutionizing the way in which AZ SintJan experiences such technology, says Jan Suykerbuyk in closing: “The hardware used to determine what processes were possible, but now we see hardware as the support for any process we choose.”
