Some hospitals in the Steve Biko Academic Cluster in Tshwane have reduced patient waiting times by at least two hours, this is all thanks to a new Electronic Bed Management System (eBMS), the Gauteng Department of Health has introduced as part of healthcare modernisation.
Gauteng hospitals manage an average of 27.7 million patients annually, and often experience a shortage of beds. To address this the department has piloted eBMS at Steve Biko Academic Hospital earlier this year.
The eBMS allows medical staff to seamlessly identify the location of available beds across the cluster, thereby improve patient movement and management.
Using innovative cloud-based technology, the system allows hospital staff to view current bed availability within their hospital on large display screens or over the internet on their mobile device or PC.
During the pilot phase the system proved successful, a decision was then taken to roll it out across the cluster. Hospital staff and management have commended the new system. Hospital personnel are using the information gleaned from eBMS to make both long and short term decisions that have led to some hospitals seeing a reduction in patient waiting times and better ward and staff utilisation.
"Management is using eBMS to make reallocation decisions about ward beds. We have split not frequently used wards to move beds to a ward that is always busy. Having had the system in place since early January, Kalafong has already seen a two hour reduction in their casualty waiting times," said Dr Htwe, clinical manager at Kalafong Hospital.
“We are so excited about being able to view available beds across the cluster. This increases transparency which helps us improve patient care," added Dr Htwe.
In addition to that, Gauteng Emergency Medical Services is also on board, and will use the system when transporting patients to hospitals, which will lead to better coordination of it services.
MEC for Health, Ms Qedani Mahlangu said the introduction of this system was part of initiatives by the Department to improve healthcare provision through use of technology. The MEC said she anticipates that the system would be fully implemented across the province by the end of 2016.
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