Courtesy of http://generaldi.eu.org/two-way-radios-in-primary-and-acute-healthcare.html
Communication plays a crucial role in healthcare. Timely dissemination and sharing of information is critical for acute healthcare providers. Similarly, primary healthcare can be easily administered by using practical and handy communication channels. However, there are several factors that need to be taken into account before deciding upon an effective mode of communication in both primary and acute healthcare institutions. Reliability, coverage and confidentiality of transmitted information along with the institution’s capacity in handling the equipment, play an important role. Healthcare institutions can largely benefit from a mobile clinical staff and two way radios can provide prolific results if used effectively for sharing information.
Functionality and Build of Two Way Radios
Two way radios allow only one function at a time – either receiving or sending the signal. This helps the users efficiently communicate without interrupting the interlocutor. These devices are helpful in exchange of crisp information, rather than constant communication. Two way radios are also known as transceivers or walkie talkies.
Two way radios are simple devices made of primarily six components: power source, receiver, transmitter, microphone, speaker and the crystal. This implies that running and maintenance costs for these devices are not too high. Two or more communicating devices operate on the same radio frequency and a push-to-talk button switches the device between receiving and transmitting modes.
Primary Healthcare and its Challenges
There is a growing emphasis to offer primary healthcare to one and all. This requires creating an environment where equal emphasis is laid on healthcare for all individuals. However, shortage of trained medical practitioners poses a serious threat to achieving this objective. Medical planners have to focus on the use of technology to make the maximum use of the available resources.
Isolation of patients is a big problem that surfaces in primary healthcare. Patients who need medical attention are usually dispersed, especially in rural areas and may not have access to medical facilities. The supply of drugs and medical tests are difficult to conduct and this defeats the very objective of primary healthcare. Lack of communication is another major problem in administering primary healthcare.
A quick exchange of information offers a suitable solution to meet all these challenges. Two way radios enable exchanging of crucial medical information and gradation of current medical practices. The absence of advanced technologies in many locations also increases the importance of two way radio communication devices.
Using Two Way Radios in Primary Healthcare Settings
The most important use of two way radio in delivering primary healthcare is in connecting local medical practitioners with hospitals in cities and more advanced areas. This is critical to diagnosing a patient as well as for prescriptive purposes. A timely decision whether the patient must be referred to a hospital with advanced facilities can be crucial in saving lives. The hospital can also monitor the condition of a patient at another location through two way radios.
How well two way radio technology is implemented for primary healthcare will be dependent on medical and health protocols. Doctors in some countries contact health aides and monitor the situation of the patient by use of two way radios. The medical structure of a community and the country determines how effectively the two way radio can be used for primary healthcare.
Emergency situations can also be addressed by using two way radio. Lack of good transportation and communication facilities can jeopardize a community in case of a medical emergency. Two way radios can be used to send news of such medical exigencies to hospitals or district headquarters and help save many lives.
In some countries, two way radios are used to connect fieldworkers with doctors who are constantly on the move. Use of airplanes helps attend to critical patients in a very short time as soon as the news is delivered by way of two way radios.
Two way radios can also help in training field workers who play an important role in primary healthcare. It depends on the level of existing competence of the medical workers and the desired levels of training. Moreover, field workers can listen in to the conversation of co-workers with physicians and learn by observing the standard medical practices adopted in different cases.
Using Two Way Radios in Acute Healthcare Settings
Clinical information in a hospital can be shared with the help of two way radios. A mobile unit of clinical staff will be more efficient in dealing with day-to-day problems faced by patients and in specific cases where a patient requires immediate attention. A patient who undergoes a complicated heart surgery may require constant monitoring for a few hours after the operation. However, it may not be possible for the doctor who operated on the patient to stay by his side all the time. Two way radios can prove to be a handy solution for helping healthcare institutions, solve such critical operational issues. A nurse attending on the operated patient can inform the doctor about the patient’s progress or whether the patient needs immediate attention, using two way radios. This will not just update the doctor on the patient’s condition but also help him take immediate decisions based on the available inputs. The healthcare industry has successfully tested and used two way radios for acute healthcare. Hospitals make wide use of two way radios for exchange of information among healthcare workers.
Two Way Radios: Advantages
Two way radios provide for a cost effective medium of instant communication. Healthcare industry requires rapid and extensive sharing of information in the most cost effective and efficient manner. A large healthcare institution can be brought under the ambit of wireless radio communication without running up high costs. Moreover, radio signals are quite reliable as compared to mobile networks, where one must depend on the network strength and connectivity. Also, issues of interference do not surface often. Maintenance costs for these devices are also considerably low.
Two Way Radios: Standard Practices for Operation
Some of the standard practices followed for using two way radios in healthcare institutions are:
The devices are used in “receive only” mode in patient areas.
Medical staff is advised to leave the patient area if the device has to be used for outgoing communication.
Two way radios must be kept at a distance from highly energized medical devices.
Lowest possible setting must be used to avoid any interference if the device so permits.
In case of malfunctioning of any medical equipment, the use of radio devices must be stopped immediately.
Unnecessary use of two way radios may distract a medical practitioner during surgery. Therefore, such devices must be used only when required to avoid any delay in patient care.
Using Two Way Radio Systems: Interference and Other Issues
Two way radios do not generally interfere with other medical equipment. Research studies have proved that hospitals can safely use two way radios for communication purposes. These devices can be safely used at a distance of 0.5 meters from most medical equipment. The reason is that these devices operate at high frequencies and do not cause any interference. However, the use of two way radios is discouraged in highly sensitive medical environments like the ICU.
Some of the other issues with two way radio systems include problems, like poor maintenance, lack of power, non-availability of spare parts and poor training of the medical staff regarding the usage of these devices. Any compromise with the quality of the device can prove disastrous and defeat the entire purpose of setting up two way communication radios.
Conclusion
Two way communication systems have been in use for more than seventy years in the field of healthcare. Even today, with the advancements in technology, radio systems play a vital role in setting up communication in healthcare institutions. This is because no other technology can adequately address all the needs of healthcare communication – little interference with medical equipment and immediate and hassle free communication. This establishes the fact that two way radios will continue to play a major role for communication in primary and acute healthcare as well as improve the provision of healthcare services.