SYDNEY and AUSTIN, TX – August 12, 2010 – Residential aged care home Jacaranda Village is one of the first Australian healthcare organisations to take delivery of the new Motion C5v Mobile Clinical Assistant (MCA) as it commits itself to mobility solutions and aims to be paperless within two years.

The aged care facility ordered the new Motion C5v for nursing staff through Melbourne-based aged care solutions experts Axishealth; and early reaction to the new wireless technology is universally enthusiastic.

Jacaranda Village CEO Susan Bowditch said that they wanted to work more efficiently, while operating within their limited resources. “We have been working for some time finding ways to work smarter. So far this has generally been in areas of work practices and equipment, such as trying to cut down staff time spent walking up and down corridors. This is our first serious venture into technology solutions.

“We discussed our goal of going paperless for greater efficiency with Axishealth’s Doug Smith, who suggested adding a solution of mobile tablet PCs to more efficiently use our specialist aged care software i-Care.

“We’d been thinking of going to an electronic medication chart, and quickly understood that Doug was offering a fantastic option with the tablet PCs. We researched other options and tablets, but no-one else had the range of quality features we wanted. The Motion tablet had so many features that were a fit for us that it was a ‘no brainer’ decision – they sold themselves.”

Bowditch commented that they also needed to ‘nurse-proof’ their new mobility solution. “Nurses in this aged care area are very unforgiving on anything that they touch, as they work very hard and are constantly dealing with a dynamic carer environment. We needed a rugged solution that could stand up to that challenge.”

Bowditch said that the paper systems used by staff created considerable room for human error, such as omitting important notes, or administering the wrong medicines. “Moving to the tablet PCs means we are as error-proof as we can be. For example, a warning alarm will go off on the device if the nurse scans a bar code for a patient’s medication that does not correspond to the medication chart that she has open.

“For each shift handover, new nurses can now go over the information without having to make notes or read hand-written entries from previous shifts. It gives them portability at the point of care, where they can write on screen in people’s rooms. Also duplication is tedious for our nursing staff and a waste of time and money.”

Bowditch said that in the short time they’ve had the C5v’s, Jacaranda Village staff and management has already thought of new uses outside of direct care.

“If we are heading towards going completely wireless and paperless, then this mobile wireless technology isn’t just for our nurses. It will be great for our hotel services manager who orders nearly everything that we use; and it will be a brilliant tool for our maintenance manager. We’re just starting to think of the overall potential.”

Axishealth’s Doug Smith said that Jacaranda Village also saw substantial benefit from utilising the tablets in the area of wound care, sending direct reports to the doctor and getting long distance advice.

“The tablet’s integration with the i-Care software system was also important to them, together with the ease of handwriting on-screen and the security provided by fingerprint-reader log-in and good battery life.

“Training was another very important area. The average age of aged care nurses is mid-40s, but we were all surprised and pleased that all of the nursing staff quickly became excited over the benefits and time-savings in their daily workload.

“To train all nursing staff, we committed to three-four days of initial training, including ‘train the trainer’ support.

Jacaranda Village’s chief executive Sue Bowditch said the adoption of the solution was a huge step up for the nursing home. “We hope to be fully paperless in two years. It will mean our staff can spend more time with the residents and still get their work done.”

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MT10 MCA Mobile Clinical Assistant

MT10 MCA Mobile Clinical Assistant

MT10 MCA Mobile Clinical Assistant

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“From its inception, Motion has delivered tablet PC solutions that address the needs of a highly mobile workforce,” said Mike Stinson, Vice President of Marketing, Motion Computing. “Today we extend that leadership with the introduction of the industry’s most advanced purpose-built slate tablet PCs that offer mobility, power and durability.”

