Transforming care through integrated mobile communication technology – Article in the Times

As featured in the Times ‘Future of Healthcare’ report …

The Future of Healthcare Times Supplement

The use of mobile technology in hospitals will revolutionise clinical processes, enabling hospitals to achieve higher levels of quality and efficiency than have previously been possible, critical for delivering a sustainable NHS. says Paul Volkaerts, founder and managing director of Nervecentre Software.

In hospitals, traditional paper-based communication methods have long been associated with accidental errors, omissions and misinterpretation, all of which are major, yet preventable, causes of patient harm. What is needed is a system that enables hospitals to effectively record, share and respond to patient information, at any time from anywhere in a hospital. Nervecentre provides just that – a software platform that delivers mobile electronic observations, handover, task management and clinical assessment, 24 hours a day.

Bedside observations of vital signs (pulse rate, body temperature, respiration rates and blood pressure) are recorded on mobile electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets and, simultaneously, into an intelligent centralised data storage platform. Up-to-date patient information is therefore instantly available to medical staff from any electronic device, allowing for the prompt detection of changes in health status. Deteriorating vital signs are instantly identified by the system, and immediately alerts the most appropriate clinician, ensuring the delivery of timely and effective interventions.

This innovative technology enables compliance with the recommendation made in the Francis report that observations should be accessible to all staff electronically, to ensure continuous monitoring. Furthermore, effective observation recording, communication and response are improvement indicators considered by the Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) payment framework, which rewards NHS Trusts that excel for quality and innovation in agreed areas of care.

Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) is among the NHS Trusts that have pioneered the use of mobile communication technology. Following funding, they chose Nervecentre to provide electronic observations to their 4,500 hospital clinicians. So far, staff have recorded over 500,000 electronic observations with the system identifying and communicating over 50,000 deteriorating patients.

Patient observations do not operate in isolation – they are a small piece in a much bigger jigsaw. Studies have shown that up to 80% of untoward clinical incidents have communication as a contributing factor. The same mobile communication technology used to reduce intervention times for patients following taking of observations, can be used to address many other hospital processes, such as the allocation of clinical tasks out of hours, and safer handover on shift change. A whole hospital mobile platform will enable hospitals to significantly improve patient outcomes and safety by optimising clinical workflow and communications, and contribute towards a sustainable NHS.

Nottingham University Hospitals have also successfully implemented Nervecentre’s mobile handover and task management. The former ensures continuous care and shared real-time patient information, while the latter notifies tasks to the most appropriate clinician, optimising workflow and eliminating delays and interruptions, day and night. The result is an integrated communication system that provides benefits that go well beyond the simple elimination of bedside paper charts.

The greatest leap forward

As Caron Swinscoe, the Trust’s Chief Nurse Health Informatics and Head of Clinical Engagement, says, “Mobile working gives healthcare professionals the time, tools and information they need to deliver better, safer care for our patients and will enable the greatest leap forward in safety and efficiency that Nottingham University Hospitals has seen.”To date, Nervecentre has delivered award-winning mobile systems to several other major hospitals in the UK, and pride itself on providing solutions uniquely tailored to the individual needs of its customers. Employing bespoke, fully-integrated mobile systems that combine electronic observations, handover, task management and clinical assessment, facilitates healthcare organisations in achieving the highest standards of quality and safety, ultimately helping saving lives.

To date, Nervecentre has delivered award-winning mobile systems to several other major hospitals in the UK, and pride itself on providing solutions uniquely tailored to the individual needs of its customers. Employing bespoke, fully-integrated mobile systems that combine electronic observations, handover, task management and clinical assessment, facilitates healthcare organisations in achieving the highest standards of quality and safety, ultimately helping saving lives.