Galway University Hospitals is piloting Aura Healthcare’s patient flow solution in a bid to manage winter pressures and bed shortages at the 600-bed hospital. Enda Daly, Galway’s head of bed management, says the main objectives are to avoid patients being left without a bed, while ensuring waiting list targets for inpatient procedures are met.
"We are facing an expected increase in urgent and emergency cases throughout winter, which will put real pressure on our bed capacity," he said. "Aura's Flow is shown to improve admission, transfer and discharge processes and so improve patient flows and throughput.
"Efficient patient flow is central to the smooth operation of a hospital," Daly added. "A coordinated electronic flow system will help reduce inefficiency and ensure we make the best use of our resources, including maximising bed occupancy."
Galway will trial the system on one surgical and three medical wards. In time, all 30 wards will have a touch screen electronic whiteboard linked directly to the patient administration system (PAS) to show patient information and the entire bed state in real time. Beds are allocated electronically, matching bed availability to a patient's needs and dependency.
"Planning patient movements in real time improves efficiency and reduces administration, giving doctors and nurses more time with their patients," Daly said.
Aura's Flow uses familiar screen icons to show the treatment required before a patient can be discharged. This improves communication between everyone involved in the care process and prevents discharges being delayed. It will also help reduce the length of stay for some specialities by identifying patients that, with the right treatment, could be sent home early instead of occupying beds unnecessarily.
Galway did consider other options but Aura was able to integrate Flow with the hospital's PAS. Daly says integration with the PAS was a fundamental requirement so that all transactions are reflected instantly in both systems.
He added: "Aura showed a willingness to work with us to solve the problem and provide a solution that meets our precise needs and fits with our existing patient flow processes."
Martin Molloy, Galway's information services manager, said: "The Aura team has a very good understanding of hospital processes and has developed its systems with end users in mind. The applications have a visual appeal that will impress staff, use touch screens and can also be run from mobile devices, which will help us with ease of data capture, resulting in real time information.
"There is huge potential in Aura’s applications portfolio and we are looking forward to ensuring these systems result in real benefits for our patients and staff and solve some long standing issues for us."
"It is one of the peculiarities of the health service that more inpatient procedures are carried out during the winter months, due largely to people taking holidays in spring and summer," said Mark Hindle, Aura Healthcare's chief operating officer. "An ageing population and now familiar surge in demand for services during winter, is putting an enormous strain on hospitals and pressure on bed capacity. Having efficient processes and better patient flows is more crucial than ever, otherwise patients will continue to be left on trolleys in corridors or in the back of ambulances.
"A bi-directional interface to the PAS is vital so all transactions are reflected in both systems instantly, removing any discrepancies," Hindle said. "The alternative is to run two separate systems but it is unrealistic to expect nurses to use and update both systems."
"Flow puts an end to the pen, paper and shoe leather approach to bed management and helps drive the patient journey," said Adrian Stevens, Aura Healthcare's CEO. "Effective admission, transfer and discharge processes helps smooth the patient journey, which increases flows throughout the hospital and gives staff more time for direct patient care. Similarly, ensuring patients are discharged promptly not only saves time, money and beds but improves a patient's experience and wellbeing."
About Aura Healthcare
Aura Healthcare specialises in the UK, Ireland and international healthcare markets. It has offices in Reading, Manchester, Belfast and Johannesburg and provides software solutions, healthcare IT consultancy and partner initiatives.