From enabling charting at the point of care to extending the battery life of computers and other devices, mobile workstations are helping busy healthcare professionals manage full workloads, spend more time with patients, support a cleaner, more sterile environment to limit the spread of infection, and even provide better care to their patients. Here’s how these workstations are making an impact in the medical field.
Addressing Imperatives for Healthcare Delivery
The healthcare industry continues to face challenges and calls for transformation. According to global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, healthcare is poised to undergo a massive acceleration in costs over the next several years, which will require businesses in this industry to make drastic adjustments.
Specifically, healthcare businesses must improve productivity, transform the delivery of care, simplify administrative procedures, and apply new and existing technology to achieve success. Fortunately, healthcare organizations can accomplish all of these goals and more by implementing and making the best use of mobile workstations.
Revolutionizing Medical Care With Mobile Workstations
The demand for medical carts has experienced a tremendous surge in recent years. And for good reason. These mobile carts are much more than just a means of moving supplies from one place to another although they can do that as well. There are many ways mobile workstations are revolutionizing medical care.
1. Diverse Care Applications
The versatility of medical carts makes them an efficient and productive tool in a wide range of healthcare settings. Many nurses and physicians use them in hospitals to deliver patient care from room to room. But they are used in other places as well, such as outpatient surgery centers, long-term care facilities, medical labs, imaging centers, emergency rooms, physical therapy facilities, and your family doctor’s office.
2. Efficient Patient Charting
Paperwork is one of the most time-consuming aspects of healthcare delivery. According to one National Institutes of Health study, nurses spend two hours per day on average doing record-keeping, which is time that could be spent on patient care. Electronic medical records (EMR) are transforming this process, but they need to be accessible.
A medical cart allows nurses to have a computer at the site where care is being delivered. Instead of having to travel to the nurse’s station and sit down with a stack of charts, nurses and doctors can make notes immediately, which can also improve accuracy and reduce delays.
3. Accurate Medication Dispensing
Proper dispensation and handling of medication is one of the most critical elements of hospital or nursing facility care. Each patient must receive the right dose of their medication at the right time, and everything must be documented meticulously. Mobile carts have become an invaluable tool for this process.
Medical facilities are increasingly using medication dispensing carts with locking drawers. Each patient has an assigned drawer, and facilities usually coordinate using barcodes. As medications are dispensed, this is documented in real-time using the cart’s computer with a wireless connection.
4. Collaborative Healthcare
Collaboration among healthcare providers is one of the foundations of effective healthcare. When providers are able to make quick and seamless connections, this benefits patients and can even reduce costs. Mobile medical carts can facilitate better collaboration in several ways.
Instead of having to wait until they are back in their main office, a physician can use a mobile medical cart to access records, monitor patients, and interface with other specialists on the spot. This empowered approach to healthcare will improve efficiency and patient outcomes.
5. Improved Diagnostics
Being able to get a fast and definitive diagnosis has always been a frustrating challenge in the healthcare industry. Many healthcare facilities suffer from delays and even errors due to scheduling issues or slow processing times.
Mobile-powered carts can facilitate an improved diagnostic process in healthcare facilities. Instead of making the patient go to the ultrasound or CT scanning station, those services can be brought to them, leading to faster and more accurate diagnoses.
6. Durable and Sanitary Solutions
The healthcare setting is incredibly busy and has high sanitary standards. Fortunately, mobile medical carts can stand the test of time with heavy-duty casters and durable materials. The rechargeable batteries used on the carts can also last up to two shifts when necessary.
Many mobile carts have cables tucked inside, making them easier to clean for infection control. With smooth surfaces, these carts enable effective sanitation measures to reduce the potential for the spread of bacteria.
7. Flexible Options for Staff
In most hospitals and clinics, staff usually stand at medical carts. However, there may be instances where staff members need to sit down while working. Even when standing, you’ll have personnel who are of different heights or want a different configuration of equipment.
Fortunately, mobile carts offer completely flexible options for medical staff. The height can be adjusted with just the push of a button, keyboard trays can easily be rotated, and monitors can swing and tilt. A seat can also be added to many carts, allowing the professional or a patient to rest.
8. Enhanced Patient Experience
Mobile carts not only make work easier for healthcare providers, but they also enhance the patient experience. Techs, nurses, and doctors can bring the information and technology they need to do their job to the patient, whether it be in an office setting or a hospital room. This provides a more efficient, personalized, and comfortable patient experience, which can improve overall patient outcomes.
In the continuously evolving healthcare landscape, mobile workstations have been steadily transforming the way medical professionals deliver their services. These versatile carts do much more than just move supplies from place to place. By integrating wireless technology, they allow healthcare professionals to be more efficient, save costs, and deliver a better patient experience.
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