Having served the community since 1957, Southeast Health Medical Center (SHMC) located in Dothan, AL has always kept up with changing healthcare technologies to best serve its patients in the region. In 2017 SHMC was looking to improve communications between Emergency Medical Services (EMS) that occurred via phone, web and 2-way radio. They also wanted to promote continuous quality improvement (CQI), using better digital voice & data logging, reporting tools and documentation, as well as to have more secure mobile notifications between EMS, the Emergency Department (ED), trauma, cardiovascular and neurology teams. In doing so, they hoped to improve the door to treatment time for trauma, STEMI and stroke patients brought in by ambulance.
To accomplish their goal, Southeast Health Medical Center needed to change their process and upgrade their EMS-ED communications and so, they implemented the GD CAREpoint™ and GD e-Bridge™ solutions from General Devices. The GD solutions allowed the medical center to better manage all of their EMS related activity. SHMC’s initial thrust was to use the features of the new solutions such as the secure messaging and forms to begin improving the workflow processes and plan to use more of the advanced mobile telemedicine features as the system becomes more integrated into daily use and behaviors.
The upgrade to the GD e-Bridge Telemedicine application and CAREpoint Workstation allowed SHMC to improve their communication between the EMS ambulances and the emergency department (ED). The medical center is also using the secure messaging features of GD e-Bridge which now allows them to communicate seamlessly with the other acute care departments in the hospital so that time-sensitive information is shared promptly across the teams.
The results experienced at SHMC are typically scene in patient care and cost reduction including:
The GD CAREpoint and GD e-Bridge mobile telemedicine application have allowed Southeast Health Medical Center to utilize new technology and to improve workflows that their previous process would not have allowed. More specifically, SHMC is now better prepared for ambulance patients which in-turn improves EMS-ED hand-off and shortens time to treatment – all important for saving lives and improving outcomes for their patients and community.
About Southeast Health
Southeast Health is a dynamic, growing organization with a 420- bed hospital located in Dothan, Alabama. The hospital offers services such as critical care, emergency & trauma, neurosurgery, stroke care and surgical services. SHMC believes in offering high-quality and evidence based care leads to more lives saved and less time in the hospital.
About GD (General Devices)
GD enables smarter patient care by empowering hospitals, EMS, community healthcare and public safety with the most comprehensive, interactive, configurable, affordable, and integrated FDA listed medical communication and mobile telemedicine solutions. The benefits of which are enhanced workflows, minimized risk, reduced costs and improved patient outcomes. Learn more at www.general-devices.com