Marketlink Solutions

St. Michael's Hospital: Emergency and Security Preparedness

Overview

Recent global events, namely 9/11, SARS, and threats of bioterrorism, have brought to light some significant issues within the healthcare sector and particularly within hospitals. Over the last few years, it has become increasingly important that hospitals:

improve security in a setting that has traditionally been very open; and
plan for, and be empowered to respond effectively to any such unforeseen emergencies.

The EPIC solution also acts as a security and disaster planning solution.

Marketlink developed the Emergency Preparedness and Infection Control (EPIC) Solution to deal with these issues - the key to which is having the right information at the right time in the hands of the people who need it.

In the event of an unplanned large-scale event or health threat, decision makers need to

Know who has been in the hospital and when;
Minimize the impact of such events; and
Maximize the efficiency of the patients being cared for while still maintaining a safe environment for healthcare workers.

In May 2003, Marketlink helped St. Michael's Hospital deal with the first outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Toronto through its EPIC solution. The system cut the time needed to enter the hospital doors from five or six minutes down to a couple of seconds, and will likely be used for future outbreaks of infectious diseases as well as being a regular part of the hospital's security system.

Business Issue

When SARS first broke out in Toronto, staff members were required to fill out a paper-based survey before they could enter the hospital - a measure necessary to ensure that anyone that might have SARS could be quarantined to prevent further spread of the disease.

These conditions resulted in long lines to form at hospital entrances as staff members searched for writing utensils, paused to remember the correct date, and then finally filled out the survey questions. While it was important that the staff fill out these surveys, the paper-based method of administering the survey posed many logistical challenges, including finding a good way to store and manage completed surveys.

St. Michael's Hospital (SMH) engaged Marketlink to provide a technology-based solution that would enable staff entering the hospital to answer the required survey electronically, and then manage these responses in a way that they could be easily accessed at a later date if necessary.

The implemented solution would need to meet several requirements. In addition to short timelines (the solution needed to be implemented within a two week time period), the solution needed to:

determine quickly if a person was permitted to enter the hospital;
consider many operational aspects - SMH has 5000 hospital entries per day and multiple entry and exits per day by some staff;
capture, analyze and report on SARS-related information;
comply with provincial directives and hospital policy; and
track staff, visitors, and patients all through the same system.

Marketlink Approach

Marketlink's EPIC solution was developed for managing the inflow and outflow of population traffic within a hospital, something that has traditionally not been possible. It provides a non-disruptive, non-intrusive way of capturing critical information for preparing for emergencies, infection control, and employee, visitor and patient security.

How it works

Marketlink's web-based solution enables all people accessing the hospital to be centrally managed through the use of bar codes, scanners, and SMH's Intranet. All people accessing the hospital are stored in a central database (including Employees, Researchers, Students, Volunteers, Contractors, Patients, and Visitors), and for each user, the system stores a profile that can be updated with each visit to the hospital.

Fast-Track Processing:

SMH issued bar-coded stickers in pay-stub envelopes to its employees, who then attached them to the back of their ID badges.
Each time an employee enters or exits the building, he/she must read the SARS questions that must be answered as stipulated by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
If the employee accepts the posted terms of entry, he/she swipes the bar-coded badge past the scanner and walks through the checkpoint. The system records that the employee has entered the hospital, the time of access, and a confirmation that the person has agreed to the posted survey questions.
If the employee cannot accept the posted terms of entry, he/she must go through Exception-Based Processing.

Exception-based Processing:

Exception-based processing is used for those

whose bar codes don't work;
who cannot agree to the posted SARS questions; or
who do not have a bar code for Fast-Track Processing (non SMH employees)

These individuals must show their IDs and register at the registration desk, where they must complete the online survey.
The individual's profile and survey answers are stored in order that their answers can be displayed during future visits to the hospital, thus decreasing the processing time required.

Marketlink Solution

Solution Features:

1. Entry/Exit Logging from Multiple Locations

Ability to set-up terminal at any entry or exit location in the hospital
Simple set-up for each terminal
Entry/exit/location information of the individual can be tracked
Ability to flag users for non-entry
Ability to assign time of entry (days, hours, etc.)

2. User Tracking

Ability to add, edit and disable user profiles
Set specific access privileges for user accounts
Enable multiple administrators to modify same contact details to ensure the most up to date information is available
Enable multi-level administrative rights
Integrated audit log to record administrator that performs each action
Access logs are automatically archived after 14 days

3. Survey Management

Customizable survey that can be modified by an administrator through an administration toolset
Historically store all submitted surveys and associated responses
"Smart survey" that remembers answers (decreasing survey completion time)

4. Reporting

Ad-hoc reports on # of people in hospital
Statistics on time of entry (busy periods)
Plots of population density (graphs of where most people are going)

5. Application Re-Use

Ability to be reuse functionality post-SARS as a rapid response solution for any public health situation
Enable tracking to be implemented for other purposes such as fire safety (identifying who is in a building in the event of a fire)

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