Variety Care had previously been using commercial grade tablets that were not specifically designed for the demands of a healthcare environment; these tablets experienced breaks and failures which resulted in clinician downtime. Manager of Information Systems, Carl Flippin wanted to enhance the facility’s workflow with mobile devices that were durable, portable, lightweight, reliable and had wireless capabilities.

Flippin met with DataSource Mobility, a value added IT reseller with an expertise is mobile technology, to discuss the criteria for Variety Care’s next mobile computing solution. After research and evaluation, the Panasonic Toughbook T8 computers proved to be the ultimate solution.

Since deployment, Variety Care’s workflow has become more efficient. Doctors now have the flexibility to complete charting with a secure VPN when they leave the office.

“Because the Toughbook computers are durable and have great wireless connectivity, the doctors can seamlessly and efficiently move through patient charts, see patients quickly and transmit data immediately. It helps us better serve more patients and our community,” said Flippin.

Click here to download the full Variety Care Community Health Center story from the DataSource Mobility website.

To learn more about the value of Panasonic Toughbook mobile computers in healthcare, visit the Panasonic website.

Meeting specific criteria is daunting and for an EMR project to be truly effective and compliant with official regulations it will require a reliable mobile computing solution that offers security options like fingerprint scanners and smartcard readers. Durability is also a critical element in order to withstand inevitable bumps, drops and spills at the point of care.

I recently discussed critical points for EMR deployments in a blog post titled ‘It’s All About The System…’ The post is worth reading if you are in the process of rolling out an EMR and in search of tips for a successful IT system.

For the study, two members of the nursing staff were equipped with Toughbook H1 Health MCA devices.  The nurses were able to access the hospital’s information system as well as frequently consulted information.  The Toughbook H1 Health was used in day-to-day care for a group of hospitalized patients and workflow was observed and measured repeatedly over the course of the study.

Prior to the deployment of the Toughbook H1 Health MCAs, observations and measurements were made of the nursing staff conducting the same procedures with a group of patients in the same areas of the hospital. This was done using conventional methods which included taking notes at bedside using pen and paper and later inputting data into the appropriate hospital information system.

After comparing the results, the hospital saw a dramatic improvement in workflow efficiency when using the Toughbook H1 Health.  Perpetration time was eliminated; medication and note taking was cut approximately in half and water (or fluid) balancing time was cut by approximately one third.  In total, the hospital saw a 40 percent reduction in the time its nurses used to conduct their daily work.

The full study is available for download on the Panasonic Computer Products Europe web site at the following link

Frederick Memorial Hospital, one of the most comprehensive home health care systems in Maryland, knew that pairing the most reliable mobile computer with the best wireless broadband network would be a critical part of improving the quality of care offered by its home health clinicians.  The solution the hospital deployed was the Panasonic Toughbook T series laptop with embedded Verizon Wireless mobile broadband.

Recently, Frederick Memorial was placed in the top one percentile of hospitals nationwide for EMR adoption.  The hospital credits a large portion of this recognition to its Toughbook/Verizon Wireless solution, for its ability to easily collect and share standard information in the field.

Take a look at the video of Frederick Memorial’s mobility success story.

This is a modified version of the original post.

More often than not, those organizations are disappointed in the results of their investment.

When you buy a car, you don’t buy the engine, tires, airbags and seats separately – you buy a solution designed to work together as a whole. We all know that an EMR roll-out is more complicated than a car! So, why would you treat such a complex process as a series of separate investment decisions?

Every EMR system is made up of a standard set of vital components: software, hardware, networking, integration, security, user buy-in, training, support, etc.  None is any less important than the other.  If any one of those items is not compatible with the other, your million dollar investment will end up collecting dust in a corner.

Many aspects of an EMR deployment can lead to disaster.  Failing to appropriately train users on new EMR software; not ensuring sufficient connectivity across the user environment and deploying hardware that is too heavy and unreliable are typical complications.

Rather than create an EMR solution in an ad-hoc fashion, healthcare organizations need to invest in a system that will meet the needs of their users for years to come.

When tackling healthcare deployments serially, organizations run the risk of failure. It is important to take a step back and think about the pieces of this intricate puzzle before putting it together.

So, what should you do?  Every organization is different.  There is no one-size-fits-all EMR solution. However, there are a few commonly-accepted best practices that should always be considered.

1)     Create a multi-departmental planning team.  No one individual or department can foresee all the potential impacts and roadblocks in a deployment. Members from multiple departments bring unique perspectives to the project by identifying challenges that others may overlook or deemphasize.  In addition, including end-users as part of this team helps build crucial buy-in early in the process.

2)     Do not downplay IT support and end-user training.  In many instances, organizations focus solely on the up-front acquisition cost of the system.  However, saving a few dollars on the front end and not investing in training for end-users might cost tens of thousands of dollars over the life of the project.

3)     Consider working with a vendor who can deliver a complete solution.  Not only does this ease the buying process and increase the success of system integration, it lessens the red tape should anything go awry.

As the old adage says, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  For a successful EMR implementation, it is essential to spend the extra time up front in the planning process to truly understand how the various moving parts will work together in your environment.