Clinicians require many disparate systems to help them do their jobs.  These could include mobile workstations for charting, vitals sign monitors for recording blood pressure or pulses, and bar code scanners for positive patient identification or medication verification.  Physically, nurses and doctors can only carry so much with them, and time spent running back and forth for equipment is time wasted away from patients.

So, one of our engineering objectives in the new ST7 Healthcare Mobility Solutions suite was to address this problem holistically across the line.  We started with the ST7 mobile workstation, by designing it with the capability to logically integrate multiple pieces of equipment. 

For example, by making it easy for a bar code scanner and a vitals monitor to be mounted onto a cart, a nurse now has a single “platform” to do rounds with.  The caveat is that as equipment is added, the weight naturally increases, which impacts maneuverability and ergonomics.

This, in turn, is exactly the reason why we simultaneously invested in the development of the ST7 LiFe battery, which we discussed on this blog a few weeks back.  By using new technology that enables it to be 30-40 pounds lighter than the standard Sealed Lead Acid  (SLA) batteries needed to power all of that equipment, it’s now possible to address the capability vs. maneuverability conundrum head-on, while also packing longer power reserves to keep clinicians mobile for extended periods of time.

Treating the components in isolation is what tends to give rise to these problems in the first place, and it’s frustrating to see so many organizations in our industry focusing so diligently on individual point solutions, while losing sight of the greater objective.

Frankly, it’s not about a device, or the power, or the platform, or about any inanimate object.  It’s about how the relationship between all of these factors affects the clinician – and whether they consistently and comfortably have access to the proper capabilities at the point of care.