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4 min read

[PRESS RELEASE] Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock, AR, Reduces Door-to-Puncture Time for Stroke Patients by 58% in 5 Months

By Team Pulsara on Oct 18, 2023

How one Arkansas hospital is using healthcare communication technology to dramatically improve time-to-treatment for stroke patients

BOZEMAN, Mont., October 17, 2023Pulsara, the leading mobile telehealth, communication, and logistics platform that unites health care teams and technologies across organizations during dynamic events, published new details on Arkansas-based Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock’s record improvements in treatment time for stroke patients. The Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock Case Study showcases the work the facility has put towards improving communication among EMS and hospital stroke teams and highlights the resulting decrease in time-to-treatment for stroke patients.

Topics: Press Customer Success
3 min read

Arkansas DOH Announces Pulsara Now Available Statewide

By Team Pulsara on Oct 05, 2023

On September 27th, 2023, the Arkansas Department of Health announced in a press release that the Pulsara platform will be available to all ambulance services, acute care, sub-acute care, long-term acute care, nursing homes, behavioral health hospitals, and other affiliated healthcare facilities in Arkansas through funding by the Arkansas Department of Health, starting October 1st. 

"Arkansas is the first state in the country to make the full functionality of this platform available to all EMS agencies, hospitals, affiliated healthcare facilities, public health, public safety, and emergency management," said Bala Simon, MD, DrPH, Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Arkansas Department of Health. “This will help our healthcare providers improve communication to improve patient care and outcomes.”

Topics: Press Customer Success
2 min read

Arkansas Hospital Reduces Average Door-to-Puncture Time by 58% in 5 Months

By Kinsie Clarkson on Aug 30, 2023

In 5 months, Baptist Health Medical Center - Little Rock reduced their average door-to-puncture time for stroke patients by 58% 

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Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, is an 843-bed medical center and certified Comprehensive Stroke Center. As the largest private not-for-profit hospital in the state of Arkansas, Baptist Health - Little Rock provides comprehensive services using the latest in innovative technology. 

Previously, the stroke team was notified about incoming patients through phone calls and text messages. The operator would use the paging system to activate a code stroke, and then an additional IVR code stroke as needed. Members of the stroke team would receive the page, which contained only the patient’s location, via text or phone call.

Though the system worked on a basic level, Sharon Aureli, RN, BSN, MSN, SCRN, CNOR, RNFA, CNL, and Neuro Program Line Manager at Baptist Health, knew that a more sophisticated communication system could help their teams reduce treatment times. “I always think there’s room for improvement,” she said.

Topics: Stroke Press Customer Success
6 min read

Journey to Success: How This Department Implemented a New Tech Tool

By Team Pulsara on Aug 23, 2023

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article originally appeared on FireRescue1.com. Special thanks to our guest authorCourtney Levin, for FireRescue1 BrandFocus Staff.

Colorado Springs Fire Department has significantly improved patient outcomes with Pulsara

When you work in a busy fire department, it seems as if there’s never enough time to learn and implement a new piece of technology. Such was the case for Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD), an agency that currently encompasses 23 stations with over 500 firefighters. Serving the second largest city in Colorado, they run about 80,000 calls per year across a large service area of over 195 square miles. 

Despite having a full plate already, CSFD has long recognized the importance of continuously striving to improve patient outcomes. After hearing about Pulsara, a communication tool that works to bridge gaps between providers, they realized their department could benefit from such technology.

“I think the transition of care and communication between prehospital medical care and a hospital-based system is fraught with peril,” said Matthew Angelidis, M.D., co-chief medical director at CSFD. “As you’re trying to give a report and information about a patient and the care that’s been rendered to a health care provider in a hospital, lots of information can be lost in translation. I think we struggled to have effective, high-quality patient care information communicated between firefighters and paramedics and the hospital-based resources the patients were transitioning to.”

Joey Buttenwieser, a lieutenant at CSFD, agrees communication challenges were a huge area of opportunity for their agency. He notes that consistent communication has now become the norm since the department implemented Pulsara.

“This system helps first responders talk to a handful of our medical directors directly through Pulsara instead of calling the hospital and getting whichever emergency room doctor happens to be rotating through that day,” said Buttenwieser.

Topics: Customer Success
20 min read

Upgrading A Trauma System Of Care - PT 2

By Team Pulsara on Apr 07, 2023

What if you could improve patient care—across your city, region, and even state—by streamlining communication and coordination between EMS and hospital teams? Texas hospital and EMS leaders are doing just that, utilizing new workflows built on a scalable telehealth communication and logistics platform. Since reworking their trauma system, they’ve improved efficiency, reduced phone calls to multiple people, streamlined transfers, optimized continuity of care, and created shared awareness and accountability.

In this leadership roundtable with Jennifer Carr, MSN, RN, CPEN, TCRN, Vice President of Trauma Services at CHRISTUS Spohn Health System in Corpus Christi, TX, Randy Endsley, BSN, CFRN, CEN, LP, CMTE, Chief Medical Officer and Flight Nurse with HALO-Flight in Corpus Christi, TX, and Corey Ricketson, Sales VP at Pulsara, discover why they created this new system of care, what day-to-day operations look like, and how they are growing it across their organization and region.

Watch the full webinar and check out part 2 of our blog coverage below! And in case you missed it, catch up on part 1 here.

Topics: Trauma Regional Systems of Care Customer Success
2 min read

National Park Medical Center Improves Treatment Times for STEMI and Stroke

By Kinsie Clarkson on Feb 15, 2023

Arkansas hospital achieves consistent <60 minute average door-to-balloon time for STEMI and 80% decrease in average door-to-CT time for stroke

National Park Medical Center (NPMC) is a 163-bed hospital that has been delivering healthcare to the community of Hot Springs, Arkansas, for nearly 70 years. Offering a full range of inpatient and outpatient services, NPMC, which is part of the Lifepoint Health family of hospitals, is also home to the Heart and Vascular Center of Central Arkansas. The facility was recently recognized for excellence through the receipt of Chest Pain Center Accreditation with PCI through the American College of Cardiology Accreditation Services. 

Previously, when the emergency department received an ambulance call that a patient was experiencing chest pain and possibly a STEMI, an ECG would be sent from the ambulance to the emergency department by fax. But the transmission wasn’t always successful, according to Emergency Room Director Priscilla Couch, RN, MSN. And even when the ECG did make its way to the ED, there were hiccups in communicating the information to vital members of the healthcare team. “Our ER doctor would call the cardiologist and try to explain the patient’s condition without a visual, which takes time,” recalls Couch. “Then, with limited information, the cardiologist would have to decide, well, is that a real STEMI or not?” That deliberation would leave Couch waiting before she put out calls asking cardiac cath lab staff, including an interventional cardiologist, radiology technologists, and a cardiac-care nurse, to assemble. “When a patient is experiencing a STEMI, those are precious minutes that are being wasted,” Couch says.

In an effort to improve patient care, National Park Medical Center chose to adopt Pulsara, a mobile healthcare communication program that unites care teams on a single dedicated channel for each patient.

Topics: Stroke STEMI Press Customer Success
3 min read

Catholic Health Improves Communication Between EMS and ED With Pulsara

By Team Pulsara on Oct 14, 2022

Editor's note: This is an excerpt from an article originally published by WGRZ.com on October 11th, 2022. Read the full article here. 

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Catholic Health has started using Pulsara to help EMTs [and paramedics] better communicate with the emergency room, and says it may save time, especially when seconds count.

Pulsara is installed on a [first responder's] smartphone or tablet, allowing them to engage in real-time consultation with emergency room doctors and nurses to triage and assess patients while they are en route to the hospital.

"Traditionally, EMTs have phoned into a number directly to the emergency room, but sometimes if the doctor is not there, or tending to another patient, the nurse has to go find them," explained Lori Dufrense, who oversees all of the emergency rooms in the Catholic Health system locally. "This way, not only are the doctor and the emergency room staff notified, but so are the cardiac team if it's a heart attack, or the neuro team if it's a stroke patient."

Topics: Press Customer Success
2 min read

Weslaco EMS & Knapp Medical Center Improve Communication with Pulsara

By Team Pulsara on Oct 05, 2022

Weslaco EMS and Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco, Texas have adopted Pulsara to facilitate better communication between paramedics in the field and hospital staff, helping doctors more effectively treat patients after they arrive in the emergency room. Clinicians are using the Pulsara platform to share detailed information about a patient's condition.

Topics: Press Customer Success
3 min read

Overlake Medical Center Decreases Stroke Treatment Times By 30%

By Kinsie Clarkson on May 04, 2022

After streamlining communication for their stroke teams with Pulsara, Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue, WA reduced door-to-needle times for tPA patients by 31%.

Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue, Washington, is a 349-bed hospital serving the Puget Sound region since 1953. The hospital treats more than 245,000 outpatients and 18,000 inpatients each year, and is a Joint Commission-certified Advanced Stroke Center. 

As a thrombectomy-capable facility with a large staff of specialists, nurses, and more, Overlake Medical Center sees ~900 acute stroke cases per year. With this volume, providing time-sensitive care is of the utmost importance to producing positive patient outcomes. Overlake knew they needed a streamlined means of communication to help make existing stroke workflows more efficient. 

“With so many people in the system, unnecessary team members were being alerted for a stroke case, which added extraneous noise as they cared for patients,” said Overlake Medical Center’s Stroke Team leaders .

