The Visiting Nurse Service of New York Uses Fujitsu Tablet Computers to Improve Patient Care and Reduce Administrative Costs; Stylistic Tablet Computers Streamline Medical Documentation and Communication

December 17, 1996 — Fujitsu Personal Systems, Inc. (FPSI) and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) today announced the successful completion of a six-month field test of a new pen-based clinical system designed to improve information flow between the doctors, clinics and field nurses who visit patients in the home.

Use of this new system will be expanded to serve up to 1,800 nurses over the next 18 months.

The Visiting Nurse Service of New York is the largest voluntary, non-profit home care agency in the nation. VNSNY provides skilled nursing care, rehabilitation therapy, mental health services and supportive care to more than 20,000 adults and children in New York City, primarily in patient homes and community-based facilities. VNSNY developed a mobile clinical system using Fujitsu’s pen-based computers to streamline work processes and enhance the quality of care and service to its patients and other customers.

Given the environment of many New York City homes, VNSNY determined that it was not reasonable to expect nurses to be able to sit down and set up a laptop computer and then type in data while trying to talk with the patient and simultaneously deliver care.

The Fujitsu pen computers allow nurses to either stand or sit and enter information while talking with the patient. The computer can be easily put down while care is delivered and then picked back up to continue documentation. Be-cause the application was written to minimize the need for narrative entry, the pen computer is ideal for checklist and pull-down data entry selection.

The VNSNY system consists of the Fujitsu Stylistic 500 or Stylistic 1000 tablet computer equipped with a Megahertz PC Card Modem or Motorola Personal Messenger 100C wireless modem. The computers run Microsoft Windows 3.11, Windows for Pen Computing 1.0 and an application written by the VNSNY staff using Microsoft Visual Basic and Access products.
The computer and modem weigh approximately 3.5 pounds — lighter than most laptops — and are easily transported in the nurses’ knapsack.

Because visiting nurses spend most of their time delivering care in the patients’ homes, getting updated information previously required the nurses to visit the VNSNY office or make multiple phone calls to doctors’ offices. Now, when-ever doctors authorize changes to patient care, nurses can get immediate access to the downloaded information at any time from any location.

The handheld computer replaced a caseload of paper charts and is loaded with current patient records. From their homes, nurses use a wireless Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) modem or standard wireline modem to download the latest patient information from the VNSNY data center to the Stylistic computer. They review the files to note any changes or additions to patient care, re-certify ongoing healthcare and enact discharge orders. All changes are documented immediately for more efficient patient care.

During each visit, nurses document patient progress by selecting symptoms, treatments and vital signs from standard, on-screen lists with the tap of the pen. Standardized medical descriptions increase the consistency of clinical documentation, improve accuracy of the data, and enable VNSNY to make quantitative analyses of the information. With the new automated system, repetitive information is entered only once, saving nurses time previously spent writing and re-writing patients’ names and addresses on multiple forms.

At the conclusion of a patient visit, nurses transmit updated records to the data center from their current locale. In situations where a phone outlet is unavailable, wireless modems allow nurses to maintain ongoing communication with the data center. The VNSNY’s future plans include encrypting and transmitting data directly to all medical providers, vendors and insurance payors associated with patient care.

“This efficient use of mobile computers streamlines our work processes and is key to our continuing ability to compete effectively in the home care market,” said Rick Stazesky, Director of Systems Analysis and Development for VNSNY. “The Stylistic computer is an indispensable part of enhancing the quality of patient home health care. The new system maximizes the amount of time nurses spend in the field by minimizing phone calls and in-office reports and visits. The less time nurses spend on administrative work, the more they can focus on delivering quality care to the patient.”

“The Visiting Nurse Service of New York’s application clearly demonstrates how Fujitsu tablet computers can help improve both quality of service and competitiveness,” said Geoff Walker, vice president of marketing at FPSI. “Be-cause the Stylistic 500 and Stylistic 1000 imitate the traditional clipboard and chart typically used to gather medical data, nurses get a powerful mobile decision support tool with the familiarity they need that makes it easy for them to do their job.”

VNSNY’s mobile medical system is currently in the hands of 100 field nurses. Another 800 nurses will be given the system in 1997. VNSNY’s other plans for 1997 include the development of a similar mobile system designed for its 500 therapists and 200 social workers. Implementation of this project is projected for 1998.

About the Stylistic 500

Measuring 7.2″ x 10.7″ x 1.5″, the Stylistic 500 is a 2.6-pound tablet computer designed for mobile workers running high-end decision support applications in such industries as healthcare, insurance, utilities, sales automation and market surveys.

Powered by an Intel 486 DX2-50, the system features RAM expandable to 20 MB; a 260 MB or 340 MB PCMCIA hard disk drive; one Type III or two Type II PCMCIA version 2.0 slots; and an 8-inch transmissive, backlit, 64-level VGA screen. The computer operates on standard lithium-ion camcorder batteries which are sold in most consumer electronic retail outlets.

About the Stylistic 1000

Measuring just 7.3″ x 11″ x 1.6″, the Stylistic 1000 weighs 3.4 pounds with the lithium-ion battery pack installed. The Stylistic 1000 is powered by a 486 DX4-100 microprocessor and was the first tablet PC to carry the “Designed for Windows 95” logo. The 8-inch screen is available in full color VGA display; transflective mono display for outdoor use; or transmissive mono display for indoor applications.

Peripheral ports — including standard parallel, serial, keyboard, VGA monitor and power ports — are aligned on a single edge for improved cable management. A port replicator connector on the bottom of the Stylistic 1000 enables one-step, snap-on attachment to a wide range of peripherals.

About The Visiting Nurse Service of New York

The Visiting Nurse Service of New York provides skilled nursing care, rehabilitation therapy, mental health services and supportive care to adults and children in New York City. Home care services are provided through a range of innovative community-based programs representing the agency’s clinical expertise in pediatric and maternal/child health care, geriatric care, long-term care, mental health, HIV infection and hospice care.

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu Personal Systems, Inc. is a leading supplier of highly integrated mobile computers for demanding vertical market applications. The company’s industry-standard tablet PCs feature powerful CPUs, extensive connectivity options, and long battery life. These handheld, full-screen tablets are compact, light weight and small.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Fujitsu, Ltd., Fujitsu Personal Systems (408/982-9500) has headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., and offices throughout North America and Europe. Product information is available at 800/831-3183 or http://www.fpsi.fujitsu.com.

Note to Editors: Product and company names used here are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Photos available upon request.

CONTACT:
Fujitsu Personal Systems
Mark Deneen/Wendy Olver, 408/982-9500
mark_deneen@fpsi.com
wendy_olver@fpsi.com
or
Walt & Company
Jenn Knudsen/Dean Rodgers, 408/496-0900
jknudsen@walt.com
drodgers@walt.com
or
The Visiting Nurse Service of New York
Rick Stazesky, 212/290-3539