BlueSky Wireless BMI Healthcare Ross Hall Hospital BMI Healthcare is the acute private hospital division of General Healthcare Group and is the largest independent provider of private health care in the UK. It is committed to providing a consistent, high quality service to local communities. BMI Healthcare has over 70 hospitals nationwide, each serving the health care needs of the local community. BMI hospitals have an enviable reputation for providing excellent medical and surgical facilities supported by state-of-the-art equipment and a high standard of nursing care, within pleasant and comfortable surroundings. Equipped with the latest technology, BMI hospitals perform more complex surgery than any other independent private health care provider in the country. Handling over 250,000 inpatient and 1,000,000 outpatient visits each year, nearly half the procedures undertaken for patients are of a major or complex nature. BMI hospitals attract consultants from a wide range of specialties, most of whom have extensive experience gained within the NHS. Supported by BMI Healthcare s high calibre staff, they are able to undertake a wide range of procedures from routine investigations to the most complex, high acuity cases such as cardiac and neuro surgery. Each hospital has an experienced doctor on-site 24 hours a day to support patient care and a fully qualified nursing, clinical and support team plus diagnostic and treatment technology relevant to the patient procedures undertaken.
BMI Healthcare Ross Hall Hospital Healthcare Case Study BMI Ross Hall identified 4 main areas of potential risk within their business, these were as follows: Evacuation in the event of a fire Cardiac arrest team response times Nurse response times to patients Catering call response times to patients Due to the implementation of the new systems and the impact the installations would have on the running of the hospital, it was felt that the systems should be upgraded and/or replaced in 2 stages and were prioritised in order of business risk. Stage One Stage Two Integration to the existing fire alarm system using the BlueSky Wireless messaging system. Integration to the Cardiac Response emergency call buttons. Complete replacement of the existing nurse call system and further integration using the BlueSky Wireless messaging system. Catering Call response system. Background information The fire alarm and nurse call systems were installed when the new building was built and the original building was converted from a university building to a hospital in the 1980's. However, In order for the solutions to work, there were significant fundamental infrastructure requirements that needed to be implemented prior to the solutions being installed and were as follows: The wired network and 1980's telephone PBX was insufficient to sustain wireless access points that were needed to communicate with the wireless VoIP handsets. BMI needed a complete strategic review of their IT infrastructure. Many companies were invited to look at BMI's existing systems, make recommendations and provide solutions in tender form. The preferred strategic solutions were divided into It Integration, infrastructure and Hospital Systems and as such awarded as follows: IT Integration provider Ampito Ltd., who sub contracted in the specialist products and services of, Networks First Ltd and BlueSky Wireless. Hospital systems provider Static Systems Ltd. Please see the next page for a schematic of the supplied solution... Fully Integrated Real Time Messaging Solutions
The Full Picture As you can see from the above diagram, the infrastructure needed to support the solutions was a considerable investment As BMI wanted wireless handsets to receive fire and cardiac alarms, Nurse call and catering call requests everything from the existing telephone PBX and wired network needed some major overhauling, it was felt rather than replacing everything additional devices could be bolted on to provide the ultimate solution. With this in mind BMI started with the existing Telephone PBX which in this instance was an Avaya Definity as its only protocols were analogue and digital it was not capable of running the new SpectraLink e340 wireless VoIP handsets. The Solution to this problem was the installation of a Mitel 3300 PBX, which connected to the existing Avaya Definity PBX
Where to use the BlueSky Wireless Application Gateway Combining total integration to your existing systems, infinite expandability and enterprise reliability, BlueSky Wireless is becoming the choice for organisations and business revolutionaries worldwide. and the main Ethernet IP network. The benefits of this solution were soon realised when they considered the installation of further Mitel 3300 in other sites as these connect via an IP Trunk - it provides free site to site calls. It has also allowed for the freeing up of reception staff for other duties as all reception calls were fed straight to the BMI call centre. The payback on this aspect of the solution was immediate. The implications of the extra IP calls that were going to be made, the additional wireless infrastructure and wireless VoIP handsets meant that the wired network required an upgrade, this was in the form of Dell PowerNet Switches. The wireless infrastructure that was chosen was the Aruba wireless network, it was chosen for its proven track record within healthcare, the invisibility of its access point, the size colour meant it was not seen. The security configurability of the wireless controller and the redundancy of the controller - should a controller go down on one site; another controller from another site can take control of the access points. There were additional benefits that came out of the wired and wireless upgrade - consultants, visitors, patients and guests can simply log onto a secure wireless network for free access to the internet. The additional wireless handsets connect to the Mitel 3300 PBX seamlessly, however as the system was required to also allow the bi directional sending of messages there was another piece of equipment required. This was in the form a SpectraLink OAI gateway, OAI stands for Open Application Interface and this means that developed applications can talk directly to the e340 handset this is what enables the messaging system to communicate. Moving onto the original set of challenges Stage One - Fire Alarm & Cardiac Arrest The challenges that the solution providers were faced with was the physical age of the equipment that was going to be integrated to Both Fire Alarm Panels were installed on the 1980 s and as they were so old, the only output from them was a dry contact relay on each panel. It was the same situation for the Cardiac Alarm emergency response buttons - dry contact relay. These were overcome, by the supply and installation of the BlueSky Wireless digital input/output device that is connected to the wired ethernet network. When either the fire alarm or cardiac arrest button is triggered, (each contact has it s own unique relay address so the system knows whether it s a fire alarm or a cardiac arrest). The dry relay contact connects, this is seen by the digital input/output module which then transmits a signal over the Ethernet network to the BlueSky Wireless Messaging system. The system then applies the pre set rules that BMI Healthcare have configured and the applicable message(s) are sent out to the relevant individuals and/or groups - This is either a fire alarm