Powerful Performance
The rugged F5v Tablet PC and C5v MCA now feature the Intel® Core™ i7 or Core™ i5 vPro™ technology, enabling a significant improvement in performance and battery life over previous solutions. Additionally, incorporating Intel Core vPro technology will enable Motion customers to experience:

• Enhanced remote management capabilities enabling IT technicians to repair and secure the PC from any location, even while powered-down or in sleep mode, enabling greater levels of energy efficiency and streamlined maintenance processes
• Increased security with fully manageable hard drive encryption, and Intel® Anti-Theft technology used with Computrace®, protecting valuable data in case of loss or theft
• Improved multitasking with smart technology that adjusts processor speed to support workload changes, providing power when needed and working more efficiently when possible

“Motion tablets with the 2010 Intel Core vPro processors adapt to the needs of mobile workforces with smart security, cost-saving manageability, and intelligent performance,” said Brian Tucker, Director of Marketing, Business Client Platform Division at Intel. “Now enterprises can take advantage of the powerful applications and rich user experiences available with today’s technology.”

Built on Proven Technology
Motion’s next-generation C5v and F5v Tablet PCs are based on the company’s proven line of rugged tablets that are in use by mobile professionals worldwide. New features to further increase productivity, connectivity and durability for enhanced mobile experiences include:

• Hot-swap battery feature for easy replacement of charged batteries without interruption
• System storage enhancements, featuring a powerful 160GB HDD and up to 4GB of RAM
• Extra-durable Corning Gorilla™ glass, now standard, offering up to a 4 times improvement in breakage resistance¹, with new anti-smear coating for improved visibility
• Enhanced optional, integrated 3.0 megapixel documentation camera and new web camera for improved communication and collaboration capabilities
• Integrated Gobi2000™ mobile broadband supporting multi-mode 3G mobile Internet access on either HSPA or CDMA2000® EV-DO networks in markets around the world

Enterprise-Ready, Highly Powerful, Durable and Mobile Tablet PCs
Tested to withstand even the harshest working environments, the C5v and F5v Tablet PCs meet MIL-STD-810G and IP-54 standards. Drop tested on 26 sides and fully sealed against dust and moisture, the tablet PCs are designed to withstand bumps, drops, rain or other conditions that can damage commercial-grade computing solutions. Additionally, the tablet PCs are enterprise-ready. Utilizing either the Windows® 7 or Windows XP operating system, the C5v and F5v fit seamlessly into enterprise-environments, reducing the burden on IT and enabling mobile workers to manage the same applications available to office-based employees.

The Motion C5v MCA and F5v Mobile Field Tool
The next generation of the proven C5-Series and F5-Series Tablet PCs, the Motion C5v and F5v are tailored to mobile professionals across vertical industries such as healthcare, construction and field service. The tablet PCs are fully rugged yet lightweight, making them the ideal solution for workers who compute while walking or standing. Deployed across organizations worldwide, the tablet PCs are proving to enhance documentation, improve collaboration, and reduce process latencies. For more information visit the Products and Services page.

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Mobile Clinical Assistant

The Hospital Comarcal de Inca employs about 760 medical professionals, and meets the healthcare needs of approximately 114,000 people on the Spanish island of Majorca.  In July of 2009, the hospital accessed the ability of mobile healthcare technology to improve clinician workflow and offer access to data at the point-of-care.  At the heart of this study was the Panasonic Toughbook H1 Health, a mobile clinical assistant (MCA) based on Intel’s original MCA reference architecture.

For the study, two members of the nursing staff were equipped with Toughbook H1 Health MCA devices.  The nurses were able to access the hospital’s information system as well as frequently consulted information.  The Toughbook H1 Health was used in day-to-day care for a group of hospitalized patients and workflow was observed and measured repeatedly over the course of the study.

Prior to the deployment of the Toughbook H1 Health MCAs, observations and measurements were made of the nursing staff conducting the same procedures with a group of patients in the same areas of the hospital. This was done using conventional methods which included taking notes at bedside using pen and paper and later inputting data into the appropriate hospital information system.

