Instruction manual

DEFINITY® Business Communications System and GuestWorks® Issue 6
Overview
555-231-208
Issue 1
April 2000
Industry Applications
3-8Health Care
3
Improve response in a busy environment
Hospitals deal with a high percentage of emergencies, both in the hospital and in
the outside community. Hospitals can improve their patient services and
emergency response by:
■ Mobilizing staff during disasters or emergencies outside the hospital
■ Improving response to emergencies inside the hospital
■ Improving emergency room response for the critical cases arriving by
ambulance.
The system provides the following services to hospitals:
■ Paging systems provide an effective way to broadcast information about
emergency situations throughout an entire department or facility. Visual
paging ensures that the hearing-impaired are also notified of emergencies.
■ Wireless telephones help nurses stay in touch with doctors and technical
experts while carrying out their duties.
The system helps hospitals improve emergency services without adding staff.
Maximize productivity and efficiency
Many health care facilities participate in an integrated health network consisting of
numerous hospitals, clinics, doctors’ offices, laboratories, and other medical
facilities. Although they are often autonomously managed, these multiple sites
have to function as a single organization to keep costs down and enable the
facilities to be financially successful.
The staff of an integrated health network includes administrators, nurses,
technicians, physicians, and support personnel. Many members of the staff are
active on multiple shifts, and are seldom confined to an office.
Health care facilities need to do the following:
■ Maintain close communication links between distant facilities, and include
related organizations such as suppliers and clinics.
■ Reduce unnecessary overhead paging.
■ Improve response to emergencies.
■ Provide an efficient way to communicate non-emergency information to
busy mobile staff.
The system can help health care facilities maintain productivity and efficiency with
the following products and features:
■ Standardized systems, networked with four-digit dialing between locations,
can ensure that the staff wastes no time adapting to the communications
system as they go from location to location.