Success Story

A DIFFERENT KIND OF HOSPITAL SCAN...

A hospital operating theatre may not be the first place you would expect to find Welch Allyn scanners. However, that's exactly where they are being used in Doncaster Royal Infirmary and the Montague Hospital NHS Trust.

Between them, the two units - which effectively act as one large general hospital - have approximately 800 beds. Like any hospital, Doncaster's main priorities include patient care and maintaining a smooth and efficient service. Both of these reasons were behind the decision to introduce Welch Allyn scanners some three years ago.

The hospital wanted to develop a system for tracking the movement of patients through the operating theatres. It therefore decided to introduce a barcode system, which in turn would require reliable and accurate scanners.

Royd Ransom, the hospital's Database Administrator, comments: "We chose Welch Allyn scanners because they are robust, hand-held units and are very reliable. Some scanners have to be programmed, and can lose their configuration, but the Welch Allyn units were ready to use straight away."

He continues: "When we embarked on this project, the implementation consultant warned us that any barcode scanners we used would probably be the weak link. Fortunately, he was wrong - the Welch Allyn scanners have performed very well, and have given very few problems."

The hospital uses Welch Allyn SCANTEAM 3400 scanners. These are hand-held charge coupled device (CCD) barcode readers which are lightweight but rugged, easy to use, and give rapid results. They can read barcodes in full sunlight, and both long and short distance scan versions are available. A critical aspect of the implementation was the ability to modify the firmware within the scanners for a unique hand shaking protocol, allowing guaranteed transmission of data over great distances (far and beyond the normal ability of RS232), and interaction with the AT & T software. Whenever someone is admitted to the hospital for a surgical procedure, they are allotted a barcode that contains their personal details. This remains with the patient during their visit to the theatre. The barcode is read at several different points, including the patient's arrival at the theatre; their entry for the operation; the time they emerge; the time they are read recovery area; and the time they actually leave.

"We can use this information in many different ways," says Royd Ransom. "For instance, we can analyze any bottlenecks - such as unacceptable delays in returning patients to the wards. We can also build up an accurate picture of theatre utilization, which helps us to improve efficiency still further."

Following the success of the Doncaster and Montague Hospital installation, recommendations were made for Barnsley District General Hospital to purchase an identical system, and this has proved equally successful.
He adds: "The scanners are very effective. We are now hoping to use barcodes for patient tracking in our Accident & Emergency unit - and we will certainly look at the possibility of using Welch Allyn scanners once more."

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