Medical computing workstation carts are a familiar sight in clinical surroundings. Representing an exciting advancement in patient healthcare, modern mobile workstations provide physicians and their medical teams with the tools required to maximize their job performance.
Choosing the most suitable medical computing cart for your clinical setting can lead to increased staff satisfaction, improved workflow, and enhanced patient outcomes. But before making a purchase, it is essential to consider the numerous benefits that a mobile cart can bring to your facility and the features that make these improvements possible,
At Scott-Clark Medical, we accessorize mobile workstations to meet your preferred specifications, helping you boost your clinical outcomes.
Improved Patient Interactions
A crucial factor in achieving a favorable clinical outcome is a trusting physician-patient relationship. It can be challenging for medical staff to establish a rapport if they read from a file while standing over their bedridden patient.
Using a medical computing workstation cart, the physician can use the height-adjustable monitor to lower the screen to their patient’s eye level.
By allowing the patient to see their hospital notes, staff can show they are open and transparent, helping to build trust. When discussing complex medical information, the physician can use the Wi-Fi-enabled laptop computer to bring up images on the high-definition LED monitor screens.
By explaining the data in a manageable way, the doctor or nurse can help their patients understand their condition and treatment options.
Improved Data Security
Hospitals have a duty to protect their patients’ confidential information, and data breaches can undermine trust in the facility. Using a medical computing workstation cart, medical staff can securely lock the laptop with their password, and only authorized personnel can gain access to the database.
Management can also issue employees with different levels of authorization, ensuring each team member only sees the data they require to complete their work. Because there is no need to carry paper files, staff are also less likely to lose information.
Rapid Information Access
Patients naturally worry while they await the outcome of test results, and if there are delays adding notes to a patient’s file, this can exacerbate the situation. Facilities can connect the mobile laptops that staff take on their ward rounds to other labs and administrative departments within the building.
While test results or imaging may not be available when a medic begins their shift, a laboratory member of staff could add the notes while the physician is treating other patients.
By giving staff access to real-time information, physicians can initiate treatment plans faster and potentially improve the patient’s outcome.
Improved Medication Security
There are many dangers on a hospital ward, and it is vital to protect medications from access by unauthorized personnel. Lock and key drawers are not as secure as more advanced biometric locking drawers.
These drawers use a proximity scanner to detect when a staff member with a correctly encoded key card is nearby. You can choose a reasonable preset distance and issue staff with keycards conveying varying levels of authority. This feature allows staff with specific training for administering medications to access drawers that house the pharmaceuticals.
Each member of the team can use a barcode scanner to read a patients’ wrist tag. The information provided could stop staff from prescribing the wrong medication, such as a drug that could cause an allergic reaction.
Barcode scanners also record which medication the physicians prescribe to their patient and the date and time the transaction occurred.
Because this data automatically uploads to the central system, there is less chance of another member of the team accidentally prescribing the same medication. This scenario could occur if a patient forgets they have received a prescription, and a physician neglected to update a paper file.
The electronic records provide a permanent record of the actions for added safeguarding.
Reduced Infection Transference
One of the most significant challenges in every clinical facility is reducing the risk of infection transference. If staff members congregate in common areas and come into close contact, such as at a bank of computers or a pharmacy, this can increase the spread of infections.
When using a mobile computing workstation, staff can load their cart with all the equipment they require for their shift. The laptop computer provides them with all the patient information they need. The storage containers are a safe location to keep hazardous waste materials, and the medication drawers ensure there is no need to attend the pharmacy.
Before attending the point of care, a physician can sterilize themselves and the workstation using the disinfectant sprays and wipes located in the side baskets. There is ample storage space for masks, gowns, and gloves, eliminating the need to return to a busy storage equipment area.
Extended Time on the Hospital Ward
When medics return to centrally-located computers to retrieve patient notes or queue at a pharmacy to fill a prescription, this is time they are not treating patients. Although these may be short periods of time throughout a shift, they can add up to a substantial amount of loss treatment time.
These delays can lower the chance of achieving a positive patient outcome and damage a hospital’s profitability, reducing the amount of money they can invest in patient care.
However, mobile computing workstations help maximize the time physicians can spend with their patients, improving workflow, and increasing profitability.
Contact Us
Scott-Clark Medical is at the forefront of medical computing workstation cart technology. We understand medical facilities’ requirements and can provide you with the right mobile computing cart for your needs.