After comparing the results, the hospital saw a dramatic improvement in workflow efficiency when using the Toughbook H1 Health.  Perpetration time was eliminated; medication and note taking was cut approximately in half and water (or fluid) balancing time was cut by approximately one third.  In total, the hospital saw a 40 percent reduction in the time its nurses used to conduct their daily work.

The full study is available for download on the Panasonic Computer Products Europe web site at the following link

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TabletKiosk®, a leader in mobile computing solutions, today announced the new MediSlate™ MCA i1040XT, the only mobile clinical assistant (MCA) featuring a sunlight readable 10.4 inch resistive touch screen. The MCA reference architecture developed by Intel® and based upon significant ethnographic research, workflow studies and conversations with healthcare professionals worldwide; was created specifically for the rigors, needs and workflow of the clinical environment— whether that is a ward, clinic or emergency room.

Built for today’s demanding healthcare environments, MediSlate™ MCAs were designed to improve workflow efficiencies, ease clinician workloads, and help reduce medication and administrative errors by utilizing an array of data and image capturing technologies. Traditionally, healthcare professionals had to rely on paper charts, stationary desktop PCs and equipment wheeled around on bulky carts to help them complete common activities such as taking medical histories, monitoring medications, reviewing test results and x-rays, and patient charting. Using a MediSlate™ MCA in tandem with their existing EMR systems, clinicians and administrators are able to perform all of these same tasks easily and directly at the point-of-care, allowing them to spend more of their time interacting with patients.

The MediSlate™ MCA i1040XT, powered by Intel® Centrino® Mobile Technology, is a versatile and full featured computing device that is housed in a specially sealed, semi-rugged, smooth surface case that is drop-resistant and spill-proof enabling it to be easily wiped clean and disinfected to help reduce the spread of germs. Also, with its integrated 2D/1D barcode scanner, 2.0 megapixel web-enabled video camera, biometric fingerprint reader and a 13.56MHz RFID reader built into its ergonomic handle, the MediSlate™ MCA i1040XT is a mobile, easy to carry, point-of-care device that clinicians can use to enter data, verify patient identification, verify themselves as authorized care givers, and scan pre-printed labels from patient ID bracelets, medication packaging and blood vials.

“Intel’s ethnographic research with healthcare professionals and commitment to improving quality of care for patients worldwide ultimately led to the development of the Mobile Clinical Assistant reference platform. Our goals continue to be reinforced as technology companies, including TabletKiosk, introduce their own innovative MCA devices,” said Louis Burns, vice president and general manager, Intel Digital Health Group. “As awareness for the MCA platform continues to grow, we look forward to more and more clinicians having the opportunity to take mobile point of care to the next level.”

For maximum durability and usability, the MediSlate™ MCA i1040XT is available with a shock mounted 80GB, 1.8” SATA HDD (standard) or 1.8” 32GB Solid State Drive (special order) and is powered by an Intel® Core™2 Solo ULV processor. Configured standard with 2.0GB DDR2 SDRAM, dual band Wi-Fi® 802.11 a/b/g/n (Draft 2.0), integrated Bluetooth® and two (2) hot swappable Lithium-Ion batteries (standard), MediSlate™ MCAs offer uncompromised computing power along with a broad range of essential technological capabilities to keep doctors and nurses current and connected wherever their work takes them.

“Launching the MediSlate™ MCA i1040XT as the newest addition to Intel’s mobile clinical assistant reference platform reflects TabletKiosk’s firm commitment to the healthcare market,” said Martin Smekal, president of TabletKiosk. “The purpose built functionality of the MCA platform, combined with the MediSlate MCA’s built-in compatibility with existing PC based EMR systems and its familiar touch screen interface, delivers new possibilities and efficiencies for improving patient care by enhancing the workflow of nurses and clinicians.”

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AUSTIN, Texas and ATLANTA – March 2, 2010 – Motion Computing®, a leading provider of integrated mobile computing solutions, today announced from the 2010 Annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference & Exhibition, the first annual Motion Excellence in Mobile Point of Care Award. The new annual award program is designed to recognize a commitment and dedication to deploying Mobile Point of Care Solutions that focus on enhancing clinician satisfaction and delivering the highest possible quality of patient care.

