The Marienhausklinik St. Josef Kohlhof in Neunkirchen (Saarland, Germany) has implemented a trendsetting concept: The clinic uses system solutions by Dräger – from the central gas supply to the standardized device equipment in the interdisciplinary intensive care unit.

Reference Case:One-Stop Technology

– Standardized device pool simplifies work procedures– Monitoring without interruption optimizes the processes

on the patient– Unobtrusive medical technology ensures a comfortable

hospital

When a pediatric clinic and a sectarian hospital join to form a hospital group, this new clinic usually needs two separate intensive care units – one for adults and one for children. The Marienhausklinik St. Josef Kohlhof in Neunkirchen started to prove the contrary on January 1, 2011. The hospital with 172 beds, merged from the previous St. Josef hospital and the Kohlhof pediatric clinic, has been taking care of patients at all ages – babies, children, and adults – in just one intensive care unit. Eight adult beds, six incubator stations, and four variable intensive stations are grouped in the newly constructed building in Neunkirchen around a shared supply axis. They all use the same medical equipment and a uniform device pool.

INTERDISCIPLINARY INTENSIVE CARE UNITDräger has implemented the idea of the interdisciplinary intensive care unit and achieved a scalable platform concept for the medical equipment for its customer in Saarland. The aim was to adapt devices and equipment in such a way that it was possible to use them equally for all treatment groups. This means that Dräger’s solutionsare used for everything in the intensive care unit and other departments of the hospital.

The advantages of the interdisciplinary intensive care unit from the clinics’ point of view are: It offers flexible room use, it requires fewer devices, the training requirement is reduced, substitutes are trained faster, and the clinic saves money on maintenance and consumables.

Dr. Ernst Konrad, Chief Physician for anesthesiology and intensive medicine at Marienhausklinik: “Our standardized device pool pays off; it simplifies the work of our employees and creates a high level of satisfaction for the staff.”

CONSULTATION DURING PLANNING“Medical equipment from one source” was the expressed aim of the Marienhausklinik’s hospital management during the planning stage. While doing this, processes were to be set up in a modern way and synergies were to be used. Dräger was consulted at an early stage for the consideration in Neunkirchen and, therefore, was able to develop the trendsetting concept. The commitment was not limited to the supply of hardware: Dräger supported the clinic as early as during the planning of the building’s infrastructure, for example the central gas supply and the supply units.

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The hospital management is satisfied with the solution by Dräger. Thomas Gärtner, Commercial Director of the clinic: “Dräger did not only respect the wishes of the physicians, but also took the aspects of patient safety, employees, and quality into account. Especially the quality aspect,” says Thomas Gärtner. “This was very important for the clinic in the Marienhaus GmbH Group (27 hospitals, 29 retirement and nursing homes), as it operates locally in a very lively environment. It was important for us to achieve a high degree of technical innovation, also for the purpose of setting ourselves apart from the competition.”

DRÄGER TECHNOLOGY IN MANY AREAS Dräger technology is used in many areas of the Marienhausklinik: the intensive care unit, operating rooms, and functional diagnostics, among others. In the Marienhausklinik, the total spectrum of the Dräger solution is utilized: the ceiling-mounted supply units, the incubators, the ventilation, the patient monitoring, and the layout of the acute medicine work stations. Dräger also planned and provided the gas supply in the newly constructed building, worth 30 million euros.

MONITORING WITHOUT INTERRUPTIONThe employees of the clinic in Neunkirchen are happy about the new monitoring concept: The monitoring accompanies the Marienhausklinik patients during their stay – from the central reception point to the intensive care unit. Frequent connection and removal is not required; the patient is connected to one monitor for the entire stay. And this uninterrupted monitoring is an equal benefit for both adults and children. Stefanie Conrad, Director of Nursing at Marienhausklinik, praised the concept: Employees can spend more time with the patients; the monitoring stays unobtrusively in the background and quietly supports the work processes. And the clinic only needs training on one system for all employees. Stefanie Conrad comments, “The concept of monitoring without interruption optimizes the processes on the patient – it helps us to save time and money.”

MONITORING FOR MINIMALLY INVASIVE SURGERYThe monitoring also ensures continuous monitoring of the patients’ vital signs in functional diagnostics. This ensures that monitoring can be performed during minimally invasive surgeries. The clinic takes the monitoring and documentation requirements into account. According to the hospital staff, the patient also notices the added value.

The standardized monitoring accompanies the patient during his complete stay.

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Gas supply in the hospital

Director of Nursing, Stefanie Conrad: “The patient notices that he is not constantly reconnected and that the monitor accompanies him to monitor his vital signs. This creates safety and trust.”

