Friday, October 15, 2010

Frisbie Adopts iPhones for Point-of-Care Communication


ROCHESTER —
Nurses and other point-of-care workers at Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.H. will soon be using iPhones to improve their communication and increase efficiency, thanks to Voalté’s first-of-its-kind integrated communication solution.
The Voalté application consolidates voice, alarm and text on the versatile iPhone platform. The solution will enable the nurses and clinicians at Frisbie to send and receive presence-based text messages and make high definition voice calls across the hospital VoIP system, providing faster response to patient needs.
Frisbie’s selection of the Voalté solution was the result of a technology review and assessment that began more than one year ago.
“Antiquated communications solutions, such as voice-only devices, are no longer adequate in the hospital environment because both parties must be available in order to communicate,” said Sally Reeves, Frisbie’s Healthcare Project Director. “We evaluated all of these options and selected Voalté as the best solution to streamline our nurses’ needs.”
Frisbie Memorial is the first acute care hospital to implement the Voalté solution in the northeast and the fourth hospital in the country. The installation will be integrating to the hospital’s PBX and WiFi system thus leveraging existing infrastructure.
“Nurses are challenged with managing multiple patient requests, paperwork and other responsibilities,” said Trey Lauderdale, vice president of innovation at Voalté. “Oftentimes, performing their job successfully requires the ability to quickly communicate with other nurses, physicians and healthcare workers.”
“Innovative hospitals like Frisbie are recognizing the importance and value of smartphone technology and how it can improve patient care,” he said.
Photo caption: The Voalté application consolidates voice, alarm and text on the versatile iPhone platform. (www.voalte.com photo)