Barwon Health

Story Details

Barwon Health in Australia is the state of Victoria's largest regional health service, with an annual operating budget in excess of $275 million. The organization provides high-quality, care, employing more than 5,000 staff.

Barwon Health wanted to replace paper-based patient records within its Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with electronic records, which could be easily stored and captured. As Paul Cohen, executive director of information services at Barwon Health explains, the hospital had preconditions for any proposed solution. "Our hospital staff members have to check patient information and make notes on the spot as they move from bed to bed and ward to ward. Having a traditional PC at each bedside is impractical. In addition to the expense, it would take hospital staff too long to boot up and log in to each machine. We looked at portable solutions, but wireless networks present their own problems," he says.

Systems integrator Incarta IT, a Sun Microsystems partner, is a specialist in systems for the healthcare industry. Based on Barwon Health's requirements for a technology solution that could capture and share patient data at the point of need, Incarta IT proposed the Advanced Clinical Computing system based on Sun Ray virtual display clients. The Sun Ray virtual display client is ideal for environments where space is limited. The Sun Ray clients comprise a 17-inch flat panel display, a keyboard, and a mouse, which connect to the existing network. The fact that staff moving about the ward could have quick and secure access to patient data and applications persuaded Barwon Health to select the Advanced Clinical Computing system based on Sun technology.

Sun and Incarta IT partnered closely with Barwon Health to develop the Advanced Clinical Computing System, including performing application integration as well as change management and staff training. Once the solution and the staff were ready, a trial system was set up, which was then quickly extended to 60 Sun Ray clients installed at the foot of beds in the ICU. The solution was not only quick to deploy but also highly secure."The Sun Ray clients are easy to install and need no configuration - they just plug into our network. The system is very fast and easy to operate, and the high levels of authentication as well as the absence of a local operating system make our Sun Ray clients virtually immune from unauthorized access and virus attacks," says Cohen.

Each staff member uses Sun Java Card technology to quickly activate the Sun Ray virtual display client terminals. Each session is automatically saved when the card is removed and can be reactivated at any terminal. This ensures seamless, consistent access to patient information and saves critical time. "We plan to deploy at least 200 thin clients. As the technology expands and rolls out to other locations within Barwon Health, we find more and more clinicians are asking when their area will be online," says Cohen. "This proves just how well the system works," he adds.

In addition to providing patient data, the Advanced Clinical Computing system offers hospital staff access to email and other software applications such as word processing. Staff roster information is accessible from the Sun Ray clients as are specific hospital clinical systems for data such as pathology and radiology results.

"The staff have realized the benefit of capturing patient information at the point of care and being able to share it immediately with other clinicians. It's not just about simplifying processes; it's about improving patient care through the use of technology," confirms Cohen.

Dr. Charlie Corke, Director of the Intensive Care Unit agrees. "We are absolutely delighted with the way that Sun Ray clients have enabled us to apply mobile computing technology to an ICU environment. It's a very powerful tool and the response from our staff has been overwhelmingly positive. In fact, I think there would be a riot if we suggested moving back to PCs."