ACMH Hospital and Cybernet:
Freeing up Work Space at Nursing Stations
ACMH Hospital of western Pennsylvania decided that an all-in-one PC was the right solution for their renovated nursing stations. Using traditional PC desktop towers underneath the counters had proved to be an obstacle to proper cleaning due to the mass of cables and equipment. ACMH’s Director of Network Services chose Cybernet’s iOne-GX31 all in one LCD PCs to mount on the counters at the nursing stations. Deployment was fast and easy, and the new units were loaded with the new EMR software system being implemented. The nurses found that with the iOne-GX31s in place, they now had double the available work space, and housekeeping could more effectively clean the area underneath the counters.
The Customer
ACMH Hospital is headquartered in Kittaning, Pennsylvania, and has a broad array of services and medical centers that serve the western part of the state. The hospital employs nearly 1000 employees, including 143 physicians in 34 specialties. Their services include an Acute Rehab Center, the Richard G. Laube Cancer Center, the Pain Management Clinic, a staffed inpatient psychiatric unit, and also three other primary care centers in western Pennsylvania. ACMH was recently honored by being named in the 2011 edition of “Becker’s Hospital Review” as one of the 100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare.
The Business Challenge
As part of a renovation project in 2008, Director of Network Services Tom Adamson was tasked with finding an all-in-one PC solution for the nursing stations. The hospital had previously used a conventional PC configuration at the nursing stations, with towers underneath the counters, and monitors and keyboards on the counter tops. With the maze of cables and wires underneath the counters, the housekeeping staff found it difficult to clean well enough under the counters – and not to the hygienic standards required for infection control at a nursing station area.
Tom, his IS department, and a committee made up of nurses, nursing managers and staff educators met to discuss the computer requirements. They were also implementing a new EMR software system, so the screen size and resolution was a key requirement. ACMH hospital had already been using some Cybernet keyboard computers in the lab and blood draw areas, so Tom was already familiar with the company. He had looked at some other competing products, but he recommended to the committee that they order a test unit of the
iOne-GX31 LCD PC from Cybernet instead. The committee agreed.
The Cybernet Solution
Tom received the iOne-GX31 test unit from Cybernet and immediately began sizing it up. The plan was to mount the units to the nursing station counters using VESA mounting holes. The unit fit perfectly. It also had the right screen size and resolution, so Tom set it up and had the nurses and nursing managers take it through its paces with the new EMR software. Like any new system, the nurses were at first skeptical, but when they started using it, they really liked it. After testing it out for a few weeks, Tom ordered 10 more, then additional lots of 10.
Deployment was very easy for Tom and his staff. They uploaded all the software to the first unit, then did image ghosting for all the other
iOne-GX31 units as they arrived. All they had to do was mount them to the counters and they were ready to go – all in less than 30 minutes per unit.
Where the hospital used to have 6
PCs crammed into a work station with all the towers and wires, they now fit 10 Cybernet iOne-GX31s – mounted on the counter or on a reticulating arm. All power outlets are now above the counter rather than underneath, enabling easy access and eliminating cables from the under-counter area.
Key Results
Nurses, doctors, case workers and occasionally therapy workers use the
iOne-GX31s at the nursing stations to enter data into patients’ records (EMRs), and also occasionally use them for educational and administrative purposes. The nurses, who use the units most of the time, found that the all-in-one PCs in effect doubled their available work space. They now have room for charts on the counter, and are delighted that there is no more clutter under the counter. Housekeeping can now effectively clean the area beneath the counters in accordance with infection control standards.
The iOne-GX31s have now become the envy of some of the other departments within the ACMH Hospital. Recently, the physicians in the psychiatric unit requested some
iOne-GX31s in their facility to use for reporting, and the endoscopy suite also wanted some units for their area. Tom Adamson ordered more Cybernet all-in-one PCs for those departments, and expects that trend to continue.
