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Customer Case Study
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Rehabilitation Hospital Improves Clinical Efficiency and
Patient Care
Patient Care
Sheltering Arms Hospital uses Cisco Unified Wireless Network to enhance staff
productivity and improve the hospital environment for patients.
Business Challenge
Sheltering Arms Physical Rehabilitation Hospital, a
network of nine inpatient and outpatient
rehabilitation facilities around Richmond, Virginia, is
the epitome of the forward-looking healthcare
provider. The organization has relied on IP
technologies to lower costs, boost efficiency, and
improve communications for many years.
“We recognize that technology has come to the
forefront as a way to improve care while reducing
costs and making the system as a whole more
effective,” says Travis Gathright, director of
Management Information Systems for Sheltering
Arms. “Sheltering Arms has a long history of
providing excellent care, and we are always looking
for ways that technology can help us do even
better.”
By 2006, however, Sheltering Arms was facing new technology challenges. The organization was
preparing to roll out a new clinical documentation system that would dramatically reduce reliance
on paper records, allowing clinical staff to share information more easily and to spend less time
filling out paperwork and more time with patients. However, to take full advantage of the new
system, Sheltering Arms needed to be able to extend access to clinical staff wherever they might
be.
“Making sure that we have all of the patient’s documentation together is very important for an
interdisciplinary approach to care,” says Gathright. “However, we are a rehabilitation hospital, so
our staff is not just in a patient’s room. There is a lot of therapy work in gym areas, in our heated
pools, and we needed to extend access to those areas as well.”
Sheltering Arms leaders also wanted to improve the patient experience at the organization’s two
inpatient hospitals by reducing excess noise and creating what clinicians refer to as a “quiet
hospital” environment.
“The atmosphere in a ‘quiet hospital’ is much more relaxing and conducive to healing than a
hospital where overhead pages are heard frequently,” says Cheryl Lee, associate vice president of
Inpatient Services, Sheltering Arms. “Overhead paging is distracting, interrupts rest, and is just
plain noisy in comparison to hospitals using wireless phone systems.”
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
SHELTERING ARMS PHYSICAL
REHABILITATION HOSPITAL
REHABILITATION HOSPITAL
●
Healthcare
●
Richmond, Virginia
●
500 employees
BUSINESS CHALLENGE
●
Extend clinical applications and information
wherever they are needed
●
Improve hospital healing environment by
eliminating excess noise
●
Increase staff efficiency and productivity
NETWORK SOLUTION
●
Deployed secure, flexible wireless network to
support clinical and administrative applications
BUSINESS RESULTS
●
Increased responsiveness and efficiency of
clinical caregivers
●
Improved productivity of administrative staff
●
Enhanced patient care and satisfaction