When you think of collaboration, especially in the context of a hospital, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? I think of clinicians working together, creating treatment and care plans to help patients recover. I also think of hospital staff coming together to ensure that patients and visitors can safely get the help that they need. It should come as no surprise, then, that an environment where so many people work alongside each other requires a strong foundation built on collaboration.
"One piece of log creates a small fire, adequate to warm you up, add just a few more pieces to blast an immense bonfire, large enough to warm up your entire circle of friends; needless to say, that individuality counts but team work dynamites." – Jin KwonCollaboration is so much more than just a few individuals working together. It is the collective efforts of everyone working to achieve a common goal. True collaboration is incredibly easy to see when you look at a workflow with such an apparent goal, take a code blue for example.
When a patient is suffering from a cardiac or respiratory arrest, the many individuals on the code blue team all have the same clear goal - keep the patient alive! Everyone has their role in that code, whether it be to give orders to everyone, to execute on your specialty like the IV nurse starting an IV line or the Respiratory Therapist working feverishly to get an airway, or even the nurse documenting everything that is happening. No one individual in that code team can save the patient’s life by themselves but all of them are required to achieve that common goal.
Collaboration does not only exist between the people working within the four walls of the hospital...
"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." – Isaac Newton
Technology does not evolve equally across various industries and it is through cross-industry collaboration where the greatest innovations are born. ThoughtWire recently collaborated with Schneider Electric to create something truly unique – a solution that allows a hospital building and its environment to react, based on the day to day operations and flows of clinicians and patients. This proof-of-concept solution showcases how two very different technologies, focusing on completely different aspects of an environment, can come together harmoniously to achieve a sum greater than the individual parts.
What does the solution look like? Imagine a situation where a patient is going down for a lengthy test or procedure. ThoughtWire’s Digital Twin solution recognizes the context of that scenario - that the patient is not only out of the room but will be out of it for a while. Through that situational awareness, the patient’s room and the environment is set to go into an energy savings setting – lights, shades, and temperature have all automatically been adjusted.
Collaboration is a key part of our modern world. Not only in healthcare, but all through the economy and any industry you can think of. As we strive to deliver the best healthcare solutions to hit that common goal, we will continue to explore opportunities to collaborate both internally and with external partners to create the best possible outcomes.
Are you attending the Becker's 10th Annual Hospital Review? Be sure to stop by our booth #1304 to meet our team or schedule a demo and discover how our technology can help your hospital save more lives, reduce the rate of readmissions and optimize your workflow!