The first winner of the Motion Excellence in Mobile Point of Care Award is Springfield, IL-based St. John’s Hospital. St. John’s, a Motion C5 mobile clinical assistant (MCA) user since 2008, has deployed a flexible mobility solution that supports the way clinicians work. St. John’s maintains a high level of commitment to patient safety and clinician satisfaction, and has delivered a truly innovative solution that significantly improves workflows, clinician satisfaction and enhances its overall quality of patient care.

“Whether its maintaining the proper wireless environment, ensuring devices can support multiple workflows or giving clinicians solutions that can be consistently relied on, it takes a commitment to deliver a high quality mobile point of care solution that positively impacts clinicians, workflows and patients,” said David Altounian, Motion Computing CEO. “St. John’s is an ideal example of how the right planning and focus results in a truly successful MPOC deployment that delivers immediate impact to the organization.”

A Truly Flexible Mobile Point of Care Solution for Optimized Workflows
After deploying an electronic medical record (EMR) application from MEDITECH, the St. John’s team chose the Motion C5, Mobile Clinical Assistant, (MCA) to extend the solution to the patient bedside. Now, with more than 600 C5s in use, the hospital has seen an increase in bedside patient scans from just 20 percent to 97 percent – resulting in improved accuracy of data collected and an increase in data efficiency. With the C5s, clinicians can access data at the bedside, the nurses’ station, or from various other points of service with fewer disruptions in care.

While the St. John’s team was enthusiastic with the C5s, they knew they needed additional solutions that could support its diverse range of clinicians throughout the hospital. The team chose the Motion Clinical Workstation (MCW-200) to offer a highly flexible computing solution that adapts to individual clinical workflows. Now with the C5s and MCW-200s, St. Johns has equipped clinicians with the ability to use technology right at the bedside or use a full mobile workstation throughout the hospital for more documentation-intensive workflows.

“St. John’s has worked closely with Motion throughout our mobility deployment and relied on the team’s expertise in helping to design and deliver the right solution for our clinicians and our patients,” said Mark Krieger, manager of IT operations for St. John’s. “Combining the C5 with the MCW-200 offers us a highly flexible computing solution that optimizes EMR utilization and enhances care across the hospital.”

About the Motion C5 MCA and MCW-200
Now in more than 4,000 healthcare organizations worldwide, the C5, mobile clinical assistant, has proven to enhance clinician satisfaction, improve point of care documentation, increase clinician productivity and improve clinical documentation accuracy. The MCW-200 is a fully-integrated mobile computing workstation that provides clinicians with a reliable and dependable computing solution based on the Motion Active Power System™, which offers up to 15 hours of battery life.

2011 Motion Excellence in Mobile Point of Care Award
Beginning September 1, 2010, Motion will begin accepting applications for the 2nd Annual Motion Excellence in Mobile Point of Care Award. The winner will be announced at HIMSS 2011 on February 22nd 2011. Motion encourages healthcare clients, as well as healthcare solution providers and resellers that have worked closely with end-user healthcare organizations on successful mobile point of care initiatives to apply.

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Thinix Touch

PR Log (Press Release) – Mar 08, 2010 – (Milford, IA) – Thinix, a leader in touchscreen user interface computer technology is

mobile clinical assistant software

pleased to introduce Thinix Touch for MCA Devices™.  Mobile Clinical Assistants (MCAs) are touchscreen devices used in healthcare to deliver mobile point of care technology and data access and Thinix Touch for MCA Devices is an advanced touchscreen user interface that provides enhanced usability to promote efficient workflow.

Thinix Touch for MCA Devices™ directly addresses the problem of using a touchscreen MCA device with both an operating system that is inherently not designed for finger navigation and with applications that are not always optimized for finger operation.  Thinix Touch™ leverages the power of Microsoft Windows and extends its usability immensely on the MCA hardware platform.

