New electronic white boards
On November 29th, Sunnybrook's acute
medical-surgical inpatient units at the Bayview and Holland sites launched a
new Care Visibility module of the Bed Management System (BMS), which is part of
the "Drive to 95" occupancy initiative.
The most obvious change is the electronic white boards which
replace the dry-erase whiteboards on each unit. Information is fed from the BMS and includes care icons that
have been developed to represent patient specific information (e.g. risk of
falls, allergies), discharge milestones, nursing assignment and the memo board.
The electronic whiteboards also show the name of the service provider, pending
activity including diagnostic tests the patient has to be transported to, the
unit's pending admissions.
The updated BMS and electronic whiteboards will communicate
discharge milestones for patients to the health care team. These are care goals
that each patient needs to meet before discharge. Five milestones have been
standardized corporately and there are many other milestones that can be applied
on an individual basis, depending on the patient's diagnosis and needs upon
discharge.
"With this technology we are developing an excellent visual
cue for the care team, which will help identify barriers to discharge earlier,
and allow for greater planning," says Bev Waite, Manager of Patient Flow. "We
anticipate that this new system will enhance patient care and communication
within the care team."