Increasing the Efficiency and Quality of Care Through Continuous Monitoring and Remote Access Software
Slingeland Hospital’s Sensing Clinic increased efficiency using Splashtop-On-Prem to remotely monitor vital signs with smart sensors
Summary
COVID-19 has accelerated the digital revolution across all industries, especially in healthcare. With new social distancing regulations, healthcare facilities raced to reinvent themselves to meet the new normal while ensuring quality care for all patients. In this case study, Koen Van Dulmen, Project Manager of Slingeland Hospital’s Sensing Clinic, shares how his hospital reinvented and improved patient care by continuously monitoring vital parameters using a continuous monitoring platform and several sensors. Splashtop On-Prem was used to initiate several remote measurements of one sensor.
The Challenge: Activating Sensors Amid Social Distancing Protocols
Slingeland Hospital’s Sensing Clinic’s core mission is to develop a solution to continuously monitor vital signs and calculate the risk of deterioration and address them as needed. Due to COVID-19, the Sensing Clinic had to accelerate development and implement this solution.
To receive this crucial data, the Sensing Clinic relies on multiple sensors, and one of these sensors needs to be manually activated. All sensors were connected to high-risk patients and, initially, clinicians needed to walk to each of the patient’s beds to perform measurements from that one sensor.
However, due to COVID-19, this had become a challenge. “The Sensing Clinic needs to reduce physicians’ trips and still receive all the data,” explained Koen Van Dulmen, Project Manager of Slingeland Hospital’s Sensing Clinic. The clinic needed to reduce the number of physical trips to activate a sensor in the patient’s room because it was vital to get as much data as possible and ensure social distancing measures and the safety of both patients and clinicians. These trips also disrupted patients’ well-needed rest.
The Solution: Splashtop On-Prem Remote Access Software
Koen reached out to the hospital’s IT team to find a way to resolve the Sensing Clinic’s challenge. Slingeland Ziekenhuis Hospital’s IT team suggested turning to a remote access tool to enable the clinic to perform measurements in a virtual control room.
The IT team evaluated and tried several remote access tools that turned out to have several application issues until they found Splashtop On-Prem, which met all the team’s selection criteria: usability, continuity, affordability and speed.
Usability: The implementation process was smooth. Koen’s team easily installed the software on 20 Samsung A10 gateways in the control room so that the sensors’ measurements could be initiated remotely.
Continuity: After it was set up, Splashtop On-Prem enabled the Sensing Clinic to initiate more frequent measurements without walking and without disturbing the patient by receiving data more frequently. For instance, 10-15 minutes instead of every hour in the daytime and every four hours during nighttime.
Affordability & Speed: While Splashtop On-Prem was easy to implement and worked well, it was also affordable and fast to implement. And in this scenario, speed was essential. “We had to do this fast!” said Koen.
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The Results: Increased Efficiency and Higher Quality of Care
By using Splashtop On-Prem, the control room was now more effectively able to monitor up to 20 patients remotely.
This helped the Sensing Clinic “reduce unnecessary trips to patients,” explains Koen. “Visits to patients have been more useful because a clinician knows a patient’s status.”
Before using Splashtop On-Prem, clinicians walked a few meters each hour to reach devices connected to patients.
Overall, the Sensing Clinic was pleased with Splashtop On-Prem. “Everything worked well,” said Koen. “Splashtop is easy to use and a forward-thinking company we envisage continuing to work with in the future.”
By reducing unnecessary trips to patients, the Slingeland Ziekenhuis Hospital was ultimately able to decrease COVID-19 transmission risks while allowing high-risk patients to get the rest they need with minimal interruptions, and in doing so, increase the quality of patients’ care.
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Details
About Slingeland Ziekenhuis Hospital
Slingeland Hospital is located in Doetinchem, the Netherlands, and was founded in 1975 as a result of the merger between Wilhelmina Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital. With 305 beds and approximately 1,600 permanent employees, Slingeland Hospital strives to provide transparency, openness, and a place where patients can count on high-quality and safety of care at all times.
