Meghan Jaremczuk a nurse manager at Palomar Medical Center at www.PalomarHealth.org located in Escondido California has found that life just got a lot easier since her patients are able to wear a lightweight wireless vital sign monitor on their wrists called ViSi Mobile®.
For the first time, patient data from these devices is flowing into the Cerner® EHR through the medical device integration platform called CareAware®. This means that doctors and nurses are able to see up-to-the-minute clinical data from lower acuity units, which helps treat patients proactively since caregivers can chart data immediately as it happens.
Most hospitals use continuous monitoring systems to help clinicians identify emerging problems in intensive care units and in other high acuity areas. In the lower acuity areas, where 60 to 70 percent of hospitalized patients are located, clinicians typically collect vital signs via spot checks at four to six hour intervals.
Palomar Health the largest public healthcare district by area in California is using ViSi Mobile to continuously check the vital signs or patients in these lower acuity units. By integrating the data into each patient’s EHR, clinicians know immediately if a patient’s condition worsens. Dr. Ben Kanter, Palomar’s Chief Medical Information Officer likens the device to a seat belt for patients.
At the present time, Palomar is monitoring blood pressure, pulse rates, and oxygen saturation on Jaremczuk’s surgical unit. But future plans call for the system to also look at ECGs and respiratory rates.
Palomar has been working with representatives from Sotera Wireless at www.soterawireless.com the company that designed the monitors. By talking to Jaremcruk and others, Sotera lowered the number of alarms that the system produces by 70 percent.