Enhance Patient Care with Medical Technology
Healthcare clinicians and administrators are tasked with delivering optimized patient care, managing workflows, and using technological solutions to cope with the rising demands while balancing the burden of pandemic-caused staff shortages.
Hospitals recognize that front-line workers are experiencing fatigue and burnout.
The American Hospital Association estimates the medical industry will face a shortage of up to 124,000 physicians by 2033 and will need to hire at least 200,000 nurses a year to meet rising demands. With the lack of availability of sufficient medical training, these figures will likely take longer to achieve as many new healthcare workers lack the experience to be qualified practitioners.
The front line is visible and obvious, but what is hidden is the administrative burden that administrative staff faces behind closed doors. Many don’t complete their work on time and are assigned too many patients to manage their time efficiently.
Due to these rising challenges, 80% of decision-makers in emergency and operating rooms are turning to automated workflow management systems. The pandemic was the catalyst that introduced decades of innovation in just a few years.
Hospitals are turning to mobile devices for communication and accessing critical data.
Patients come first. To maximize security and guarantee that patient care is not jeopardized, there must be rules for managing patients and their data, just as there are rules for entering and moving around a hospital safely. It’s that important.
Automation ensures that the proper medication gets dispensed and helps prevent medical errors that could be easily avoided with the help of accessibility.
Hospitals have responded to this need by integrating piloted clinical mobility and the use of mobile devices such as handhelds. These have eased staff communication and prompted faster access to electronic medical records (EMR), which can be a lifesaver in critical situations where allergies or health conditions need to be noted before undergoing a particular treatment.
According to Zebra’s recent Healthcare Vision Study, 83% of clinicians and 89% of decision-makers agree that real-time intelligence is optimal for patient care. It’s crucial to always be aware of a patient’s whereabouts, whether they are inside a facility or not, and whether they require immediate access to medical help. Having access to this information at the ready cuts labor time, which helps alleviate some of the pressure of being understaffed.
Hospitals are now looking to integrate all-encompassing software that makes it easy to:
- Manage the supply chain
- Locate critical equipment
- Orchestrate logistics
- Eliminate information silos
- Enable smarter workflows
- Track medication and patients
Location technologies like Zebra’s RFID tags, enterprise-grade mobile devices, rugged tablets, and smart glasses are going to change the atmosphere and digitize hospitals. Studies and past deployments find that:
- RFID tags and readers can monitor the location of every staff member and patient in real-time.
- 4 in 10 executives are now using locationing technologies across many of their respective hospitals.
- The quality of patient care increases when staff has access to mobile devices that track their patients’ whereabouts and facilitate communication.
- Automation can help improve accountability, optimize patient throughput, and heighten asset visibility.
The future of healthcare is here.
This is only the beginning. There are many more technological inputs that are going to change the way hospitals run—everything from cloud computing to patient health tracking devices are in the making. Contact Us to continue exploring how visibility technologies can empower better patient care.