“The InSites solution definitely has enabled us to improve patient
satisfaction by ensuring better communication, while also helping us
use our resources more effectively.”
— Chuck Oleson, VP and Chief Information Officer at Butler Health System

Situation
In order to provide more timely and further personalized care at their centerpiece
facility – Butler Memorial Hospital, Butler Health System (BHS) decided to use
the Real-Time Locating and Sensing (RTLS) technologies as a part of their realtime
enterprise. BHS implemented the InSites Enterprise Visibility Platform™
(InSites Platform), the Ekahau real-time location system (RTLS), and the Vocera®
communications system, as the core of its patient flow and communication solution.

Solution
The innovative InSites Platform collects location data of both patients and equipment,
as they move throughout the hospital, utilizing Wi-Fi-based location tags powered
by Ekahau. This data is then processed through a sophisticated rules engine,
which ultimately drives vital notifications and alerts out to other applications and
systems. The InSites Platform uses the real-time location information from Ekahau to
automatically track and trigger patient care milestone updates.

Implementation
According to Peter Schogel, Director of the Program Management Office at BHS, “The
success of the project can be greatly attributed to the excellent planning process and
benchmarking methodologies Intelligent InSites has to offer. As a result, we were able
to gain total visibility into our operations.”

Use Cases/Benefits:

Improved Patient Flow
The InSites solution automatically monitors patients movements providing a realtime
view of what is happening with a patient. This information, as well as other
notifications regarding the patient, is delivered to the right person, at the right time,
on the right device. With the reporting capabilities of the InSites solution, BHS
automatically tracks the time surgical patients spend during each phase of their
operation. This data is used to improve workflow processes, better manage staffing
and equipment resources, as well as report performance against throughput metrics.

Unified Communications
A benefit that both staff and patients appreciate is the instant and accurate
communication. Now nurse calls, physician orders, and alert messages can be routed
directly to the appropriate staff. Patients’ families and friends are now able to receive
automated and customized message updates regarding the progress of their loved
ones, regardless if they are waiting in a family room, a hospital’s cafeteria, or across
the country. This alone has greatly reduced the number of phone calls for status
updates.

Better Asset Management
With the InSites solution, staff at BHS know the exact location and status of the
equipment, which saves their valuable time and greatly improves asset utilization.
Through these enhancements, BHS has been able to increase staff productivity
and realize significant hard dollar savings in procurement and rentals by providing
metrics which are used to determine and maintain optimal equipment levels.

Automated Temperature Monitoring
Through the implementation of the InSites solution, BHS staff also automatically
monitor and log the compliance of temperature monitored devices, such as
refrigerators or warming blankets. If the temperature exceeds or drops below a preset
threshold, an alert is transmitted to hospital personnel, so immediate corrective
actions can be taken. Automating the temperature monitoring process allows BHS
to more efficiently manage their resources. As result, they convert sixty hours of
non-value added time to value added time each day, which translates into more
time nurses can spend directly with patients, instead of conducting manual and
time consuming temperature checks.

System Integration
The InSites Platform ties together several existing hospital’s information systems,
including Vocera communications system, a document management solution
from Alpha Systems, MEDITECH electronic health record system (EHR), Picis OR
Manager scheduling system, Intego nurse call, and Microsoft BizTalk. The ability
of the InSites Platform to seamlessly exchange data between disparate systems
eliminates the need for double entry, saving staff time and mitigating potential
errors, driving even more value from their current applications.

“The InSites Platform definitely delivered on our initial goal of providing even
faster and more personalized patient care, plus enabled us to streamline
many other operational areas all while utilizing our existing investments in
technology. It was a good business decision.”
— Chuck Oleson, VP and Chief Information Officer at Butler Health System