Childrens Specialized Hospital relies on customized commercial software that automatically generates e-mails to alert appropriate staff members about certain safety risks for its patients.
The Mountainside, N.J.-based organization, which comprises a 60-bed hospital plus numerous outpatient and long-term care facilities, uses risk reporting software from RadicaLogic Technologies Inc., Toronto Canada. Clinicians use the software to document any event thats out of the normal routine of care for the organizations rehabilitation patients, says Monica Roth, R.N., outcomes manager for strategic improvement.
The hospitals information technology staff customized the software to meet the needs of a pediatric facility, Roth says. The application now contains fields for describing parent or guardian behavior that could present a risk to a young patient as well as patient or visitor conduct issues.
The I.T. team set it up so alert e-mails are generated once certain events are documented in the system, Roth says.
For example, if a patient had a serious fall while in the care of a parent, this would be noted in the system, with an alert e-mailed to appropriate staff so they would know to educate the parents about fall prevention strategies, Roth explains.
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