Maintaining exceptional healthcare with limited staff
Learn how The Meander Medical Center gained the additional support it needed during the global health crisis by quickly upgrading its video operations.
The company
The Meander Medical Center is the main hospital for the residents of Amersfoort in the Netherlands. The hospital also welcomes patients from all over the country for specialist treatments. The Meander Medical Center began facing staff shortages and increased healthcare demands in recent years. These challenges worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, which put additional pressure on already strained resources. Throughout the global health crisis, many people became seriously ill, creating a surge in patient care. Like many other hospitals, Meander Medical Center needed to adapt and plan for the unknown.
The challenge
As the pandemic unfolded, the hospital converted operating rooms into Intensive Care Units (ICUs) to meet the increased demand. While this made room for additional beds, it also generated more work for staff. ICU patients had to be constantly monitored and staff were required to wear protective clothing and equipment. Over time, staff became burnt out, and the hospital was under immense pressure to maintain quality of care. To ease the stress and load on workers, the hospital began to look for ways to monitor patients in the ICU more efficiently.
The solution
Remote patient monitoring
Using the Omnicast™ software, the staff could observe the patients effectively and get a closer look at patients if needed. Choosing the AXIS Q3515 IP video cameras offered zoom-in functionalities.
Effective emergency response
The staff could also view videos of the ICU corridor during any emergencies. The intuitive platform made life easier for many staff members and helped enhance patient care during a difficult period.
Easy for everyone to use
Omnicast is very user-friendly and operates intuitively. Hospital staff quickly became very comfortable using the video management solution with little to no instructions.
A reliable and robust video system
Omnicast software was implemented within 24 hours. The Genetec software is robust, which gave the team extra reliability and assurance.
“The benefits were immediately visible after the Omnicast implementation. Using cameras to remotely observe the COVID patients in the ICU allowed us to reduce the workload and help many more patients. It provided peace of mind that we could observe the patients from a distance and respond as quickly as possible when help was needed.”
Hanneke Lopers, ICU Team Manager, Meander Medical Center
Results
The Meander Medical Center decided to install surveillance cameras in the ICU rooms to observe patients and associated medical equipment. After exploring various video management solutions, the IT department decided it was time to contact a Genetec-certified integrator. According to Joost van der Kuijp, Project Manager I&A at Meander Medical Center, “Despite the crisis impacting individuals and businesses, we quickly received a quote for Genetec Omnicast, the video surveillance system of Security Center, along with Axis Communications IP video cameras. After accepting the quote, the Omnicast software was implemented within 24 hours with 8 Axis cameras total and one camera per bed. We truly appreciate how quickly everyone involved helped us in this exceptional situation. We were all on the same page.”