MEDICAL PC HANNOVER MEDICAL SCHOOL. Focusing on efficiency and process reliability

Transcription

1 MEDICAL PC HANNOVER MEDICAL SCHOOL Focusing on efficiency and process reliability

2 Focusing on efficiency and process reliability The Hannover Medical School is one of the world s leading university medical centres, with more than 1,500 hospital beds and over 7,000 employees, including approximately, 1,200 doctors, 1,400 nurses, and 400 research scientists. Around 100 Puchheimer Penta GmbH medical PCs are supporting anaesthetists in their work in operations performed at the Hannover Medical School (MHH). They are being used there in the anaesthetists workplace as the basic hardware for documentation and for the patient data management system (PDMS). Electronic documentation using ergonomic touch panel input eases the workload of the medical staff and makes the workflow both more efficient and more reliable. Around 100 Puchheimer Penta GmbH medical PCs are supporting anaesthetists in their work in operations performed at the Hannover Medical School (MHH). Operators of hospitals are facing wide a variety of challenges these days. On the one hand, patients expect, as their right, a very high quality of treatment. And the word gets around about this and is therefore also a decisive competitive factor. But, on the other hand, hospitals - ever since the introduction of the billing system based upon German Diagnosis Related Groups - are also facing increasing cost pressure. In order to continue to remain profitable with a treatment quality that has to be constantly improved, hospitals have to continue to optimise the efficiency of their internal workflows something which is not exactly made any easier by the high demands for documentation. This is becoming particularly clear in the medically sensitive and cost intensive areas of clinical operations. The documenting of every stage in the treatment process - for example in the anaesthetists workplace - is a constantly occurring need and is also exceptionally important for the further medication. Thanks to the application of PC technology, these operational stages can be developed digitally which can considerably simplify the amount of work involved. The improvement in efficiency is particularly high in each case when the user does not have to carefully input everything via (unhygienic) keying, but can work on the patient registration for the most part via PENTA MEDICAL HANNOVER MEDICAL SCHOOL -2-

3 (hygienic) touch panel menus and optionally also RFID or barcode scanners. In addition, the PCs designed as medical PCs under DIN EN or EN standards have galvanically separated interfaces so that the vital data can be automatically read and electronically documented. Solutions can be devised in this respect in which, in interaction with high-performance hardware and software, the vital data is compared with that of the administration of narcotics, the age and weight of the patient and thus the target data and the actual data are already displayed and documented using IT methods for the optimised administration of the narcotic. In addition, the system can be rapidly and easily sterilised using strong disinfectants, which is a major step forward in the efficiency of postoperative cleaning up. Simplified and comprehensive documentation The compact design of the Penta medical PC enables space-saving installation directly onto the anaesthesia tower, which is ideal for the narrow confines of the operating theatre. The Hannover Medical School (MHH), one of the largest hospitals in Germany and one of the world's leading centres for transplant medicine, has been using medical PCs like this for some time to improve its efficiency and 100 Penta GmbH medical PCs are installed in anaesthetists workplaces for the anaesthetic documentation system. Maximilian Weber, who is a graduate in Information Technology and who is responsible within the MHH IT Department for this selection of the medical PCs that are installed, confirms the positive effects that have been achieved: "Since the medical PC systems have been installed at MHH, process reliability and efficiency has markedly improved". Since the introduction of medical PCs, anaesthetic reporting has been prepared and carried out entirely electronically. All relevant patient data and processing stages such as, for example medication, batch recording at blood banks, etc. are recorded in the touchpanel-supported input screen masks and filed in the PDMS databank. When doing this, the validity of the data is automatically checked by the software which increases data integrity and patient PENTA MEDICAL HANNOVER MEDICAL SCHOOL -3-

4 security. Data from vital monitors and ventilation equipment is also automatically recorded by the Penta medical PCs. "All of the documentation work is carried out electronically and is automated as far as is possible and there is no longer any need for paper records. This relieves us above all thanks to the automated data transfer of the burden of expensive documentation work", said Dr Terence Krauss, from the Clinic for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine at MHH. The electronic data storage also guarantees comprehensive documentation processing. There are in addition no important items of information that are lost on, for instance, billing-relevant work. These are in fact automatically made available to the accounting function by the integration of the medical PC into the organisation's internal network. MHH is recommending the use of medical PCs with touchscreen. This operating method is clearly more intuitive than inputting data using a mouse or keyboard. By this means orientation periods and input errors are kept to a minimum and the efficiency of the operational processes increases. Intuitive operation via touchscreen The automatic data acquisition mentioned above simplifies the documentation process enormously. However the data must furthermore be entered into the anaesthetic documentation. In order also to enable efficiency improvements in this operational stage, the operational design of the medical PC has to be particularly userfriendly. In this respect MHH is recommending the use of medical PCs with touchscreen. This operating method is clearly more intuitive than inputting data using a mouse or keyboard. By this means orientation periods and input errors are kept to a minimum and the efficiency of the operational processes increases. However there are also several differences in the use of touchscreens: for example there is a difference between resistive i.e. reacting to pressure and capacitive touch technology, which again produces an electrical modification in the touch field. On the basis of its differing technological characteristics, this is depending on the application a technology that is more adaptable than others. In this way, the latest capacitive touchscreens enable a multitouch control, PENTA MEDICAL HANNOVER MEDICAL SCHOOL -4-

