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The flow of information is paramount in the multidisciplinary work community of the Oulunkylä rehabilitation center, as information must be shared seamlessly between all professional groups. Thanks to Ascom’s smart technology, the rehabilitation center has improved its information flow and reduced the load caused by unnecessary messages.
The Oulunkylä rehabilitation center provides demanding multidisciplinary follow-up care and hospital-level rehabilitation services. The range of the center’s patients is very wide, which requires strong professional skills and smooth collaboration from the employees.
“There is a lot of multidisciplinary cooperation between nurses, doctors and therapists involved in rehabilitating and discharging patients,” says Service Director Minna Taalikka.
Different professionals are involved in the patient’s rehabilitation right from the kick-off meeting. Together with the patient, they go through the needs and goals related to rehabilitation and multidisciplinary cooperation continues throughout the rehabilitation period. According to Service Manager Juha-Matti Sarin, cooperation requires a functioning flow of information, above all.
“It is extremely important that information is shared between all professional groups,” Sarin summarizes.
“We work in three shifts around the clock and we would be lost if the information did not flow,” says Taalikka.
Situational awareness is considered important at the Oulunkylä rehabilitation center. This has been achieved by using intelligent technology solutions such as Ascom’s nurse call system, Myco handsets and alert management software.
“In fact, this project was based on the ideas of our staff. They are the best experts to assess how to facilitate care work. Ascom’s solutions met their wishes and needs," says Taalikka.
This project was based on the ideas of our staff. They are the best experts to assess how to facilitate care work.
According to Taalikka, there have been changes in both the amount and quality of communication.
“There has always been a low threshold here to ask and contact others, but now it is even lower. Communication between the staff is easier and better than before.”
Alert management and the new nurse call system have increased situational awareness, according to Taalikka. Patient alerts are forwarded to another team if the responsible team cannot respond within a few minutes of the alert.
“In this case, the other team is automatically informed that additional help is needed. Of course, this also improves patient safety," says Taalikka.
The solution reduces the workload of nurses, improves patient safety and helps to provide care at the right time – the solution is a quality factor of rehabilitation services.
Interaction between staff and patients has also improved, as the Myco handset’s speech feature allows for immediate responses to nurse calls. According to Sarin, the speech feature is used a lot.
“It is not always possible to go to the patient immediately, but nurses can respond to the patient and ask what is the matter. Patients know that they can always contact the nurse," says Sarin.
“This already calms down the situation and the patient can feel more at ease. The whole Ascom solution reduces the workload of nurses and improves patient safety and helps to provide care at the right time – the solution is a quality factor in rehabilitation,” Taalikka adds.
