Enhancement in medical dispensation: our unit-dose dispensing unit

In co-operation with the manufacturer we have developed modularly-built unit that allows an interruption-free dispensation of all blister packs available on the market.

Here the medication remains as packaged aseptically by the industry until received by the patient and is identifiable by the label.

The automatic preparation of individual patient dishes is possible for around 90% of the medication (including ampoules) prescribed by the hospital.

Should this be the case, the respective medication is cut out of the original blister pack and without any further intermediary steps transferred directly into a patient dish. In this way the system guarantees a disturbance-free preparation uninhibited by the danger of cross-contamination.

Via an automatic labelling process all relevant data, such as name of the patient, drug, dosage instructions, station and room-number, are printed onto foil, which is finally tightly attached onto the dish.

During visits directly at the patient's bedside medical prescriptions take place on wireless laptops and are hence passed on to the central-computer. There the data is managed transferred to the dispensation unit in the hospital pharmacy. As soon as the data as well as after the collection of all the demands of a particular station has arrived, the preparation may  proceed at once.

By means of this new organisational structure it has become possible to minimise the storage of medication in particular stations and at the same time the associated costs. Thus the benefits of patient-orientated cost-effectiveness are reaped.

Efficiency in writing: our digital dictation system

The increasing number of stationary and out-patient cases as well as the growing demand for promptness and quality in the way doctors write were the origin for the decision to introduce a digital dictation system.

In basic terms, this system is connected to the existing clinical communication system and can thus draw upon essential data.

By way of a text-system interface and the use of recorded speech and components it is also possible to compose high-quality dictations from home.
 
Backlogs during dictation are a thing of the past: our 'writing-pool' spanning all departments was able to achieve a 20% increase of patients without staff intervention.

Use of synergies: patient calling and telephone system

The amalgamation of our hospitals to create an economically-organised business clearly manifests itself in the example of our solution for our patient calling and telephone system.

The completely independent of the location of the relative final destination telephone exchange is taken over entirely by Neuhaus Hospital, whereas all patient calls in both hospitals are co-ordinated through the COM-centre in Sonneberg Hospital.

This spares the necessity for a 24-hour occupation of the relevant department in each hospital.

The total internal telephone-traffic, including that between the two hospitals, therefore runs at no extra charge.

A view of the future: doctors' decisions supported by expert systems

Our concept of medical and nursing communication is enhanced by the 'Rules Engine' project. This rule-based system makes use of the Arden syntax, developed especially for the clinical field, opening the possibility of exchanging advanced rule between different hospitals. The warning and reminder system currently in use is distinguished by three central components:

 Incidence: a special triggering event takes places, for example the placement of an order, the entry of diagnostic findings or simply the passing of a certain amount of time.
 Rule: as a result of the activated trigger event, the rule obtains the relevant data and carries out the necessary calculations.
 Information: on demand the system will give a warning or reminder and allow interactive access to the communication system, for example directly to the assignment and findings communication.

Investigation in America has shown that any complications are not only reduced through the implementation of rule-based systems in the clinic but the efficiency of courses is also improved. In this way it becomes possible to reduce costs.

With the 'Rules Engine' we are able to make another step in the direction of quality-assurance.