Electronic ECG Management in the ED
Support and Track Notification/Acknowledge Workflow
BACKGROUND
The AirStrip ONE for Cardiology module dashboard displays in real time a variety of information:
- ECG and patient ID/gender/age
- ECG acquisition date/time
- ECG notification date/time, including when the push notification was sent
- List of those who discretely viewed ECG, with accompanying dates/times
- Cycle time: Minutes from notification to view (i.e. how long between push notification and discrete view)
PROBLEM
A leading health system in the Midwest suggested a number of feature updates to streamline ECG workflows in the emergency department (ED). This health system, an early adopter of AirStrip ONE for Cardiology, managed more than 130,000 ED visits in FY 2017.
SOLUTION
New features to AirStrip ONE for Cardiology include:
- Indicator that shows dashboard is actively updating, including the time that the most recent update occurred
- The ability to see whether an order is associated with a given ECG
- Expanded view to see ‘all ECGs’ on the dashboard, rather than only ECG notifications
- Visual cue when an ECG lingers in a given status longer than X minutes; specific time is configurable
- Displays the ECG before requiring user to acknowledge
- Clear indications to users when an ECG needs to be signed
- “Acknowledge” workflow for all ED ECGs
- Push notification sent when an ECG is not acknowledged in X amount of time; specific time is configurable
BENEFITS
- Decentralizes the process of ECG access and review
- Strengthens workflows to prevent ‘missed’ ECGs
- ECGs are available in near real-time
- ECGs are visually enhanced and interactive to allow for ‘pinch and zoom’ capability while maintaining proper aspect ratio
- Expedites the treatment of ED patients to help get them quickly move into appropriate care areas to promote recovery.
- More timely review of ECGs can contribute to improved clinical outcomes because "time is muscle."
