The Medical Assistant That Never Sleeps
There was always so much to keep track of. To begin with, there were the countless patient charts, medicines and schedules. The list seemed to go on. Managing this incessant flow of vital data often seemed impossible for the dedicated nurses of the Bethesda Health Group. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Bethesda Health is a premier provider of both inpatient and outpatient nursing services to a variety of communities. Larry Hickman, the organization’s Chief Information Officer, knew that maintaining Bethesda’s exceptional level of health care required dramatic improvements in its information management. Urgently needed was a computing system roaring with uncanny muscle, speed and reliability. In addition, the new system had to gain acceptance by the staff of nurses. This meant it would have to display the ultimate in user-friendliness. Fortunately, Larry discovered his dream solution – the Cybernet iOne-GX31.
Selecting the iOne-GX31 capped a six-month evaluation process unfolding in both lab and field settings. During the early stages, Larry and his team tested both hand-held devices and laptops. To their disappointment, neither proved suitable for a fast-paced medical environment. In order to be effective, the system of choice would have to be mounted on a medical cart. Exploring a range of possibilities, Larry’s group narrowed down the choices to three finalists – the Cybernet iOne-GX31-GX31, a full PC, and an All-in-One device manufactured by HP.
Working tirelessly, the Bethesda team conducted grueling comparisons of the three computers in four critical areas: (1) acceptance by nurses; (2) software usability; (3) hardware performance; and (4) central administration of device and software. Central administration would give Larry’s team an important network connection to the computer if software or hardware problems developed. The team could then correct virtually any problem without outside technical intervention.
The iOne-GX31 emerged as the clear-cut champion in all four categories. In addition to these four advantages, Cybernet customizes each unit to boot up with Bethesda’s proprietary nursing software running and ready to use. No technician is required. Obviously, such user-friendly readiness scores major points with the nursing staff.
In the performance arena, Bethesda’s iOne-GX31 system kicks in with a hearty configuration of computer, RFID reader and a soon-to-be added biometric fingerprint reader. Some off-the-shelf software and web-based applications are also incorporated into the mix. But to keep the process streamlined and focused, anything unrelated to nursing is eliminated.
Both Larry’s team and the nursing staff are overwhelmingly pleased with the impeccable performance of the iOne-GX31 system. “The units absolutely have helped us achieve our goals!” enthuses Larry. In fact, Bethesda plans to increase the number of units it purchases. Thus far, the organization has bought the models in large quantities to gain economies of scale. For instance, if Bethesda has more than enough iOne-GX31s for the nursing staff, the extra units can be utilized easily at secretarial stations, administrative workstations and so forth. This is a major advantage the Cybernet workhorse holds over laptops, notebooks, and even hand-held devices. In addition, the iOne-GX31s can be easily rotated from a nursing station to another area such as an administrative station, and vice versa.
Brawny yet sleek, the iOne-GX31 has proven itself the ideal solution for Bethesda’s information management team and its nursing staff. By working round-the-clock to help the Bethesda team manage their organization’s critical flow of patient and administrative data, the Cybernet powerhouse truly is a medical assistant that never sleeps.
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