EIRMC upgrades to a more efficient system

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Story Published: Dec 29, 2009 at 8:05 PM MDT

Story Updated: Dec 29, 2009 at 8:27 PM MDT

By Emily Florez

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IDAHO FALLS - Patients at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center will get better care now thanks to a new communication device.

The voice-activated pager lets staff members talk from all over the hospital without having to use a phone or an overhead pager. This device may be small in size, but it's making a huge impact.

Justin Martin, the IT Director at EIRMC asked the Vocera, "Where is Dan Evans?" It replied, "Dan Evans is near the department."

The star trek like device is here to help staff members save lives.

Didi Jorde, a Registered Nurse at EIRMC explained, "What we can do is page each other out loud, its almost like a combination of a pager and a cell phone. The communication is out loud and we would just push the talk button here and we would page a member of the staff and that staff member would respond."

The Vocera runs off the wireless system at the hospital, it allows most everyone to communicate at all times.

Jorde said, "Any telephone can page anyone using a Vocera, so they can be used interchangeable and therefore communication happens between everyone in our facility."

All it takes is one simple press of a button and then a voice command.

"We don't have to take our hands away from performing a task or a treatment. It is completely hands free once we push one button we have the ability to talk hands free," Jorde explained.

The Vocera makes what used to be up to a 15 minute request now less than one minute. Jorde said, "I can get help anywhere in the hospital. So even if I'm in a corridor and there happened to be an accident, I can get help right away."

It quickens the communication between different areas of the hospitals. Martin, said, "Our operation station uses this as well so when they are done with a patient they can hit a button and let our recovery area know that they are coming ahead of time."

Martin said, "It's a fairly expensive system to run, but the cost savings in our productivity is where we save the money."

EIRMC is one of the first hospitals in Idaho to use the Vocera. It's actually only one of a few different upgrades they've been implementing over the past year.

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