John Flynn Private Hospital, owned and operated by Ramsay Health Care, is an acute care hospital located at Tugun on the southern end of Queensland’s Gold Coast.

Ramsay Health Care was founded in Sydney in 1964 and has grown to become a highly respected healthcare provider through its global network of clinical practice, teaching and research.

Ramsay operates facilities in 532 locations spanning 10 countries with more than eight million admissions/patient visits each year.

In Australia, Ramsay has 72 private hospitals and day surgery units and is the nation’s largest private hospital operator. Ramsay’s outpatient and community health services include community pharmacies, day surgeries, hospital/rehabilitation in the home, psychology clinics and allied health services.

In recent years, John Flynn Private Hospital has undergone significant redevelopments and expansions that have seen the hospital evolve into a modern facility with 361 licensed beds. In addition to expanding building infrastructure, the hospital continues to invest heavily in technology to improve patient care and support.

John Flynn Private Hospital engaged Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALE) together with delivery partner VoIP to provide fit-for-purpose communication and messaging solutions for the facility to improve patient support and care.

One important objective was to better categorise and prioritise alarm codes to help reduce the time nurses needed to access and respond to emergency codes. For example, with the new ALE solution, certain alarm codes can override the phone function so that patients can be tended to as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Action
ALE and VoIP worked closely together with clinical management and ward staff on a bespoke alarm and notification system using IQ Messenger. The platform meets John Flynn Private Hospital’s needs to comply with regulations, reduce alarm fatigue and deliver consistent notifications to staff.

Products and services
Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise Communications Server
Alcatel-Lucent Premium DeskPhones 8068s
Alcatel-Lucent 8019s DeskPhones, 8029s DeskPhones DECT Handsets 8262
Visual Automated Attendant
Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista® 8770 Network Management System Alarm Notification IQ Messenger

Results
Technical Benefits
• IQ Messenger integrates with an extensive list of alarm and nurse call systems

User Experience Benefits
• The mission-critical telephony infrastructure together with IQ Messenger empowers clinical staff with digital alarms and notification services ensuring patient and staff safety

Financial benefits
• All mission-critical technology sourced from one trusted vendor; Alcatel Lucent Enterprise

Two hundred employees now use the bespoke communication and messaging systems deployed at John Flynn Private Hospital, improving employee efficiency and – ultimately – patient safety and outcomes.