Rauland’s Converge platform enables hospitals to automate data capture about healthcare provider locations, and provide them with the information when they enter a patient’s room
Feb 14, 2024Hospitals are launching a new nurse call solution known as Converge—leveraging real time location system (RTLS) data—provided by Rauland, a technology company focused on healthcare clinical communications and workflow.
Converge leverages RTLS-based details on Rauland’s nurse responder enterprise software platform with an eye on patient safety as well as operational efficiency.
With the solution, nurses and other clinicians are intended to have automated access to relevant information that will help them serve the needs of each patient, quickly.
Digital Control Center
The solution creates a “digital control center” for each patient room that identifies and connects to health care providers, helping them prioritize patient care and receive personal tasks and alerts relevant to the patient whose room they have entered. Staff members use the system to assign themselves to patients in rooms as they go about their daily visits as well.
With RTLS data, the system knows who has entered a room, and can display information about the patient care needed at that location—as well as during the rest of that individual’s rounds—from a monitor in that room.
A History In Nurse Call Solutions
Rauland’s solution monitors audio in the patient room and integrates devices installed both in patient rooms and at a nurses’ desk to ensure a critical communication line between the patient and their nurse, said Joseph DeLisle, Rauland’s product management director.
Additionally, Rauland’s software layer connects nurse or clinician communications to other systems in the hospital to create a broader ecosystem. That can include patient electronic records, assets and hardwired nurse consoles.
The software has the ability to send data to healthcare providers’ mobile devices if their hospital provides them with such tools.
Combining the Benefits of RTLS, Communication
Today, many hospitals are leveraging RTLS-based solutions to manage assets and personnel or patients, to bring visibility into who and what, is where, in their facilities. That could consist of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), IR or ultrasonic-based solutions that pinpoint the location of tags attached to equipment, or badges worn by individuals.
Converge offers hospitals another way to leverage the technology by personalizing data presented to clinicians, based on who is in a specific room or unit. Rauland’s Converge comes with an open API and the company can partner with any RTLS vendor, DeLisle said. The company already works with RTLS technology providers such as Midmark, Centrak, Sonitor and Airista.
“With RTLS, we're able to do more,” DeLisle said. Because RTLS technology detects the location of an individual or asset and with integration, Converge then can provide the relevant information to that individual.
How It Works
Nurse calls are typically initiated by pressing the bedside button when a patient needs help. That request is received by Rauland’s responder enterprise platform, (of which Converge is a component) which then sends alerts to the authorized responders and can use the RTLS data to identify who is closest to that patient.
Converge will display a list of the location of other staff members who may be able to provide assistance. A nurse in the patient room can see a list of other nurses and their locations to directly contact the appropriate nurse.
Once the nurse receives the message on their phone or other device, they will then go to the room where a patient needs support. As they enter the room, the RTLS system identifies who has arrived. Converge captures that information and stores the data to indicate that the call has been answered.
Streamlining Workflow
The system identifies who is there and what they may need to know. For instance, if the responder is a nurse, the touch screen mounted in the patient room would automatically show that nurse details about the patient, and potentially what services might be necessary.
They can then use that display to view their next tasks, and adjust their schedules related to the next patient visits.
By authenticating that nurse, and automatically signing them into the information that they need, “It helps to streamline nurses ‘workflows,” DeLisle said. “We're able to show them exactly what they need to see to get their job done.”
Room Cleaning Services
The system can also be used for services such as requesting room cleaning, with RTLS data if the movement of patients and staff is tracked automatically.
For instance, when a patient is checked out of a room, an environmental technician could receive a message that the room is ready for servicing.
When that individual comes into the room, the system will display a list of tasks needed in that area, helping streamline cleaning workflows that this person has access to. They can conduct the necessary tasks, sign off on the job, and be directed to the room where they are needed next.
Leveraging Converge without RTLS
Converge does not require RTLS data to provide personalized data to healthcare providers.
“RTLS itself is not in every hospital. So while it's a great tool it's a great technology, not every hospital uses it,” adds DeLisle.
If the hospital does not have RTLS technology in place, when the nurse goes into the patient room the nurse would need to identify themselves to be directed to the information they need.
For instance, a nurse could scan their proximity badge at the same Converge touchscreen to be authenticated by the software, said DeLisle, thereby gaining access to necessary data about their tasks, schedule, or needs of the specific patient.
Analytics
In the long term, the solution not only aids nurses during patient visits, it provides analytics to help hospitals understand performance and modify accordingly. In fact, Converge can provide insights into how the floors are running, based on RTLS data, says DeLisle.
An example might be a trend in which, on Friday afternoons, responses to patients are slower than during other times. That could mean a shortage of personnel at that time.
“We can even drill down lower,” DeLisle added, by identifying what factors caused slow responses such as the needs of individual patients, how often they were pushing their call buttons, or how quickly responses came.
“People are talking about the digital revolutions and digital health and this is a step in that direction,” says DeLisle.
“We want our technology to help people do their jobs as quickly and efficiently as possible,” while at the same time, he says, the system is intended to be non-disruptive to a healthcare provider’s daily tasks.
“I think Converge will be an integral part of nurses workflow without being obtrusive.”
Key Takeaways:
- Rauland’s Converge solution provides automated data based on the location of healthcare workers and assets via RTLS systems.
- Hospitals can use the technology to provide more efficient service for patients, while aiming to also improve the workflow for clinicians.
