ATLANTA, April 17, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- WellStar Health System, a world-class healthcare provider in the metro-Atlanta area, announced that it has chosen Flo Healthcare, the leading maker of wireless mobile workstations based in Norcross, Ga., to provide at least 350 mobile workstations in its five area hospitals as part of its Safety First initiative.
In 2003, WellStar Health System formulated its Safety First initiative, which included several steps: electronic nursing documentation; barcode scanning for medication administration; physician order entry; and replacement of the pharmacy system at all facilities.
As WellStar began searching for healthcare technology partners, it invited several vendors to demo their products at its WellStar Cobb, WellStar Douglas, WellStar Kennestone, WellStar Paulding and WellStar Windy Hill hospitals so that nurses, physicians and IT employees could get a hands-on feel for how the products worked. After several months, WellStar decided to partner with Flo Healthcare, choosing the Flo 1750 mobile clinical workstation.
"In our crowded hallways, we have so many items taking up space," noted Martha Seahorn RN, director of nursing for WellStar Douglas Hospital in Douglasville, Ga. "The carts are slim enough that they don't take up much space, yet they provide a large enough work surface for our caregivers."
Peggy Tyndall, RN, MSN and acute care manager for the second floor of WellStar Douglas Hospital, added that the ability to customize Flo's carts based on the staff's needs also has been a huge bonus. So far, the hospital has added bar code scanners, locking drawers, racks to hold paper charts, and poles for attaching blood pressure monitoring devices.
WellStar has ordered more carts than originally planned in order to accommodate the majority of physicians who choose to take Flo carts with them on their rounds instead of PDAs or tablet PCs.
"The Flo carts are versatile, providing many features and technology without serving as a barrier," said Dr. Donald Campbell, WellStar senior vice president for physician services, a former surgeon who is responsible for the medical oversight of information systems at WellStar. "I have seen other carts in other institutions that are behemoth and in fact put a wall between the patient and the physician. Flo carts give a completely different feel -- they don't seem to come between the patient and the caregiver."
WellStar began rolling out the Flo carts in March 2005. It went live with electronic nursing documentation at WellStar Douglas in summer 2005, at WellStar Cobb in fall 2005, and at WellStar Kennestone in spring 2006. Medication administration went live at WellStar Douglas in winter 2005, and the hospital system replaced the pharmacy system at all facilities in the summer of 2005. So far, WellStar has 50 carts in WellStar Douglas, 90 in WellStar Cobb and 200 in WellStar Kennestone.
In fact, Flo carts are becoming such a fixture at WellStar's hospitals that as WellStar expands its facilities, it is designing spaces on hospital floors specifically for parking carts so that nurses and physicians can use them as workstations. When WellStar Douglas opened a new tower with three floors, it was able to change the design of the third floor to make room for parking and charging Flo carts.
"Several of these 'parking stations' are built throughout the unit so that nurses and physicians would have a place to park the COW," Seahorn said. "We were able to implement a change in our architecture that helped us adopt to our new technology. Now we want workstations everywhere in our hospitals."
"WellStar's decision to design spaces for mobile computing workstations into the hospitals' architecture is proof positive that carts in this form factor are becoming so prevalent that hospitals are starting to think about them when planning new construction," said Keith Washington, Flo Healthcare Vice President of Business Development. "We are honored that WellStar chose Flo Healthcare as part of its Safety First Initiative, and we look forward to working closely with each of WellStar's hospitals as they roll out their overall EMR strategy."
With eight years of experience helping hundreds of hospitals integrate wireless mobile computing devices at the point-of-care, Flo Healthcare is teaming closely with WellStar to ensure that training and rollout of the Flo mobile workstations is managed and aligned effectively with the health system's larger EMR initiative.
About WellStar Health System
The vision of WellStar Health System is to deliver world-class healthcare through our hospitals, physicians and services. WellStar Health System includes Cobb, Douglas, Kennestone, Paulding and Windy Hill hospitals; WellStar Physicians Group; Urgent Care Centers; Health Place; Homecare; Hospice; Atherton Place; and WellStar Foundation. For more information, call 770.956.STAR or visit www.wellstar.org.
About Flo Healthcare
Headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, Flo Healthcare provides comprehensive wireless and mobile clinical workstation solutions designed specifically for the healthcare industry. Improving patient care and safety is our top priority as we work with clinical software and OEM business partners to deliver patented, integrated solutions -- infrastructure, devices and services -- to medical facilities. With 40,000 mobile devices and wireless infrastructure systems installed within approximately 800 hospitals, Flo Healthcare is the acknowledged leader in total hospital and system-wide wireless and mobile clinical workstation installations across the U.S. and Canada. By delivering a better connection to information, clinicians stay better connected with patients. For more information on Flo Healthcare, visit www.flohealthcare.com or call 877-FLO-4040.
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