May 26, 2003—Doctors and nurses anticipating a wave of potentially new patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) may have a new ally in the detection and treatment of the epidemic illness. Patient Care Technology Systems (PCTS), a medical software company that specializes in clinical information systems, has enhanced its Amelior ED software system protocols for rapidly identifying and treating SARS.
Midland Memorial Hospital, of Midland, Tex. and Mary Washington Hospital, of Fredericksburg, Va., are two of the PCTS customers who recently received the enhancements in preparation for future SARS patients. The technology allows emergency room physicians and staff to identify patients presenting with SARS or SARS-like symptoms. After an automatic warning identifies a potential SARS candidate, the software expedites the ordering of SARS diagnostic and nursing interventions. The SARS alert is the latest example of the broader Amelior ED feature of recommending diagnostic treatments.
ER physicians and staff using the Amelior ED system access its diagnostic and clinical information through a series of simple “point and click” prompts. The process begins with the patient’s admittance into a facility on either a desktop or mobile computer workstation with the Amelior ED software technology. Nursing or hospital admitting staff records a patient’s information, including medical status, symptoms and medications in use.
The patient is then assigned an “urgent” or “emergent” status (color-coded) that is transmitted to other Amelior ED workstations in the ER. ER physicians will then prioritize which patients should be seen first. As the physician confers with the patient, he or she can simultaneously access Amelior ED’s data library to assess relevant clinical information. Amelior ED will offer suggested diagnostic tests and treatments, which are all embedded in its software. Data is then simultaneously transmitted to other hospital departments that may be woven into the care regimen, including laboratories, radiology, and administration to expedite procedures, approvals and results.
Patient Care Technology Systems (PCTS) is a provider of the Amelior ED patient care system, an emergency department information system with clinical decision support designed to improve the operating performance and quality of practice of emergency departments.
For more information, visit Patient Care Technology Systems.
