The findings revealed that Royal Victoria’s use of the Vocera communications system resulted in improvements in the following key areas: improved patient care and safety, increased patient and clinician satisfaction, savings in clinical time process efficiency, reduction in patient delays.
The Vocera communications system is an innovative 802.11b/g wireless platform that enables instant hands-free voice communications among mobile hospital workers. Hospital staff wear a pendant-like badge around their neck and, by simply pressing a button on the badge, can be instantly connected to the person with whom they wish to speak by stating the name or function of the person.
At Royal Victoria, all emergency department doctors, nurses, ward clerks, bed managers, and medical secretaries were trained to use Vocera. The types of data collected in this study consisted of interviews, observational research, questionnaires, activity data and anecdotal evidence.
Following the capture and evaluation of the data, the study indicated that the Vocera communications system provided the following key benefits for Royal Victoria:
98% of hospital staff reported improvements in the quality of internal communication. Doctors and nurses both reported significantly greater satisfaction with regard to internal communications, with doctors reporting a 167% increase in their satisfaction rate and nurses reporting a 100% increase in their satisfaction rate.
A significant reduction in time-wasting activities such as leaving clinical areas to make and receive phone calls, physically searching for resources or colleagues and waiting at the nurses’ station to use the telephone. Vocera reduced this wasted time by an estimated 11 hours per day, the equivalent of over 4,000 hours annually, just in the emergency department alone.
40% of doctors and 60% of nurses reported fewer interruptions while providing care for patients, reducing distractions and enabling improved patient care.