IT solution makes Jewish General Hospital in Montreal more efficient

At Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, you won’t hear the buzzers triggered by patients’ call buttons, and you won’t hear the public address system paging doctors.

Physicians and nurses now carry wireless telephones that work over the hospital’s computer network.
Call buttons with voice capabilities are linked to the phone system, so a patient in need can let an assigned nurse know what the problem is right away rather than just ringing a buzzer at the nursing station.

"It means better response to patients’ needs and it means doctors waste less time," says Stephen Rosenthal, the hospital’s associate director of medical informatics.

In the past, Dr. Rosenthal explains, the usual way to reach a doctor was to page him or her via the public address system. This added noise in an already busy environment where patients need quiet. The doctor being paged had to find a telephone to call back, and by that time the person at the other end might be unavailable.

Cellphones weren’t an option because of potential interference with some sensitive medical equipment, Dr. Rosenthal says.
But the wireless IP phones serve the same purpose: Calls can now go directly to the doctor, eliminating the paging and telephone tag.

Jewish General first tried a wireless phone system in its emergency room, using older technology, then switched to a voice over IP (VOIP) network and expanded throughout inpatient areas about a year ago. This past summer it was extended into outpatient clinics as well.
Put together by IBM Canada Ltd. and Symbol Technologies Inc., the system now supports about 100 phones for physicians, nurses and administrators.

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Editor's opinion:

"This is a great example of how technology can make communication processes in the hospital more efficient. It will reduce time which can be better used to serve patients. More institutions in health care and hospitals should adopt initiatives like this to cut costs.

There's a task for IT companies to promote their solutions and cater to the health care industry."