Kainuu Hospital: Customer story
The staff and patients at the new Kainuu Hospital have been equipped with the latest technology: the 9Solutions locating safety and communication system, as well as smart technology designed to facilitate nursing work and optimize operations. The hospital received its first patients at the end of January 2020.
Terho Pekkala, Project Manager of the Kainuu Social and Health Care Consortium, and Mervi Lesonen, Head Nurse of the Internal Medicine Department at the new Kajaani Hospital, are both satisfied with the new 9Solutions solution.
Waiting room for the new Kainuu hospital
Mobile solutions improve time management
Both Pekkala and Lesonen feel that modern wireless and mobile solutions bring efficiency and flexibility to hospital operations and nursing work, compared to traditional fixed devices. The mobile application for nurses, used for receiving and handling alarm tasks, is carried by every nurse, and information about alarms, their status, and location is shared with all nurses. This streamlines task management, accelerates assistance, and helps reduce overlapping work.
According to Lesonen, it took some time to get used to using the phone, but now it has become an everyday part of nursing work. “Previously, only a few responsible nurses had phones. Nowadays, all nurses have phones equipped not only with the 9Solutions app but also with other useful applications, such as risk assessment tools, reporting, and task management,” Lesonen comments.
Patient room in the new hospital
Indoor positioning increases safety in the hospital environment
In addition, the staff at the new Kainuu Hospital use wireless locating safety buttons, allowing them to call for extra help, security, or a resuscitation team if needed. Every patient bed and corridor is equipped with call buttons, enabling patients to call for a nurse. Nurses receive these alarms directly on their phones, where they can also immediately see the patient’s location.
Some patients have personal alarm bracelets, which are also used for monitoring dementia patients. With dementia monitoring, the hospital can create individualized safety zones for patients suffering from memory disorders, preventing access to certain areas or triggering alarms if the patient attempts to leave a designated safe zone. “For example, if someone tries to use the elevator, the system will automatically prevent the elevator from moving,” Pekkala explains.
Efficient logistics save time and steps
In addition to the nurse call and personal safety systems, the 9Solutions solution includes several time-saving features, such as an equipment tracking solution for improving logistics. The system shows the location of hospital equipment and tools, such as beds and wheelchairs, saving nurses from spending time searching for them.
Nurses can also see who is at the main door via the mobile app and open the door directly from their phones. They can even call a patient’s room, making it easier to communicate and saving time by asking what the patient needs in advance. The voice connection is particularly useful during flu season when there are many isolated patients.
Collaborative innovation
Several applications of the system have also been developed in collaboration with the new Kainuu Hospital to meet its unique needs. One example is the food cart call feature, which has streamlined the hospital’s food distribution. Meals from the hospital kitchen are sent to the upper floors by elevator, and staff receive notifications on their phones to retrieve the cart.
Terho Pekkala (left), project manager of the Kainuu Association of Municipalities for Social and Health Care, presents the equipment of the new hospital bed.
Comprehensive, versatile, and adaptable solution
In addition to the functional benefits, both Pekkala and Lesonen believe that the comprehensive 9Solutions safety and communication solution serves the hospital’s diverse and evolving needs well.
According to Pekkala, versatility and flexibility are the solution’s greatest strengths: “From the perspective of managing the hospital as a whole, it’s sensible not to maintain multiple systems. Instead, we have one comprehensive and modular solution, to which we can add different features and functions as needed and expand its use,” Pekkala describes.
Close and flexible collaboration as the foundation of success
Installing and implementing the new hospital-wide locating, safety, and communication system was a major project, requiring significant resources and close collaboration between the client and the system provider. After installation, different use cases of the system were fine-tuned together with the users, and the staff was trained to use the new solution. Collaboration for developing new features continues.
Pekkala particularly praises 9Solutions for their excellent cooperation: “The entire implementation project has gone smoothly, and the collaboration with 9Solutions has been seamless. I am especially pleased with their willingness to move forward flexibly, which is extremely important in this kind of partnership where new innovations are also sought,” Pekkala comments.
Lesonen also feels that the collaboration has been excellent: “The people from 9Solutions that I’ve worked with have been wonderful, and they’ve always provided help whenever needed.”
Pictures (C) Kainuun Sote, Talotekniikka
