Workflower reduces workloads for the infection prevention team
WORKFLOWER USE CASE
Hospitals make every effort to prevent patients from catching respiratory, gastrointestinal or other infections during their hospital stays. Part of this includes different types of screenings both before and during admission. When a patient tests positive for an infectious disease, additional precautions can immediately be taken in order to reduce the risk of spreading the infection to other patients and employees.
The AZ Sint-Jan hospital in Bruges chose Workflower to fully automate its process for infection prevention: from assigning isolation tasks to carrying out follow-up screenings. The nursing units now have all the information they need, in real time, to take the appropriate action, giving the Infection Prevention Team more time to assist caregivers on the work floor with practical advice.
How it works
- As soon as the laboratory results for a newly admitted patient are available, the Workflower engine uses a decision table to determine whether further action is needed.
- When a patient must be isolated, the ward where the patient is staying receives a task to do so. The application also indicates how long this isolation should last.
- If there are several positive results for infections that involve isolation, then the application knows that the longest isolation period applies. Workflower takes into account the cumulative results, rather than assigning two separate tasks.
- If the patient changes wards, the new department also receives the isolation instructions.
The interfaces
- The Workflower app receives laboratory results from the Laboratory Information System (LIS).
- Workflower receives ADT messages (patient movements, discharges, etc.) from the Hospital Information System (HIS).
- The application can also interface with the Electronic Patient Record (EPR), enabling the relevant wards to view the isolation tasks in the EPR.
Benefits
- The administrative workload of the Infection Prevention Team is reduced, freeing up time for other tasks.
- The nursing units are notified more quickly of an infected patient.
- The care providers receive the information about the isolation requirements and duration. This makes it easier for them to do their work, as they no longer have to look up the information themselves.
- All activities are traceable: who performed which action at what time.
- In the event of changes or new test codes, the team can easily update the decision table (which contains infection codes, results and associated actions).
“Since the administrative burden is reduced, the Infection Prevention Team will have more time to assist on the work floor with practical advice on the insulation policy.”
Dr. Katelijne Floré – Infection Prevention Team
AZ Sint-Jan in Bruges (Belgium)
“In our hospital, we already use the Workflower tool for a range of diverse processes. Amaron’s knowledge and their ability to ensure the right integrations with other hospital information systems are significant added value.”
Helga De Neve – Director of ICT
AZ Sint-Jan in Bruges (Belgium)
Our thanks to AZ Sint-Jan for the photographs.