“Imagine navigating with only a finger, opening and closing applications, entering text, launching multiple applications and switching between them, all with just a finger in control.  This is exactly what Thinix Touch™ allows users to do,” stated Don Van Oort, Thinix CTO.   Thinix TouchTools™, a configurable application launcher built for touchscreen devices and which is part of Thinix Touch for MCA Devices™, provides a simple framework for hospital IT staff, third party software developers and resellers to integrate software applications into a mobile device.

“Thinix TouchTools™ allows users to control any application or the computer itself by linking a Tool, which does a task, to a Touch, which is a button you can push with your finger,” Van Oort explained.  Groups Tools can be formed into Toolboxes and organized in such a way as to promote workflow efficiency improvements.  Van Oort went on to say “an example of use is if a device is being used in the OB ward, then the Tools can input information such as standard post-delivery care instructions into the medical record with a touch of a button.”

In order to ensure a successful implementation of a MCA rollout, it is important to ensure that staff using the MCA devices are able to easily and efficiently use the devices.  “It was clear to us at Thinix that the weak link in the standard MCA configurations is that the systems are not inherently finger-navigable,”

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Friday, March 5, 2010

If you’re looking for a Mobile Clinical Assistant (MCA), you’re probably looking at either the Motion Computing C5 or the Panasonic Toughbook H1. There are other options, but the C5 and H1 are the most popular devices (and if you look at the market segment, you’ll see that the C5 is currently dominating the MCA market).

So, what makes them similar? What makes them different? In order to qualify as an MCA, Intel has outlined the specifications that must be met. So, all MCAs will have very similar key capabilities.

Let me highlight 2 differences (although this will change by the latter part of this year):

• The Panasonic Toughbook H1 is thicker, it has a “grip” option on the back that allows you to hold it more securely, and it offers a dual-battery design that lets you swap batteries without powering down the device. However, it lacks Gorilla Glass and its Atom processor is slow compared to the Motion C5 Core 2 Duo processor. The Atom processor and the dual battery design allows this machine to be used all day (which is more important if you’re outdoors, but in a hospital setting you almost always have access to charging stations). Panasonic has a long history of building rugged Toughbook computers.
• The Motion C5 is thinner and is currently designed with a single battery (but I was told this will be changing). It comes with Gorilla Glass and a fasterCore 2 Duo processor. The faster processor could lead to shorter battery life, but in a hospital setting you generally have easy access to charging stations. Motion Computing specializes only in slate computers and they’ve been in this business for many years.
• Both are Wacom Penabled. Neither offer a capacitive multi-touch screen option at this time.

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Purpose-Built Wireless LANs Enable Simultaneous Operation of Data, Voice, and Video Services

SUNNYVALE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARUN), a global leader in 802.11n wireless LANs and secure mobility solutions, and Motion Computing, a leading provider of integrated mobile computing solutions, today announced a certified healthcare solution to reliably deliver unified communications services and data access at the point-of-care. The solution uses Aruba’s adaptive 802.11n and Virtual Branch Network (VBN) technologies to deliver the quality-of-service, security, and remote access needed to simultaneously support voice, video and data applications on Motion C5 Mobile Clinical Assistants (MCA) and Motion Clinical Workstations (MCW-200).

“Aruba’s 802.11n solutions deliver assured access to latency-sensitive communications services, regardless of where the clinician is working. That makes possible a wide range of new opportunities to improve patient care and reduce staff workload.”

“Unlike general data access services, point-of-care voice and video communications are latency-sensitive and require special handling,” said Manav Khurana, Aruba’s Head of Industry Marketing. “Our high-speed 802.11n wireless LANs are application-aware, and automatically adapt themselves to deliver the bandwidth, airtime, and quality-of-service required by unified communication applications at the point-of-care. The resulting wire-like performance enables Motion’s platforms to take clinical productivity to a new level.”

