Nemours Children’s Health System Improves Patient Care and Collaboration with Zebra Technologies

Staff and Clinical Logistics Center paramedics leverage clinical mobility solution with enhanced communication platform to improve patient outcomes

LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), an innovator at the edge of the enterprise with solutions and partners that enable businesses to gain a performance edge, today announced that Nemours Children’s Health System selected a clinical mobility solution to improve patient care, efficiency and reduce alarm fatigue. Nemours integrated Zebra’s TC51-HC touch computers and Voalte’s software with its electronic health records (EHR) to allow paramedics in its Clinical Logistics Center (CLC) to more efficiently monitor and care for patients and communicate with nurses and staff at its campuses in Delaware and Florida. Voalte is a Zebra PartnerConnect Premier Solution Partner and Healthcare Solution Specialist, and subsidiary of global medical technology company Hillrom.

Nemours’ CLC is an entirely new approach to patient care and is modeled on systems used by air traffic controllers and NASA’s Mission Control Center. Trained paramedics at the high-tech center use Zebra’s TC51-HC with the Voalte Communication Platform to monitor the health of 250 patients at both locations, manage alarm escalations and communicate with patients when needed. Paramedics have quickly shared critical information with the nearly 700 caregivers armed with Zebra TC51-HC resulting in patients receiving life-saving care faster.

“We chose Zebra’s TC51-HC touch computer because it offers significantly more capabilities than consumer smartphones,” said James Schnatterer, Clinical Applications Manager at Nemours Children’s Health System. “The Zebra mobile computer is a durable, hospital-grade device that is easy to clean and disinfect. It provides better performance and battery life for a full shift which is critical to our staff. Additionally, it’s purpose-built for the healthcare environment and workflows which enables us to connect the right patient to the right care resulting in improved patient outcomes.”

CLC paramedics monitor alarms and only forward critical alerts to nurses’ Zebra mobile computer. Using these devices, Nemours saves approximately $6 per patient per day. They also help reduce alarm fatigue for nurses as they no longer spend time tracking down false alarms which represented 20 percent of the critical alerts received.

“Leading healthcare providers like Nemours utilize clinical mobility and communications solutions to give caregivers a performance edge,” said Chris Sullivan, Global Healthcare Practice Lead, Zebra Technologies. “With the TC51-HC touch computer, Nemours equipped CLC paramedics and caregivers with real-time communications and information to ensure patients receive the right care at the right time – helping reduce medical errors and enhance the overall quality of care.”

Nemours has also used the Zebra mobile computer to improve the efficiency of processes such as room turnover. The staff now tracks room readiness using four buttons on the nurse call panel, which delivers immediate updates to key personnel to efficiently prepare a room for the next patient.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Nemours Children’s Health System replaced its consumer smartphones with Zebra TC51-HC touch computers equipped with the Voalte Communication Platform to streamline caregiver communications and improve patient care.
• Approximately 700 paramedics and caregivers use the Zebra TC51-HC touch computers to quickly share critical information and improve the efficiency of patient care processes.
• Nemours’ CLC paramedics use the TC51-HC touch computer to communicate with nurses at two facilities and only push the most critical alerts to reduce alarm fatigue.
• Read more about the Nemours deployment in the case study and watch the video.

ABOUT NEMOURS CHILDREN’S HEALTH SYSTEM

Nemours is an internationally recognized children’s health system that owns and operates the two free-standing children’s hospitals: the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del., and Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando, Fla., along with outpatient facilities in five states, delivering pediatric primary, specialty and urgent care. Nemours also powers the world’s most-visited website for information on the health of children and teens, KidsHealth.org, and offers on-demand, online video patient visits through Nemours CareConnect. Nemours ReadingBrightstart.org is a program dedicated to preventing reading failure in young children, grounded in Nemours’ understanding that child health and learning are inextricably linked, and that reading level is a strong predictor of adult health. Established as The Nemours Foundation through the legacy and philanthropy of Alfred I. duPont, Nemours provides pediatric clinical care, research, education, advocacy and prevention programs to families in the communities it serves.

ABOUT ZEBRA 

Zebra (NASDAQ: ZBRA) empowers the front line of business in retail/ecommerce, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, healthcare and other industries to achieve a performance edge. With more than 10,000 partners across 100 countries, we deliver industry-tailored, end-to-end solutions that intelligently connect people, assets and data to help our customers make business-critical decisions. Our market-leading solutions elevate the shopping experience, track and manage inventory as well as improve supply chain efficiency and patient care. Ranked on Forbes’ list of America’s Best Employers for the last four years, Zebra helps our customers capture their edge. For more information, visit www.zebra.com or sign up for our news alerts. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. 

Contacts

Media Contact:

Matt Doyle

Zebra Technologies

Phone: +1-847-393-3124

matt.doyle@zebra.com

Industry Analyst Contact:

Kasia Fahmy

Zebra Technologies

+1-224-306-8654

k.fahmy@zebra.com