Adapting Innovation to improve patient experience

Fran Hegarty is a Clinical Engineer with extensive experience in applying technology at the point of care in Hospitals. His research interests include Healthcare Technology Management, Clinical Measurement & Informatics, and Art in Health. Fran is also a musician and composer and is currently studying for an M. Phil in Music and Media Technology.

Abstract

The New Children’s Hospital for Ireland is designed to not only to provide the best care for children, it also aims to improve the experience of being in hospital for children and their carers/families. It is the first hospital in Ireland to have comprehensive digital infrastructure and open with a hospital wide Electronic Healthcare Record (EHR) System. To better support children and family experience, all rooms are single occupancy and include parent sleeping facilities and ensuite bathrooms. The future operating model is strongly influenced by the concept that the patients room will be their space, a “home from home” while they are in the care of the hospital.

The medical equipping of this new facility was led by Clinical Engineering however was undertaken by multidisciplinary Equipping Decision Groups. The starting point for the design of the medical equipment solution was consideration of how best to support clinical service delivery and patient experience. The opportunity of interfacing medical equipment to the new EHR system and to adopt new patient alarm solutions emerged as key objectives for clinical staff. In this case study we will outline how taking a patient safety and experience approach changed the way the Physiological Measurement and Infusion Equipment solutions were defined and procured.