Today, Amcom Software, Inc. announced that the Australian Center for Health Innovation, based in Melbourne, will integrate its solutions with the center's nurse call and other clinical systems, Cisco phone system and wireless IP phones, as well as smartphones to “show how advanced communication technologies can help organizations deliver excellent patient care while enhancing clinician and staff effectiveness,” according to a company press release.
Australian Center for Health Innovation defines itself as demonstrating leading technologies that can improve patient care and help make healthcare organizations across Australia more effective.
The center provides care for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, chronic lung disease, chronic neurological disorders, renal disease, and mental health. Over three million Australians were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease (CVD) from 2007 to 2008, while more than 46,000 people died of it, and over two million with high blood pressure, often a contributing factor to both CVD and diabetes. But only four percent of Australians have diabetes, less than half the people in the U.S.
Amcom Software will provide four of its solutions to the center, including Amcom Mobile Connect, smartphone communications for encrypted, mobile communications, improving care by delivering code alerts, patient updates, lab results, and consult requests to Cisco wireless IP phones, smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, with a full audit trail and advanced security features, according to the press release.
Another solution, Amcom Messenger middleware, will alert nurses to patients being monitored who need intervention, and send building alert systems to LED signage or the appropriate staff member's mobile device, speeding response times and helping to deliver effective care while reducing the time and effort staff expend in responding to patient needs.
According to an investigation by the Boston Globe, between 2005 and 2010, more than 200 hospital-patient deaths were linked to problems with alarms on patient monitors, as reported by Marian Benjamin, though she notes that it wasn’t the monitors, but “alarm fatigue,” on the part of staff, that kept providers from responding quickly enough.
A third solution, Amcom IntelliWeb directory and on-call scheduling will enable authorized staff to quickly get access and update directory listings, contact preferences and on-call schedules across the organization.
Finally, Amcom IntelliDesk operator console will enable fast, professional call-handling with a system integrated with the facility's Cisco Unified Communications Manager platform, the press release states.
"When lives are on the line, being able to demonstrate full-scale, real-life implementations of communications technologies in action can provide an exceptional way to showcase the effective, creative ways we've developed to solve customer's problems," said John Jordan, general manager, Amcom Software, Asia-Pacific, in the press release. "The Australian Center for Health Innovation is a great way for us to do that and help make decisions easier for healthcare administrators and managers."
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