5 such as one finds for example on the latest smart phones, by means of simple gestures like the enlargement of the screen sections by pulling apart the applied fingertips. Multitouch control makes the viewing of findings from imaging processes particularly efficient. The advantage of the latest resistive touchscreens lies on the other hand in the possibility of especially precise inputs, using for example non-conductive items such as ballpoint pens. A highly sensory solution such as this is not yet available on the latest capacitive touchscreens as we are still in the early stages of the finger being assumed as a means of inputting. The resistive glass touchscreens can be used without any problems even with gloves or nonconductive input aids such as ball point pens. Above all, the latter method enables particularly precise inputs such as when working in PDMS with reduced row spacing. In practice, the application of resistive touchscreen has been particularly well proven in the MHH, as the PDMS input screen masks are constructed in a formula-oriented manner and are to some extent better operated with pens. The resistive touchscreens enable reliable operation with gloves, which is a particularly relevant factor in patient-related applications and above all during operations. In this respect there is also the fact that these touchscreens are better operated with non-conductive objects such as retracted ballpoint pens. In practical terms, this is a feasible alternative above all when using soiled gloves or for inputs needing special precision, as happens when working in the PDMS with reduced row spacing. Efficient cleaning thanks to hygienic system design Penta offers two solutions. But it is important with both solutions that they are based on glass, as glass is ideal for use during operations. Finally a smooth glass surface is particularly easy to thoroughly clean and even when doing sousing highly efficient disinfectants. This is because the durable glass front reliably protects the touch panel that is beneath it against the harmful effects of aggressive chemicals also in day-to-day cleaning. PENTA MEDICAL HANNOVER MEDICAL SCHOOL -5-

6 However the cleanliness of the PC was not the only factor considered in selecting the touchscreen. More importantly the whole system design has to be tailored to the requirements of hygiene, because only in this way can the cleaning process be speeded up, the changeover times between operations shortened and thereby the utilisation and the efficiency of the operating theatre enhanced. In contrast to certain other systems, the Penta medical PC has a fully enclosed, smooth casing without any joints, which has no collecting points for dirt and dust. The IP65 protection also prevents the ingress of liquids into the inside of the housing and reliably protects the technological parts of the equipment during the cleaning process against possible damage. The fully enclosed fanless casing of the Penta medical PC has no collection points for dirt and dust and enables thorough disinfection of the systems for perfect near-patient application. This system design makes the Penta medical PC s cleaning process not only thorough and effective but also hygienic. In addition, hygiene has again a significant influence one the quality of operation and in the end any lack of hygiene is one of the most common causes for post-operative complications. "When performing an operation, hygiene is of the utmost importance. This applies naturally also for the medical PC that is used" emphasised Maximilian Weber. "And the systems provided by Penta have completely met our hygiene requirements." "The Penta medical PC system design enables its use in near-patient application. It's then that we see the great advantage of the Penta systems", agrees Dr von der Groeben, Medical PDMS Administrator at MHH. One further advantage is that because the Penta medical PCs come without an active fan, they operate almost completely silently, which is ideal for near-patient applications in the operating theatre or at the intensive care station. Not every PC is OP suitable The features, which a medical PC should have in order to make work processes more efficient and to improve process quality, have PENTA MEDICAL HANNOVER MEDICAL SCHOOL -6-

7 already been highlighted. However there are also in addition applicable standards, which PCs must meet in order to be approved to be installed in near-patient applications. Amongst these are for example the guaranteeing of reliable protection of the patient and of the medical personnel against any dangerous leakage currents such as for example those that are due to faulty earth connections or voltage differences that may occur between the medical PC and for example peripheral appliances or Ethernet networks connected to it. For this reason, the Penta medical PCs that are certified under DIN EN or EN have galvanically separated serial interfaces and network cards. In this way dangerous leakage currents that can drain off onto patients or cause damage to the hardware are prevented. Located under the conveniently removable cable cover (see image), the Penta medical PCs feature galvanically separated interfaces. Via these interfaces the medical PCs acquire vital data from the connected medical appliances and record this automatically in the anaesthetic report. Not all PCs come through the surgical endurance test However, even when the specified standards may have been met, the system also needs to be proven in practice. It is here that the wheat is separated from the chaff in terms of medical PCs. The IT department of the MHH tests numerous medical PCs from various manufacturers extremely stringently in an extensive evaluation process. The various systems have to undergo many days of endurance testing under real application conditions. At this point several PCs have already reached their limit and failed due to overheating, amongst other things because of their added ventilation slots. Standing out positively from the rest were the Penta medical PCs which are designed for a mean time between failures (MTBF) of around 50,000 hours and thus had no problems with the test. This high reliability of the Penta medical PC is due to the decision to dispense with vulnerable components such as rotating hard disks or active fans. In the place of these, Penta exclusively installs reliable HDD and solid-state storage media and a fully enclosed and highly durable aluminium casing with a passive cooling concept. "The PENTA MEDICAL HANNOVER MEDICAL SCHOOL -7-

