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"We believe it's our job to stay on top of the latest digitalbreakthroughs," said Dr. Peter Hercules, medical director for King's DaughtersMedical Center. "It's one of the best ways for us to ensure a level ofservice that's in step with today's global quality of care."
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King's Daughters, located in the town of Brookhaven, has been serving thecommunity since 1894 -- but its infrastructure is strictly 21st century. Thehospital uses a computerized, integrated Health Care Information System (HCIS)to operate all of its major clinical, financial and administrative functions;every department is equipped with computers, tablet PCs and other moderndigital devices to facilitate fast and efficient flows of information.
It is this commitment to technological excellence that led King'sDaughters to pursue an Emergency Department Information System (EDIS) inmid-2007. For the prior six years, King's Daughters had been using apaper-based charting system from T-System, the most widely-used system of itskind in the U.S. "The T System(R) had been very effective for us," saidJennifer Jones, Kings' Daughters' emergency department case manager. "Afterseeing how our staff got comfortable with electronic systems in otherdepartments, however, we knew we were ready for a similar switchover in theEmergency Room."
The King's Daughters EDIS selection team reviewed three applications,ultimately deciding to go with T SystemEV, T-System's electronic productdesigned after its paper-based equivalent. According to Jones, the instantfamiliarity T SystemEV provided gave it a clear advantage.
"T-System had a proven track record with us. People like the intuitivelayout of the T System, so we knew they would like the T SystemEV setupquickly. Plus, T SystemEV would help us with our performance improvementinitiatives, like reducing wait times, improving our coding, expeditingaccounts receivable payments and generating new tracking data," Jones noted.
T SystemEV is state-of-the-art in the EDIS field. Spanning the entire EDprocess from triage to discharge, T SystemEV is a comprehensive system thatgives emergency department staff minute-by-minute control of patient statusand care.
In addition to the basic system, which includes modules for registration,patient tracking and status, physician and nurse documentation, core clinicaldata and more, the King's Daughters team chose to add the T SystemEVComputerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) module that allows ER doctors toorder lab tests, imaging and other diagnostics electronically from thebedside. Order status and results are automatically displayed on the system'stracking/status board as they are received, significantly increasing the speedof patient care.
"Many smaller hospitals think they can't justify the cost of acomprehensive EDIS," commented Jones. "But our hospital's chief financialofficer understood the value of T SystemEV -- especially how it could improvethe effectiveness of our clinicians, our clerical staff, our administratorsand our labs."
Since T SystemEV was installed in April 2008, King's Daughters EmergencyDepartment has experienced a surge in performance. Average patient flows havebeen cut in half-from 284 minutes to 138 minutes -- with no increase instaffing. Demographic information obtained at ED registration and billingaccuracy has improved as well. "Across the board, the results have been veryencouraging," said medical director Hercules.
T SystemEV's reporting capabilities add another new dimension to King'sDaughters' ED management. "We can track all sorts of things-average waittimes before evaluation, lab turnaround time, x-ray interpretations and muchmore," Jones stated. "Before we had no way to track these parameters. So notonly do our doctors and nurses love T SystemEV, but the hospital is able tomaximize its performance on the business side as well."
About T-System:
Founded over a decade ago, T-System, Inc. and T-System Technologies, Ltd.(The T System), combine an uncommon collaboration of clinicians, technologistsand service professionals dedicated to serving the current and future clinicalinformation and technology needs of emergency medicine. Headquartered inDallas, Texas, T-System is the leading provider of clinically acceptedemergency department information system (EDIS) solutions. Today, more than2,000 civilian and military EDs in the United States, Puerto Rico, Australiaand around the world partner with T-System to make the best patient care areality for everyone. For more information, please visithttp://www.tsystem.com or contact Joe Lastinger at (800) 667- 2482.
SOURCE T-System, Inc.