Healthcare Messaging Solutions Easily integrated in to your existing infrastructure message or a cardiac arrest message. Apart from the obvious moral reasons for this solution, the initial benefits of this are self explanatory, but the implications of not having this solution is extensive Fire Alarm Messaging Life Saving, enabling the efficient and safe evacuation of patients and staff. Reduction in Insurance Premiums Death, disfigurement, major insurance claims Higher Insurance Premium Cardiac Arrest Messaging Life Saving Selling Point for Cardiac Patients Death Stage Two - Nurse Call & Catering Request Nurse Call The original nurse call system was a valve based system from the early eighties and was impossible to maintain and support, because of this it was completely replaced to a Static Systems Codemlon Nurse Call System. This brought the system up to a state of the art system, enabling patients to request assistance easily, and nurses to view the requests on virtual display at the nurse station(s). As the nurses were constantly away from the station attending to patients BMI requested that an interface be provided to receive message from the nurse call system and forward them to the relevant individual nurse and or group. Now, when a patient raises a request the message is logged on the static systems nurse call solution but it also generates a message that appears on the nurses SpectraLink e340 handsets. The message reads nurse call request ward x bed x, patients name. When the nurse arrives at the patients bedside it is simply a case of pressing the response button by the bedside this then cancels the outstanding request.
Tailored solutions are also available Now when a nurse goes to the bedside she already knows the name of her patient and where they are. The patient feels cared for and more relaxed. Providing an all round better personal care. Catering Request As BMI is a private healthcare facility, it is run as a five star hotel, which means that when a patient requests food and/or beverage that they are responded to as quickly as possible. This works in the very way as the nurse call, providing a five star hotel service in a healthcare environment. BlueSky Wireless worked very closely with Static Systems, Networks First and BMI Healthcare facilities team to ensure that the integration went as smoothly as possible and that the system worked fully prior to installation. Here are just a few of the benefits of such a system Nurse Call Messaging Patients satisfaction levels increase Customer referrals naturally occur when satisfaction is high Response times are increased and maintained. Patient recovery times increase Unhappy patients Every unhappy customer tells 20 people Board of Trustees are happy with the results. More patients can be treat Catering Request Messaging Patients satisfaction levels increase Customer referrals naturally occur when satisfaction is high Response times are increased and maintained. Patient recovery times increase Unhappy patients Every unhappy customer tells 20 people Board of Trustees are happy with the results. More patients can be treat
What our Customers say about us... What does BMI Healthcare think about the solutions provided? Andrew Young BMI Healthcare Ross Hall Network Manager describes the solution and BlueSky Wireless as follows: When we first met Kevin Brown the Managing Director of BlueSky Wireless we were comfortable, Kevin understood the need for cost savings whilst maintaining maximum quality of solution and return on investment. BlueSkys ability to work within the appointed project management team was first class. The installation went as smooth as it possibly could have, the training was first class and the ongoing support has been brilliant. What more can I possibly say - except they re Totally Awesome. I would recommend any business, let alone healthcare business consider the BlueSky Wireless Messaging solutions to improve their business. Thanks again to everyone at Bluesky Wireless. Andrew Young Where can BMI Healthcare go from here? There are so many available upgrade option, that we will run out of available pages for this case study, but here are just a few Porter Management Systems - The system can integrate into the Porter Management system for ease of managing porters. Facilities Management Systems - The system can link directly to a facilities management system if there isn t one, there is a simple ticketing module which is a basic simple to use module whereby the facilities manager upon receiving a maintenance request can input a Ticket, this then has an open status it can also be then configured for urgency level, when it is issued to the engineers an engineer can choose whether they accept or decline, if declined it sits in the open list until it is accepted all engineers have access to the open ticket list. HVAC Systems - The system can link to the HVAC heating ventilation and air conditioning systems to monitor the current state and condition. Gas Monitoring Systems - The system can link to the Gas monitoring systems to monitor the current state and condition. Lone Worker Tracking - BlueSky Wireless are also the authors of SoloTraxx a lone worker tracking solution ideally suited monitor the health & well being of lone workers such as engineers, etc. Security Systems - The system can link to existing security systems so if you re existing system has outputs in any format it can monitor it and raise alarms when necessary. So for more information on how we can help you, please call your authourised BlueSky reseller or ourselves directly on +44 (0) 1833 631 510 Accredited reseller: Specification subject to change without notice All trademarks are acknowledged to their respective owners Copyright 2010 BlueSky Wireless Ltd BlueSky Wireless, Baliol House, High Startforth, Barnard Castle, Co. Durham, DL12 9AF, U.K. Tel: +44 (0) 1833 631 510 Fax: +44 (0)870 705 1659 Web: www.bluesky-wireless.co.uk Email: sales@bluesky-wireless.co.uk