Mobile Carts Vs. Wall Stations In Your Healthcare Environment

By Gary Brayton, National Sales Manager, JACO, Inc.

Health systems worldwide have been utilizing computerized physician order entry (CPOE) products for over two decades in order to become more efficient and more accurate with their recordkeeping. The earliest products on the scene were large footprint Workstations on Wheels (WOWs) also referred to as Computers on Wheels (COWs). Designed to handle the excessive weight and size of the first manufactured models of PCs and CRT monitors, these mobile carts were built more like rolling tanks than agile mobility solutions. Healthcare carts were very expensive, consumed valuable space and became an immediate target of regulatory bodies evaluating the safety of hallways and patient rooms. In addition there was also tremendous frustration and costly downtime associated with the deployment of powered mobile carts that had faulty electronics and inadequate battery technology. Soon after deployment, nurses and physicians started calling for sleeker and more slim-line solutions.

This call for new products and the reduction in size of PC hardware led to the proliferation of many new offerings: wall arms, wall stations, custom cabinetry and newly designed mobile carts. There was a technology race and the number of manufacturers providing solutions grew overnight from a handful to hundreds. Burdened by the size of the original mobile cart solutions, hospitals began installing wall arms and wall stations to get things off the floor and out of the way. Although these products address removing EMR hardware from the floor, their limitations and practical application have their own shortfalls. Currently newly designed non-powered mobile carts are providing healthcare professionals with a logical alternative to wall mounted devices.

The five elements outlined in this article provide some insight on the advantages that mobile carts provide over wall mounted devices.