Remote Surveillance System Monitors Critical Care Areas

By HospiMedica International staff writers
Posted on 11 Feb 2010
An open platform central surveillance system provides real-time observation and secondary alarming for a wide range of medical device types.

The Bernoulli Enterprise system provides centralized patient monitoring in each care area, sending remote alarm notifications and patient vital signs data in real time to wireless communication devices worn by clinicians, allowing them to arrive at the patient's bedside fully prepared to manage the situation. Among the benefits of the system are improved recognition and response to changes in a patient's condition, helping to mobilize rapid response teams and reduce adverse events and preventable deaths.

Image: The Bernoulli Enterprise system workflow perspective (photo courtesy Cardiopulmonary Corporation).

The Bernoulli system integrates with multiple vendors' medical devices and utilizes existing hospital information technology (IT) infrastructure. The system also works with existing Hospital Admissions / Discharge / Transfer (ADT) systems as well as Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems by populating patient flow sheets with real-time device data. It can be deployed as a stand-alone surveillance system in a single unit, or as a multi-unit hospital-wide solution, in either wired or wireless environments. The Bernoulli Enterprise system is a product of Cardiopulmonary Corporation (CPC, Milford, CT, USA), and is fully compliant with Health Level Seven (HL7) standards for dealing with clinical and administrative data.

"The Bernoulli system allows us to monitor ventilated patients from wherever we are in the hospital, but it offers much more than that. It tells us whether there is a problem with the ventilator or if a patient's respiratory function is compromised,” said Ray Kijowski, manager of respiratory therapy at Saint Peter's University Hospital (New Brunswick, NJ, USA), which recently implemented the system. "The system's open platform will allow us to add other devices, such as intravenous pumps and pulse oximeters, and physicians can check on their patients' status from their offices.”

Remote surveillance is particularly important in long-term acute-care (LTAC) facilities, a critical element in the continuum of post-acute-care, which are facing an increasing shortage of specialists. Another major benefit for LTAC facilities is a reduction of nuisance alarms, promoting a more tranquil care environment.

Related Links:

Cardiopulmonary Corporation
Saint Peter's University Hospital



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