Securing iPhones For Clinicians
By Wendy Grafius, contributing writer
Technology gives clinicians secure access to electronic patient information
Fisher-Titus Medical Center of Norwalk, OH, and NCH Healthcare System of Naples, FL, both have recently deployed Cerner’s CareAware Connect, a mobility and communications solution for clinicians. Designed for smartphone use, the solution combines communications, alarm management, and nursing workflow tools.
Fisher-Titus is a nonprofit community health system composed of Fisher-Titus Memorial Hospital, a 99-bed acute care facility, Norwalk Memorial Home, a 69-bed skilled nursing home, The Carriage House of Fisher-Titus, a 48-unit assisted living facility, and a Home Health Center. Serving the 70,000 residents of Norwalk, Huron County, and surrounding communities in northern Ohio, Fisher-Titus’ medical staff of 84 active and associate physicians along with 60 doctors with admitting privileges represent 35 medical specialties. Accreditations include Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program (HFAP), Chest Pain Center, Primary Stroke Center, and Level 3 Trauma Center. In 2010, Fisher-Titus became the first all-digital smart community hospital in the U.S. and was named in 2012 as a Hospital and Health Networks’ “Most Wired”.
NCH Healthcare System is a 715-bed two-hospital system and alliance of 636 physicians and medical facilities serving Collier County and southwest Florida. NCH Downtown Naples Hospital houses the Schick Heart Center, a complete cardiac care center, and also offers specialties in oncology, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, psychiatry, pediatric emergency medicine, surgery, and diagnostics. Home of the Jay & Patty Baker Patient Care Tower with wireless internet and telemetry throughout, NCH North Naples Hospital Campus offers a Level II neonatal nursery, ob/gyn, orthopedics, general surgery, emergency medicine, intensive care, pediatrics, and pediatric progressive care. Additionally the North Naples campus hosts the Brookdale Healthy Aging Center. Accredited by the Joint Commission, NCH is Florida’s and the southeast U.S. region’s first member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network.
The deployment of CareAware Connect allows nurses at both hospital systems to make voice calls, send HIPAA secure text messages, and review EHR data and alerts on the Apple iPhone, through each facilities’ existing wireless infrastructure. “We are pleased to add this new solution to our technology resources that help us provide our patients with the safest and highest quality of care possible,” said John Britton, vice president of information services at Fisher-Titus. Michele Thoman, chief nursing officer at NCH Healthcare System added, “This new technology gives nurses quick access to electronic patient information and facilitates communication among the clinical professionals caring for each patient in a HIPAA secure manner.”
Cerner’s solution utilizes CareAware as well as Millennium architecture to provide fast, easy, and smart interaction. “CareAware Connect represents a significant addition of communications capabilities to the CareAware vendor-neutral platform enabling interoperability and seamless communication between medical devices, healthcare applications, and EHR systems,” said Don Bisbee, Cerner’s senior vice president.
SOURCE: Globe Newswire