Press Releases

Flo Healthcare Facilitates Paperless Environment For H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute

(ATLANTA – January 30, 2007) H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute (Moffitt) announced that it has deployed 81 mobile clinical workstations from Flo Healthcare as the first step in its overall EMR implementation.

"Our nurses were begging for a tool to help them achieve greater efficiency in their daily activities, so in April we began a two-month trial of 18 Flo carts in our infusion center," said Zach Johnson, Moffitt’s manager of clinical and revenue cycle systems.

Margaret White, Moffitt’s manager of infusion center operations, reported that documentation time in her department dropped from 8-10 minutes per patient to 3-5 minutes during the two-month trial. After such a successful test period, Moffitt went live with 81 Flo mobile clinical workstations–70 of the Flo 1750 model, and 11 of the Flo 1800 model.

The Flo 1750 is a sleek, lightweight, general-purpose workstation used by clinicians to bring them closer to the patient by enabling them to access the hospital information systems while at the bedside. The Flo 1800, Flo Healthcare’s newest mobile workstation, combines advanced ergonomics with a taller, sleeker, design. Since the Flo 1800 is fully customizable, it offers more choices to hospitals by allowing for a wide range of peripherals to be fully integrated, including handheld units, bar code scanners, vitals technology, and a Lifespan Healthcare rail system.

Johnson said the Flo mobile clinical workstations now play a major role in Moffitt’s overall IT project plan, which includes a more discreet electronic medical record, medication documentation at the bedside, and positive patient identification. Moffitt has deployed Flo carts in its outpatient infusion center, outpatient and inpatient surgical preoperative areas, and intraoperative and postoperative care units.

Johnson added that the use of Flo carts at Moffitt was a contributing factor to the hospital’s being named one of the nation’s "100 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems" according to the American Hospital Association’s "Most Wired Survey". The "Most Wired Survey" has ranked the nation’s hospitals annually since 1999, and this was the first year that Moffitt made the list.

The ability to customize the carts was a deciding factor during Moffitt’s cart selection process, Johnson continued. Flo and Moffitt collaborated to design a custom basket for supplies needed during surgery and patient recovery, including syringes, needles, bandages and gloves. The four baskets swing outward from the cart, offering easy access to the supplies, and were developed and manufactured for Flo by the custom engineering group at InterMetro.

"Because the carts have supplies at hand for the nurses at the bedside, this will decrease time the nurse would spend looking in other areas for supplies and will improve employee and patient satisfaction," said Myrna Gillespie, Moffitt’s patient care manager in the critical care department.

At Moffitt’s request, Flo Healthcare also located a keyboard that could be sterilized to standards set by the Agency for Healthcare Administration.

"We can clean the new keyboard with fluids easily and not worry about shorting out the keyboard," Johnson said. "Flo also helped us tweak the keyboard so that it could be tilted, creating better ergonomics."

Gillespie added that Moffitt’s nurses considered many carts, but the Flo mobile clinical workstations’ design and technology best suited their needs.

"I think the carts work well in the PACU (post anesthesia care unit) because they have been designed to give us storage for supplies, they are small enough to use comfortably in the limited space we have, and they are easily adjustable and maneuverable," she said. "I also think they will be stable and durable, which is vital in a busy area such as the PACU."

Keith Washington, Flo Healthcare’s vice president and general manager, noted that Flo Healthcare has always concentrated on providing innovative, customer-focused, solution-oriented products. Flo’s innovation is reflected in three U.S. patents (6,493,220; 6,721,178 and 7,009,840) that have been awarded to Flo and protect many of the now essential features found in Flo carts. Other patents are pending, and with the backing of its new parent, Emerson Storage Solutions, Flo expects to continue to focus on solution-oriented initiatives and fully protect its substantial investment in innovation.

About H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
Located in Tampa, Florida, on the University of South Florida campus, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute (www.moffitt.org) is the only Florida-based cancer center with the NCI designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center for its excellence in research and contributions to clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Moffitt currently has 15 affiliates in Florida, one in Georgia and two in Puerto Rico. Additionally, Moffitt is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a prestigious alliance of the country’s leading cancer centers, and is listed in U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s Best Hospitals for cancer. Moffitt’s sole mission is to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer.

About Flo Healthcare
Headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, Flo Healthcare designs comprehensive wireless and mobile clinical workstation solutions specifically for the healthcare industry. Flo Healthcare is part of Emerson Storage Solutions’ InterMetro (Metro) division. Like Emerson, which is focused on making people’s lives better through its products, systems and solutions, Flo Healthcare’s top priority is improving patient care and safety. By delivering a better connection to information, clinicians stay better connected with patients. Flo Healthcare works with clinical software, OEM business partners and value added resellers to deliver patented, integrated solutions—infrastructure, devices and services—to medical facilities. With 50,000 mobile devices and wireless infrastructure systems installed within approximately 800 hospitals, Flo Healthcare is the acknowledged leader in total hospital and system-wide wireless and mobile clinical workstation installations across the U.S. and Canada. For more information on Flo Healthcare, visit www.flohealthcare.com or call 877-FLO-4040. For more information about our parent company, Emerson, visit www.GoToEmerson.com.