Communicating Hands Free in the Kids ED
The Children's Hospital at Westmead
This project was entered in the 2007 NSW Health Awards, Smart Choices about the Costs and Benefits of Health Services category.
Contact: Karen Steinhoff
Abstract
Good communication is essential in Emergency Departments (ED). Current phone and paging systems don’t support communication in highly mobile teams, leading to unacceptable delays locating staff, delayed care and wasted time.
The ED and Information Services (IS) collaborated with an industry consortium led by CISCO to trial a hands free communication solution (Vocera) in a wireless environment. This required a targeted change management communication initiative directed at clinical staff.
There was a pre and post implementation evaluation conducted which demonstrates significant improvements in productivity (staff are saving upwards of 20 hours per day in labour time), reduced waiting times and enhanced patient and staff satisfaction.
Vocera is now seen as an integral communication service in the ED and has since been rolled out into other areas of the Hospital.
The full entry document can be downloaded in the formats listed below:
Download the Presentation 
(403KB) from the 2007 NSW Health Expo
