Like most modern medical facilities, the Center for Dermatology is a bustling, fast-paced office with staff and doctors catering to dozens of patients on a daily basis. Not surprisingly, managing the facility’s workflow can often be a challenge. To get a handle on patient and doctor interactivity, the doctors turned to San Rafael-based Audac Systems, who designed a custom communications solution based on the new Tech Works CC-Series Clinic Room Status system with the addition of an integrated VC-Series intercom.
Tech Works CC-Series is a networked room status system designed to meet the high-intensity demands of today’s healthcare facilities. As Audac Systems President Brian Laws explains, the system has provided staff and doctors with a fast and efficient means of managing the facility’s traffic flow.
“The CC-Series system displays the location of each of their four doctors at a glance,” says Laws. “The doctors push a button to log in when they enter a room. This notifies staff where they are at any time, and enables each of the three receptionists to know the doctors’ whereabouts and whether they’re with a patient. This design simplifies the doctors input to just a couple simple pushbuttons. One press for his color, a second press for an emergency, a third press to turn off.”
More than simply monitoring location, Tech Works engineers designed an integration solution pairing VC-Series intercom products with the new CC-Series. This hybrid approach enables staff and doctors to communicate quickly and easily. “If staff need to speak with a doctor, they can connect via the intercom to any of the exam rooms, and the doctor can reply, completely hands-free,” Laws continues. “While the doctor’s call is being transferred, it automatically gets placed on hold until two-way voice communication is re-established. This keeps interruptions in the exam room to a minimum.”
Conversely, doctors can easily initiate communication with staff from any exam room. “Each exam room has both a one-button intercom, and a four-button status light panel. If a doctor needs to speak to someone, they press a button on the wall-mounted Intercom and it rings at the three clinic master stations. If they need a swift emergency response they press the CC-Series button a second time to initiate a tone at the nurse stations.”
The system keeps communication simple and intuitive, says Laws. “The doctors did not want to have telephones in the exam rooms as this would be too distracting to patients. The CC-Series system eliminates the need for phones in the exam rooms by using wall-mounted annunciators, and keeps interruptions to a minimum by enabling most routine communications to be done non-verbally. It has really streamlined our customers’ communications.”
Download PDF: Tech Works CC-Series Helps Streamline Communications at Fremont Dermatology Center