8 Penta medical PCs are extremely robust and reliable in operation", said Dr Terence Krauss and even if in spite of the high MTBF, a repair should be needed, the IT Department of MHH are quite relaxed about it. "Thanks to the long-term availability of the Penta systems, extension or replacement procurement in identical configurations is not a problem. And having that over many years is ideal for medical I T" says Maximilian Weber. Green IT plus point Penta medical PCs are designed for a mean time between failures (MTBF) of around 50,000 hours. This high reliability of the Penta medical PC is due to the decision to dispense with vulnerable components such as rotating hard disks or active fans. In the place of these, Penta exclusively installs reliable HDD and solid-state storage media and a fully enclosed and highly durable aluminium casing with a passive cooling concept. The Penta medical PCs were therefore able to meet the basic criteria of the extensive list of MHH s requirements, which are: conformity to applicable medical standards, robust design, lengthy reliable operation, efficient and user-friendly operation and hygienic system design. However Penta was able to convince the management of the MHH with a further argument which was namely: the environmental compatibility of its system. Environmental protection is an important subject for the Hannover Medical School. Hospitals after all generate numerous environmental impacts and - with 1.2 million tonnes of refuse per annumare the fifth largest refuse generators in Germany. Making a contribution to environmental protection is also always an important and competitively relevant image criterion for hospitals. Puchheimer medical PCs with the patented Penta G.R.E.E.N product range offer to hospitals a way of improving their environmental impact equation. Because this integrated Green IT takes into account the complete life cycle of the PCs from production through the life cycle of the system D up until recycling. In this way the RoHS- conforming production reduces the environmental impact in production and recycling due to the discontinuation of the use of environmentally damaging materials. In order to enable the energy-efficient operation of the PC, Penta only installs particularly economical processors which can operate on a 2 Watt power consumption based on the design. PENTA MEDICAL HANNOVER MEDICAL SCHOOL -8-

9 In contrast to other often short life IT items, the Penta PCs - thanks to their extremely robust construction and to their reliable components - remain in operation for many years. In addition, the modular design enables performance upgrades via the exchanging of individual components. This is not only ecological sustainable, as it reduces the volumes of electronic waste and is resource-saving as well as ecological meaningful: the exchanging of modules costs up to 75% less than the new purchase of a complete PC. GREEN PC Penta G.R.E.E.N. is a product label which Penta awards to its products which are especially ecofriendly. Green stands for: Germfree, Resource-saving, Ecological, Economical, Noiseless. This acronym underlines the fact that green IT at Penta is much more that just the integration of more economical processors. More than anything, the Penta GREEN PCs are based on a holistic, sustainable environmental concept which not only takes the energy consumption of the device into consideration but also its environmentally-friendly manufacturing, disposal and maintenance. With the germ- and dust-free enclosure and their fanless and quiet operation, the Penta GREEN PCs additionally reduce negative impacts on their immediate surroundings. It is in addition relevant for hospitals as, thanks to the hygienic cleaning-friendly system, the medical PCs do not have to be covered with one-time cloth covers but can be cleaned by disinfection wipes. This also reduces the volume of rubbish and saves costs as well. "The Penta systems have met all of our requirements for many years and have been reliably performing their services in our operating theatres and in other areas of the MHH, such as for example the intensive care stations" summarised Weber. "And the environmentally friendly design of the Penta G.R.E.E.N. product range is in addition good for the image of our company and helps to save costs. It was this feature that we found convincing in addition. We are therefore planning also to install Penta medical PCs in the future". PENTA MEDICAL HANNOVER MEDICAL SCHOOL -9-

10 HANNOVER MEDICAL SCHOOL MEDICAL PC About Penta Penta GmbH, with its headquarters in Puchheim, Germany, and numerous worldwide sales representative offices and agencies, is the leading producer of fanless PC systems for medical technology and other industries requiring fanless, hygienic, completely closed, and robust IPC technologies. The company was founded in 1995 and has among its medical customers Carl Zeiss, Hippokratec, Olympus, B-Braun / Aesculap and Agfa Healthcare as well as numerous hospitals and medical centres. PENTA GmbH Zeppelinstrasse Puchheim Tel.: +49 (0) 89 / Fax: +49 (0) 89 / penta@penta.de text & layout: