Our cath lab is always in search of ways to improve on an old theme. Being new to the cath lab at Passaic Beth Israel Medical Center, I was very impressed by the dedication and outstanding patient care provided by our RTs, CVTs, RNs and support staff. Our cardiac cath lab performs 4000 procedures annually, both diagnostic and interventional, as well as electrophysiology procedures. We just began doing pacemaker procedures as well. We have 13 RNs, 7 CVT/RTs and two secretaries.

As the new nurse manager, I quickly realized this group of professionals had the right stuff. It was readily apparent they were up to engaging new technologies that would keep the information flowing. Like many institutions, money can be a bit of a challenge to come by, so we used our combined skills and off-the-shelf hardware to design and build a patient tracking and data collection program.

The computer itself would be snubbed by most 12-year-olds serious about computer gaming, and the monitors were purchased on a popular auction website for a fraction of the cost. Total cost was less than a thousand dollars; a minimal investment by any yardstick. Having designed patient tracking systems for emergency rooms, I was able to use this knowledge as a foundation for our cath lab. Relying heavily on the input of our cath lab staff, we were able to custom-fit a computer software program tailored to our needs (Filemaker Pro). One needs only to look up at the view screen to instantly know the status of all patients at any given time. Using multiple layouts, we can track time intervals such at total time in cath lab, length of procedure time, or any time parameters we care to monitor. Another time saver is the ability to maintain QA and Process Improvement initiatives without the need for additional paper forms, requiring additional time to extrapolate data. There's not a day when I walk in that one of the staff members hasn't come up with an idea to tweak the system. Most of the ideas are sound and are instantly incorporated with little effort. For patient privacy issues, a biometric (fingerprint ID) scanner has been added. All records are printed out weekly for a hard copy and kept secure. Additionally, records are placed on a small flash drive in case of hard drive failure.

Our staff is driven to succeed on all levels and bringing this idea to fruition is just one example of how working together we can accomplish any task. Our next project is a robust inventory system using components already available to us. I think it is essential to encourage staff members to think outside the box, for there is a wealth of experience and ideas when professionals of this caliber are free to express themselves in a collaborative effort.

Warren Grand can be contacted at wgrand@optonline.net