The Motion C5 is a hospital-grade slate tablet PC and the healthcare industry’s first Mobile Clinical Assistant MCA. The tool improves clinical productivity, optimizes electronic medical record (EMR) utilization, and enhances clinician efficiency by enabling the use of technology directly at the point of care. The flexible MCW-200 workstation improves communication and collaboration involving complex work-flows and information-rich content, delivers up to 15 hours of battery life, and is available with integrated voice and video support. Aruba’s Adaptive Radio Management (ARM) technology improves the wireless performance of both devices by automatically optimizing Wi-Fi band selection, load balancing, and power levels in real-time, an important function in a healthcare facility’s dynamically changing RF environment.

“Providing unified communications and automated patient data management at the point-of-care requires that the Wi-Fi network follow in lock-step as clinicians with C5 or MCW-200 devices roam through a hospital campus or satellite clinic,” said Mike Stinson, Motion Computing’s Vice President of Marketing. “Aruba’s 802.11n solutions deliver assured access to latency-sensitive communications services, regardless of where the clinician is working. That makes possible a wide range of new opportunities to improve patient care and reduce staff workload.”

Typical applications supported by the new solution include:

• Video and Voice Communications: improves collaboration among clinicians both on campus and remotely with wireless medical cart video and voice communications;
• EMR and Clinical Documentation: saves time and minimizes redundant work by enabling clinicians to enter patient data and access reference materials at the bedside or on-the-go;
• Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE): reduces prescription fulfillment delays and errors with real-time access to drug-drug and drug-allergy contraindications;
• Electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR): uses real-time barcode checks to help enforce the “5 patient rights” (right drug, recipient, dosage, route and time) during drug administration;
• Practice Management: improves efficiency with anywhere, anytime access to scheduling and resource planning information;
• Mobile Image Consult: enables more expedient comparative studies and bedside patient education through mobile access to reference copies of PACS images.

Seamless remote access is an important feature of the new solution. Aruba’s VBN technology securely extends network access off site via inexpensive Remote Access Points (RAPs), which provide secure, authenticated remote access to a hospital’s data center. Controllers in the data center handle all VBN-related configuration, management, and security tasks. Centralizing these services in the controllers simplifies the design and installation of the RAPs. VBN delivers an identical user experience remotely as clinicians using C5 and MCW-200 tools enjoy on the hospital campus, without compromising privacy and security regulations.

To learn more about Aruba’s healthcare solutions please visit our Web site.

About Aruba Networks

People move. Networks must follow. Aruba securely delivers networks to users, wherever they work or roam, using a combination of award-winning solutions:

• Adaptive 802.11n Wi-Fi networks optimize themselves to ensure that users are always within reach of mission-critical information. Rightsizing expensive wired LANs by replacing them with high-speed 802.11n Wi-Fi reduces both capital and operating expenses;
• Identity-based security assigns access policies to users, enforcing those policies whenever and wherever a network is accessed;
• Remote networking solutions for branch offices, fixed telecommuters, and satellite facilities ensures uninterrupted remote access to applications;
• Multi-vendor network management provides a single point of control while managing both legacy and new wireless networks from Aruba and its competitors.

The cost, convenience, and security benefits of our secure mobility solutions are fundamentally changing how and where we work. Listed on the NASDAQ and Russell 2000® Index, Aruba is based in Sunnyvale, California, and has operations throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific regions. To learn more, visit Aruba at http://www.arubanetworks.com.

About Motion Computing

Motion Computing is a leading provider of integrated mobile computing solutions, combining world-class products with services customized for the unique needs of target vertical markets. The company’s enhanced line of rugged tablet PCs, mobile point-of-care solutions and accessories are designed to increase mobile productivity while providing portability, security, power and versatility. Motion Mobility Solutions offers a complete portfolio of products, services and support that helps ensure a successful mobile deployment for increased productivity, reducing project risk while delivering a more rapid return on investment. For more information, visit www.motioncomputing.com.