A COMFORTABLE HOSPITAL The planners created a spatial concept in Neunkirchen which focuses on the patient. “The rooms of the private services ward are comparable to hotel rooms, and there is a warm atmosphere in the remaining patient rooms as well. Wood paneling, a homely color and lighting concept, wall paintings and flowers all aim to make staying at Kohlhof as comfortable as possible,” says Director of Nursing, Stefanie Conrad.

In collaboration with the architects, Dräger helped to design the elements of comfort. Gas pipes and power supplies were adapted such that connectors are integrated into vertical wooden panels beside the patient’s bed. A horizontal bar above the bed was avoided – where possible. Stefanie Conrad comments, “Relationship building between staff and patient is an important factor, but architecture and unobtrusive medical devices also play their part so that a patient is as comfortable as possible during his stay here.”

NEWLY DESIGNED WORK STATIONS A human touch – this also applies to the technology at the work stations in the Marienhausklinik. Dräger has optimized the respective work stations with the hospital specialists. Workflows were analyzed and individual solutions for the work stations were conceptualized during reference visits to Dräger customers and in shared workshops in the Dräger design studio in Lübeck. Examples include the design of the supply units and the integration of the medical device components, including the respective information technology.

Each work station in the Marienhausklinik, in the intensive care unit, the operating room, endoscopy, and functional diagnostic, has been optimized. On intensive beds, for example, all relevant monitors are now fitted in such a way that the treating physician can see them from both sides of the patient bed. He does not have to walk around the bed anymore.

The topic of ergonomics has concrete economical effects on the clinic. The Marienhausklinik has short throughput times in the intensive care unit. Dr. Ernst Konrad says, “This requires the devices to be so intuitive to use that employees could operate them in their sleep.”

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Ergonomics in the workplace support therapeutic decisions.

Hotel room feeling in the private services ward

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The ergonomics of the individual devices are also important for the anesthetist. He points out how valuable it is for important data to be consolidated on a control unit of a ventilator and visualized clearly. As the physician receives a huge amount of information at any moment, it would be helpful to have technology assist him in gathering that information. Dr. Ernst Konrad remarks, “It is similar for an airline pilot who has to grasp everything that is important and relevant quickly.”

INFINITY EXPLORER: A BRIDGE TO PATIENT DATAThe Dräger Infinity Explorer supports the staff in the Marienhausklinik in the recording of information. The software application bundles patient data on one screen directly at the patient’s bed. That way, monitoring information and ventilation parameters are available directly at the point of care in Neunkirchen. The software enables simultaneous access to the hospital network and, thus, to all additionally required patient data. The Infinity Explorer bridges the gap between the medical data from all connected devices and the patient data from IT systems such as laboratory values, history, and master data.

Dr. Ernst Konrad appreciates this access: “Directly at the bed, I have access to data which can help me to treat the patient better.”

He sees Infinity Explorer as a platform for a patient data management system (PDMS) which can serve as an electronic patient record in the acute medical area. Infinity Explorer already fulfills the requirements for a PDMS today.

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Dr. Ernst Konrad, Chief Physician for anesthesiology and intensive medicine, sees many advantages in the standardized device equipment. Colleagues who took a tour of the hospital with him have been “enthusiastic”. This makes it easier for him to find new employees and junior staff, which is very important considering the current situation on the labor market. Dr. Ernst Konrad says, “I was specifically able to hire two anesthetists who expressed to me that our institution’s technical equipment was a decisive factor in their decision.”

The equipment has therefore become “a clear unique selling point in the com-petitive environment.”

Director of Nursing, Stefanie Conrad, notices a plus in security and trust and is happy about streamlined workflows in the institution. The nurses can use their time more efficiently, which the patients notice in the intensive care they receive.

The Commercial Director of the clinic, Thomas Gärtner, is satisfied and notices external respect when he, as a member of the VKD Landes- vorstand, presents “his institution” to representatives of other institutions. “The appreciation for the technical level which we have implemented here is very high.”

Dr. Ernst Konrad, Chief Physician Stefanie Conrad, Director of Nursing Thomas Gärtner, Commercial Director

Interim result: How has the comprehensive device concept affected the clinical routine in St. Josef Kohlhof in Neunkirchen?

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About the clinicIn the hospital group at the Kohlhof location, the Kohlhof pediatric clinic and the St. Josefkrankenhaus Neunkirchen are combined under one roof as the Marienhausklinik St. Josef Kohlhof. The clinic belongs to Marienhaus GmbH whose partner is the congregation of Franciscan nuns of Waldbreitbach. The modern hospital in Neunkirchen (Saarland) offers six main specialist departments: pediatrics and adolescent medicine (including a modern perinatal center), gynecology and perinatology with an in-patient ward, internal medicine and general medicine, general and abdominal surgery, trauma, hand and reconstructive surgery, as well as anesthesiology and interdisciplinary intensive care.D

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