Location: Netherlands
Customer: Nederlands Kanker Instituut- Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital (NKI-AVL)
Introduction
The Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital operates closely with the Dutch Cancer Institute in the treatment of cancer. This specialisation involves intensive radioactive and chemical therapies along with close patient monitoring. The complex work makes heavy demands on staff, equipment and data processing. In an effort to make the treatment system function more effectively, the hospital has installed a new Patient Data Management System (PDMS), and it plays a crucial role in the process. The hospital-institute chose Alphatron, a local system integrator to implement their new PDMS for medical computers.
Solution
The implementation of a PDMS for intensive care, recovery and operating theatres was part of a long-term project. In 1999 the first exploratory talks were held, but it was not until 2005 that sufficient funds were found to realize the new system. The driving force behind the project was anaesthesiologist Peter Schutte. He said, “We are a rather small hospital, with five operating beds and five IC beds; but even so, we do a large number of ‘big’ things that require state of the art anaesthetics. That’s why we need to have the same equipment in each room, for proper insufflation and monitoring of patients. When we took future developments into account, it was obvious that a computerised system would become absolutely essential.”
The first phase developed a project team including representatives from various hospital disciplines. Their duty was to make an internal survey of the wishes and practical demands that the new computer data processing system would have to satisfy. Schutte summarizes the goal: “We approached several software suppliers with this package of demands, which resulted in a test installation by two different suppliers. The trial showed us that the new software package would have to be suitable for both the IC as well as the operating theatre. Eventually, we chose IMD Soft’s Metavision system.”
Having decided on their software supplier, the next phase involved searching for a hardware platform to run the system. “We specifically chose medical computers. Sure, you can save a few hundred euros and adapt a standard PC, but that was not the ideal option. Ordinary PCs take up too much space and collect too much dust; then you have to deal with the tangle of wiring and cables. In our search for medical computers, we soon discovered the Advantech equipment, supplied by Alphatron. After it was determined which computers we would apply, we worked together to explore the possibilities for mounting the monitors. It soon became clear we had to come up with a unique solution for each department.”
System
Equipped with TFT LCD displays and Intel® Pentium® engines, Advantech POC terminals are designed to resist spills and water damage, ensuring dust resistance with protected LCDs and sealed enclosures. The hospital chooses POC-174 in the application.
Benefits:
The system has operated for a number of months, to the satisfaction of users around the entire hospital. Because of the PDMS works with web-based forms, the entire hospital profits. This is even truer now, as patients are being admitted on the very day that they will have surgery, and so it’s essential that patient data be fed into the system so that it can be viewed immediately by every department.