It's About Time: NurseFlow App Offloads Nurses by Streamlining Documentation
It's About Time: NurseFlow App Offloads Nurses by Streamlining Documentation
Barcode Scanning with CortexDecoder Supports Patient Care App
An astounding 75%—that's how much time nurses usually devote to paperwork during a routine 12-hour shift. That's nine hours spent not welcoming newborns, not mending broken bones, and not comforting patients' families.
Surveys from across the EU reveal that nurses spend a significant time during each shift navigating documentation and administrative tasks. Below is an indication of priorities and time:
- Documentation (35% of total time)
- Medication administration (20.3%)
- Care coordination (19.7%)
- Patient care activities (17.8%)
- Patient assessment and reading vital signs (7.2%)
Undoubtedly, increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of nursing is critical to keep hospitals running smoothly and patient care safe. As researchers dug deeper, they discovered that improving nursing care efficiency hinged on streamlining documentation, medication administration, and care coordination.
So, ZORGI, one of the biggest app developers for European hospitals, threw the weight of 320+ employees behind devising a suitable nursing solution. And it was the right firm for the task—ZORGI means "taking care of" in Esperanto.
NurseFlow App Creates More Time for Patient Care
"We sought to offer more time, safety, and comfort to healthcare professionals and their patients through modern (mobile) technologies," explains Wilfried Mertens, Unit Manager Mobile at ZORGI. "Therefore, we developed NurseFlow, a mobile application for nurses to work more efficiently—with better controls—through bedside barcode scanning."
ZORGI is a joint venture between Xperthis and Infohos Solutions, Belgian companies specializing in healthcare IT solutions and hospital digitalization. Combining their strengths into ZORGI yielded solutions from patient admission and invoicing, care and support, pharmacy, logistics, and financial management to business intelligence.
Harnessing the collective know-how of ZORGI developers led to NurseFlow, an app for Android smartphones that reduces time spent on documentation, increasing time for patient care by up to 25%. NurseFlow is a mobile powerhouse that fits into scrub pockets and streamlines five essential workflows in healthcare
- Vital Values & Early Warning System: Safe and effortless measurement of patient vitals
- Paperless Nurse: Digitizes routine data collection and input
- Blood Transfusion: All-in-one track and trace system
- Sample Collection: Simplified specimen labeling, examination, and tracking
- Medication Administration: Digital assistant for prepping and administering meds
The results: NurseFlow streamlines 75% of healthcare professionals' other tasks so they can do what drew them to nursing: taking care of others.
ZORGI Builds Better Healthcare Solutions on Barcodes
NurseFlow quickly gained a following because its intuitive interface combines all the benefits of today's mobile technologies to dramatically streamline communication, control, and administration. Behind the scenes, the humble barcode ties it all together. Here's how:
NurseFlow harnesses barcode scanning software, enabling a smartphone's camera to scan the barcodes nurses encounter daily, from those on a patient's ID band to barcodes on medicine vials. Each
barcode scan verifies patient identity or creates a time signature of dosage. Similarly, barcode scanning tracks blood tests, catalogs surgical tools, and even unlocks medication cabinets on high-tech medical carts.
Given the barcode's importance, ZORGI developers were adamant that any barcode scanning software selected for their app had to offer high-performance barcode scanning and exceptional accuracy. After all, smartphones would have to successfully read barcodes in medical and clinical settings that might be soiled, wrinkled, or printed on highly reflective materials like glass and polyvinyl chloride.
ZORGI's specialists conducted extensive research, investigating companies offering smartphone-compatible healthcare barcode scanning solutions. After vetting possible suppliers, Mertens’ team concluded that Code Corporation’s CortexDecoder software development kit (SDK) surpassed the competition. Given the importance of NurseFlow’s mission, ZORGI chose CortexDecoder because of:
- Ease of use
- Ergonomics
- Speed
- Accuracy
The team noted that ergonomics and scanning speed tipped the scale in Code’s favor.
"With the Cortex scan engine, we scan the patient and the products (e.g., blood, samples, or medication) used for a certain patient," explains Mertens. "With this tool, the user can scan multiple barcodes simultaneously, preventing mistakes while expediting the scanning process. What struck us as particularly unique about Code’s solutions was the ability to scan multiple barcodes all at once."
Scanning Multiple Healthcare Barcodes at Once
The medical sector is rapidly embracing the use of multiple barcodes and types of barcodes used on packaging because the products are used globally. Unfortunately, this diversity complicates bedside scanning when only one barcode may be necessary for documentation, yet there are up to ten to scan. So one of ZORGI’s big challenges was recognizing the correct barcode when multiple ones are scanned at once.
"The best practical advice is to make sure you really understand the system’s behavior," Mertens advises. "Cortex does things differently from standard scanners. But because of that, and if you implement it properly, it gives you advantages in ease of use, ergonomics, and speed."
ZORGI developers noted two critical improvements for NurseFlow:
- CortexDecoder allows the customer to scan all needed barcodes in one motion instead of scanning each barcode separately — a tremendous advantage because in critical care, every second matters. In routine sample collection, having to perform 2-10 scanning actions was not uncommon before NurseFlow.
- If there are multiple barcodes or barcode types on a product (common on infant care items), the nurse scans all at once, and the system selects the required barcode.
CortexDecoder, as with Code’s handheld scanners, uniquely utilizes JavaScript. An Internet staple known for auto-filling online forms, this programming language enables Code to provide straightforward data parsing if needed. Code’s support team, or a hospital’s health IT team, can create a query telling the smartphone’s camera what data must be extracted from each barcode or barcode type and put in a more usable format, e.g., for an electronic healthcare record.
All in Good Time
NurseFlow’s ultimate goal is providing greater patient safety and comfort by streamlining nurses’ documentation workflows. Its combination of can’t-miss barcode scanning and user-centric design has landed the app on nurses’ smartphones in the largest hospitals across the Benelux region.
"We have good results, and, in the end, our customers are happy to work with NurseFlow," Mertens beams.
Seeking high-tech tools to help nurses continue delivering high-quality care? Requesting a demo is as simple as contacting ZORGI.
Improving healthcare data capture is as simple as emailing info@codecorp.com. One of our TAM- or EMEA-based experts will devise a barcode scanning solution for you.
Works Cited
Author
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