Enhancing the quality of patient care and the security of personnel
The Centre hospitalier Pierre-Janet (CHPJ) is the first health establishment in Quebec to use the Vocera advance mobile technology from IBM in French, which enables instant voice communication controlled with naturally spoken commands. The system has resulted in faster interventions, better patient care and enhanced security for hospital staff.
The CHPJ, which provides hospitalization, rehabilitation and outpatient services for psychiatric patients, selected the Vocera Solution to replace three obsolete paging and communications systems no longer offering adequate coverage for the facility’s three buildings and outside areas that make up the establishment.
“The Vocera wireless communication system quickly emerged as the only choice offering a maximum of long-term development possibilities,” explained Alain Lamarche, director of hospital and administrative services. “With IBM, the CHPJ becomes the first health establishment in Québec to deploy a complete, hands-free, secure Vocera communications and locating service. Intuitive and easy to use, the system has surpassed our expectations.”
IBM has been working with the hospital since 2009 to develop a strategy to improve all its communications and distress call processes while adopting a Wi-Fi wireless network infrastructure. With the choice of the Vocera solution developed in collaboration with Motorola, real-time communication from any place in the establishment has greatly cut down movements by clinicians and the need for multiple interlocutors, in addition to maximizing teamwork and improving productivity. Medical staff uses the Vocera mobile portable devices securely.
Clinical staff can communicate among themselves individually or as a team, issue distress calls, locate individuals, leave messages and communicate with the outside world to reach a person directly.
“Response time to distress calls is outstanding, because the system can be activated anywhere inside or outside the buildings while allowing the person needing help to be located,” added M. Lamarche.
The CHPJ deployed an initial pilot project in 2010 with the paediatric care unit team before extending it to all care units, subsequently integrating physicians and professionals from outside clinics in a second phase. In total, over 150 antennas have been installed both inside and outside the buildings, and 293 interveners have been trained.
“IBM has a vast experience of health sector challenges. We know that medical personnel move around constantly in a hospital and can be hard to reach by telephone. Before, when a medical staff or physician needed essential information from a colleague, they had to find a telephone, call the hospital operator and ask them to page the physician, and then wait until they received the message, found a telephone and called back. With this new, fast, easy-to-use wireless technology, time is saved as well as the quality of patient care. In addition to accelerating the decision-making process, “Watson-like” technologies able to incorporate natural language and mobile applications are helping the transformation of the medical sector.” said Marc Rochette, IBM’s Executive Director for the healthcare sector in Québec.
About the Centre hospitalier Pierre-Janet
Founded in 1965, the Centre hospitalier Pierre-Janet (CHPJ) is the sole psychiatric hospital in the Outaouais region. In collaboration with the region’s five CSSSs, it provides second-line services: hospitalization, rehabilitation and outpatient care for the entire population of the Outaouais, a total of 329,000 citizens, including an urban metropolitan area of over a quarter million people. The Centre is a recognized teaching establishment and is affiliated with the following universities: Ottawa in Ontario, McGill in Québec and Université du Québec in the Outaouais.
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For Pierre-Janet videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDIPx89qivw (1 minute video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXm0-YBQyr8 (4 minute video)
For further information:
Joanne Fortin, IBM Canada Ltd.
External Communications
514 964-8558
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Bridget Ann Peterson
Massy-Forget Public Relations
514 842-2455, ext. 26
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