News
Mobile clinical assistant increases Salford's phlebotomy
productivity by 20%
29 June 2009
The Motion Computing C5 Mobile Clinical Assistant (MCA) has
significantly impacted hospital workflows, including increasing staff
productivity by 20% in the Phlebotomy Department of Salford Royal NHS
Foundation Trust.
“Intel has worked closely with Salford Royal and Motion on the
development and delivery of the C5 MCA and we are thrilled to see the
significant positive results reported to date,” David McCarron, EMEA
Healthcare Manager, Intel.
The C5 MCA, developed in collaboration with Intel and the NHS, is a
hospital-grade device that is proven in healthcare environments. The
mobile, rugged PC features an integrated barcode scanner, RFID reader,
digital camera and smart card reader to ease clinician workloads,
improve productivity and enhance security. The highly-portable device
weighs approximately 1.3kg and is fully sealed to enable simple
disinfection.
Salford Royal, one of the first European pilot sites for the MCA,
worked closely with Motion and Intel on deployment. One area of
demonstrated success was in phlebotomy workflows. Prior to deploying the
MCAs phlebotomists used a paper-based based process that was inefficient
and created several challenges, including duplicate or unnecessary blood
draws, mislabeling risks, and limited access to computers which created
significant delays in the communication of important patient details.
Now, with the MCAs, phlebotomists are able to accept and process more
requests, while they have also reduced unnecessary blood draws through
access to real-time patient information. Labels are now printed directly
at the bedside, which reduces the risk of mislabeling.
Additionally, work is processed immediately, which speeds up the
return time on test results. With the new process in place, Salford
Royal reports a significant reduction in phlebotomist preparation time,
reduced costs, reduced paperwork and an overall staff productivity
increase of 20%.
“Salford Royal has long realized the ability for point-of-care
technologies to improve quality of care, optimize workflows and reduce
the overall cost of care,” said Christine Walters. “The MCAs are
allowing clinicians to spend more time with patients, helping to improve
patient safety and reduce medication administration errors. We look
forward to seeing even further impact as we continue to deploy the
devices throughout other areas of the organization.”
The C5 MCA is being used throughout NHS organizations in the UK,
including University Hospital of Birmingham (UHB) NHS Foundation Trust,
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Trust, Great Ormond Street Hospital for
Children NHS Trust (GOSH), and North West London Hospitals NHS Trust.
Reported benefits so far include enhanced infection control, improved
productivity, improved team collaboration, increased time with patients
and improved utilization of electronic patient records.
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