Tracking patients with AdvanTRAX process
The following is an explanation of how the AdvanTRAX system, designed by Robinson Consulting in Springfield, MA, works for Baystate Health Systems, also in Springfield.
1. Data entry of patient information. Patient-specific data are entered into the patient wristband screens. Data are primarily used for placement on the physical wristbands and input for the scheduling components of AdvanTRAX. This information is usually entered prior to the day of a patient’s visit.
2. Data entry of schedule information. Sche-duling information is entered into the assign OR/procedure room info and staff screens. Data (also entered prior to the day of a patient’s visit) are used for both the scheduling and reporting components of AdvanTRAX.
3. Printing of wristbands and labels. It is easiest to print both the wristbands and labels from the scheduled patients screen. System users can select multiple patients and print out an entire day’s worth of wristbands and labels at once.
4. Patient arrival. Patients arrive at the facility on the day of their scheduled surgery, and the receptionist uses the on-line patient arrival task entry screen to create the initial arrival entry in the transaction diary table. Once the arrival task has been created, the patient’s name appears in the list that accompanies the reception area on the floor plan monitor screen.
5. Preoperative tasks. Staff in the nursing areas use the floor plan monitor screens to monitor the reception area and bring their patients into the pre-op rooms at the first opportunity. Once in a room, patients receive their wristbands, and their second entry into the transaction diary table records the exact time and location of their entry into the preoperative treatment process. Generally, all of the pre-op transactions are done using the scan guns.
6. Perioperative tasks. Using AdvanTRAX, physicians and nursing staff within the OR rooms can monitor their patients’ progress and know exactly when their patients are ready for surgery. Patients are scanned out of their pre-op rooms and brought into the appropriate OR/minor procedure room.
During the peri-operative process, transactions are usually entered through keyboard entry on client workstations. As the procedure nears completion, the physician can reserve a post-op recovery room for the patient.
7. Postoperative tasks. The nursing staff use the floor plan monitor screens to monitor the ORs and are able to coordinate the arrival of patients into the postoperative treatment process. Patients are scanned in upon arrival into their recovery rooms and usually proceed through primary and secondary recovery stages, with scanned events marking each transition.
8. Patient discharge. Patients are discharged into one of several categories:
— to home;
— to 23 hours (will stay overnight at the facility);
— to a reception area within the medical facility;
— to an inpatient unit (only applicable in an ambulatory setting).
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