“A lot of the Tower’s technology is focused on ways that we can bring the medical information that’s needed right to the point of care, where caregivers can use it to make decisions about treatment,” says Tony Perry, MD, clinical transformation officer.

Call and Response

The Tower’s technology also reflects Rush’s commitment to centering everything we do around our patients. For example, the Tower’s call system will make multiple services available to each patient at the touch of a button. The call system remote control device in each bed will have four different buttons for patients to use to request a nurse, pain relief, water and assistance using the bathroom. The system will route the first two requests to a nurse and the latter requests go to a patient care technician (PCT). The current system uses the same button for all requests.

To make sure care providers respond quickly to patient needs, the call system signals will go directly to wireless phones that Tower nurses and PCTs will carry with them when they’re on duty. If the call is not answered in a certain amount of time, the signal will be transferred to the next nurse or PCT on the call tree.

“The nurses also can give their phone numbers to a patient’s family members so they can reach the nurse directly,” says Eileen Dwyer, RN, MSN, director, Office of Transformation. “Or they can call the unit, and the unit clerk can route the call directly to the nurse. It allows our nurses to be much more responsive to patient concerns.”

In some cases, other care providers also will carry call-system phones, enabling better and quicker coordination of communications between members of a patient’s care team. In addition, nurses will be able to page residents and attendings to call them back directly on their phones, rather than the current practice of paging them to call a phone on the nursing station in the clinical unit.

Face-to-Face in the OR

That emphasis on enhancing communication and collaboration between clinicians includes an audiovisual system linking all of the Tower’s operating rooms, located on the fifth and seventh floors, and the main radiology reading room on the third floor. The system also will link to the pathology labs in the Jelke Building and an educational room in the Tower.

The system will allow physicians and other care providers at any of these locations to confer with each other in real time via high-definition video.

“It’s a tool that makes it easier to hold consultations. We’ll be able to show the pathologist’s or radiologist’s slide in high definition on the screen that’s right over the operating table,” says Gene Ward, director, clinical engineering. “If surgeons are trying to reconcile a radiologist’s image with what they’re seeing on the table, they can train a camera on the area they’re operating on and show it to the radiologist while they go over the images together.”

Keeping Close Tabs

According to Perry, the Tower will be the first hospital in the United States to fully incorporate an advanced new patient monitoring system that will improve patient care. The wires from the sensors attached to a patient will lead to a portable monitoring device attached to the wall, which sends wireless signals to the screens displaying the patient’s vital signs.

If the patient needs to be moved, the box, which has a display screen of its own, can be removed from the wall and travel with the patient, allowing for continuous monitoring at all points, including in transit. When the patient arrives at a destination, such as a new hospital room, the monitor can be plugged into the monitor mount and the system automatically will recognize the patient is in that location.

“Traditionally, there are gaps in monitoring when a patient moves from location to location or system to system. This system will provide us with a seamless monitoring capability for our patients,” Perry says. “In addition, it will be easier for the patient to get up and move with this system, whether it’s to use the bathroom or to go down the hallway for a walk.”

“To the greatest extent possible, we’ve equipped the Tower to set up our clinicians for success,” Perry says. “We’ve worked to give them the tools they need to best use their skills and make the best possible decisions about their patients’ care.”