Health Care Workers Now Carry Laptops

November 5, 2002. Meriden, Connecticut

Franciscan Home Care and Hospice Care nurses, therapists and social workers have "gone live" with their new computerized system for clinical records. Outfitted with laptops, these health care professionals visit patients in their homes and record vital data on their laptops during the visit. The data is then integrated via a wireless network into the agency system, available for the next nurse assigned to visit the patient.

Preparation for the transition from paper records to an electronic system has been underway for several months. The staff received training from August through October. Clincial Supervisor Virginia Ives-Bishop, BS, RN, praises the openness and positive attitude of her staff in meeting this new challenge. "They have been wonderful. We hope that, in the long run, the system will save us time and expense so we can focus on providing the extraordinary care that people expect of us and not spend as much time on manual record-keeping."

Franciscan Home Care and Hospice Care received technical guidance and support from Synergic Systems, the systems consulting group of the Franciscan Life Center Network, in this new venture. Sister Suzanne Gross, FSE, Administrator of the home care agency, says she is very pleased by the employees' teamwork and their enthusiasm for the project.