© 2009 Aruba Networks, Inc. AirWave^®, Aruba Networks^®, Aruba Mobility Management System^®, Bluescanner, For Wireless That Works^®, Mobile Edge Architecture, People Move. Networks Must Follow., The All-Wireless Workplace Is Now Open For Business, RFprotect, Green Island, and The Mobile Edge Company^® are trademarks of Aruba Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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AUSTIN, TX and COVENTRY – February 9, 2010 – Motion Computing, a leading provider of integrated mobile computing solutions, today announced that the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHBFT) has deployed more than 300 Motion C5 mobile clinical assistants (MCA) to help avoid potential medication errors and save approximately 10 percent of the drug budget due to more accurate prescribing and medication administration.

UHBFT is the leading university teaching hospital in the West Midlands. It is one of the most-consistently highest performing trusts in the NHS and has been rated ‘excellent’ for financial management and ‘excellent’ for quality of clinical and non-clinical services by the Healthcare Commission. The Trust serves approximately 500,000 patients annually thanks to more than 6,900 staff.

In an effort to improve productivity UHBFT deployed Motion’s C5 mobile clinical assistants to help reduce medication errors, enhance the quality of data gathered at the patient’s bedside and improve the overall quality of patient care. Used with its Prescribing Information Communication System (PICS), the C5s are helping the hospital to avoid between 400 and 450 potential medication errors each week.

“We deployed the Motion C5s with PICS to improve patient safety and to reduce errors by allowing the computer system to guide staff at the point of delivery of care,” said David Rosser, Executive Medical Director, UHBFT. “We can also now analyse in great detail any potential areas that can lead to errors and continuously improve the system to even further reduce medication errors.”

The Right Device

The Motion C5 is the industry’s first mobile clinical assistant (MCA). Developed in collaboration with Intel and the NHS, it is designed specifically for healthcare environments. The highly mobile and rugged PC features an integrated barcode scanner, RFID reader, digital camera and smart card reader to ease clinician workloads, improve productivity and enhance patient care. At only 1.3kg and sealed for easy disinfection, the device is easily used at the patient’s bedside and throughout the hospital.

“The C5 is far better than other devices we have used. It is rugged with a handle so it doesn’t get dropped as often as other devices, but if it does it is still protected against breaking, so we are seeing a significant decrease in help desk calls due to improved reliability,” said Ian Clarke, the Head of Wolfson Computer Labs. “Additionally, since it’s a Windows-based device, integrating it with our PICS systems was incredibly simple.”

Reaping the Rewards

UHBFT is realising significant benefits based on the deployment of the Motion C5. Clinicians can easily take the lightweight devices to the bedside, document drug histories and change prescriptions, all with the flexibility to move around the hospital with continued access to clinical records.

E-prescribing directly at the patient’s bedside is improving the legibility of drug orders, reducing the duplication of drug charts and most importantly, helping clinicians ensure that the right drug is given to the right patient at the right time – all based on more accurate and up to date patient records. Going forward, the team plans to even further reduce medication errors by using the C5’s integrated barcode scanner for patient identification.

“We can use the barcode scanner to identify patients before drugs are administrated,” added Rosser. “This is a critical next step since 40 percent of medication errors in hospitals are related to giving the drugs, not prescribing the drugs.

About University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHBFT)
UHBFT is the leading university teaching hospital in the West Midlands. It is one of the most-consistently highest performing trusts in the NHS and has been rated “excellent” for financial management and “excellent” for quality of clinical and non-clinical services by the Healthcare Commission.

The Trust runs two hospitals – the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Selly Oak Hospital – which provide adult services to more than half a million patients every year, from a single outpatient appointment to a heart transplant. The Trust is a regional centre for cancer, trauma, burns and plastics, and has the largest solid organ transplantation programme in Europe.

The Trust employs around 6,900 staff and is currently building Birmingham’s first new acute hospital in 70 years. The £545 million hospital will open its doors to patients in the Summer of 2010.

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