Topics: Stroke Press Customer Success
3 min read

LewisGale Hospital Montgomery Achieves Record 14-Minute Door-to-Balloon Time

By Kinsie Clarkson on Apr 13, 2022

LewisGale Hospital Montgomery in Blacksburg, Virginia, recently achieved a record door-to-balloon time of 14 minutes for one of their STEMI patients—one of their fastest ever. 

LewisGale has been working to create clearer lines of communication between its team members. They implemented Pulsara to successfully create a streamlined process for team communication around potential heart attack patients. 

Dr. John Patterson, a cardiologist at LewisGale, described how Pulsara allows him to receive notifications and information about a new patient instantly: "With this platform, I have the ability to see the EKG and activate the cath lab. All of this happens immediately so that it shortens the length of time it takes from the time the patient starts having their heart attack to the time they arrive at our hospital, to the time that we fix it. All of these times get shortened significantly with a platform like this." 

Topics: STEMI Press Customer Success
3 min read

Arkansas’s Ouachita County Medical Center Cuts Door-In, Door-Out Times for STEMI Patients by 50% with Pulsara

By Team Pulsara on Apr 04, 2022

How one Arkansas hospital is using healthcare communication technology to dramatically speed up time-to-treatment for STEMI patients

BOZEMAN, Mont., April 4, 2022Pulsara, the leading mobile telehealth, communication, and logistics platform that unites healthcare teams and technologies across organizations during dynamic events, published new details on Arkansas-based Ouachita County Medical Center’s record improvements in patient care. The Ouachita County Medical Center Case Study reveals the challenges many hospitals face when trying to transfer patients quickly, and the solution they found that enabled faster transfers and streamlined communication across organizations, ensuring secure and efficient patient care.

As a small medical center in rural southern Arkansas, Ouachita County Medical Center (OCMC) faced a lengthy and inefficient process when transferring STEMI patients to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) facilities that could provide critical care. Jennifer Ray, RN, OCMC’s ER and ICU manager, explained that in 2017, the average door-in, door-out (DIDO) time was 72 minutes for the 19 STEMI patients who came into the OCMC ER—more than double what the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association recommends.

Topics: STEMI Press Customer Success Transfer
3 min read

Arkansas Hospitals Streamline Patient Transfers With Pulsara

By Team Pulsara on Feb 02, 2022

As COVID-19 cases worsened across the state of Arkansas, hospitals struggled to keep up with the need. It became difficult to find bed placement for patients needing to be transferred to other facilities. The State of Arkansas decided to find a way to help hospitals make transferring and accepting patients easier. 

Over the last few weeks, Arkansas hospitals have replaced their former transfer process with a new system. Pulsara is a communication and logistics platform that connects hospitals across the state. The company's Virtual Placement Center shows hospitals when a patient needs a transfer and offers other hospitals the opportunity to initiate a conversation and accept them.

Interviewing a number of clinical leaders across Arkansas, reporter Ashley Godwin with Little Rock's CBS affiliate THV11 covered the story. "It's a virtual waiting room, essentially for patients requiring or requesting transfer throughout the state of Arkansas," said Dr. Rawle Seupaul, Chief Clinical Officer of UAMS.

Topics: Press Customer Success Transfer
3 min read

Press Release: Arkansas-Based Saline Memorial Hospital Reduces STEMI Treatment Times By 28% In 4 Months with Pulsara

By Team Pulsara on Jan 12, 2022

How one rural Arkansas county is using integrated telehealth, communication, and logistics technology to treat patients faster

Bozeman, Mont., Jan. 12, 2022 —  Pulsara, the leading mobile telehealth, communication, and logistics platform that unites healthcare teams and technologies across organizations during dynamic events, published new details on Arkansas-based Saline Memorial Hospital’s record improvements in patient care. The Saline Memorial Hospital Case Study reveals the unique challenges care teams were facing with a rapidly growing and dispersed population, and the solutions they found to markedly reduce treatment times, establish secure and reliable ECG transmissions, and improve real-time care team communication. 

Topics: STEMI Press Customer Success
3 min read

5 Keys to The Art of Customer Success in Healthcare Tech

By Betony Martin on Jan 05, 2022

Understanding Why Your Customer Operates the Way They Do, and How Your Product Can Help

Customer success is an art form. There is so much that goes into it: knowing workflow nuances, being aware of political subtleties, personality differences, current best practices, geographical needs, network systems of care, tech partners and competition, health status, data, etc., etc.

How do we do all this? 

Customer success is definitely an art, but there are some sound practices you can use to help set your customers up for a positive experience. Here are 5 keys to customer success in healthcare technology. 

Topics: Customer Success
10 min read

Pulsara's 2021 Case Studies: A Review of Results & Improved Patient Care

By Kinsie Clarkson on Dec 20, 2021

It has been a challenging year in healthcare. The second year of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought burnout, staffing shortages, and the continued struggles associated with trying to care for patients during a pandemic. 

In the midst of it all, many healthcare systems have risen to the challenge and devoted themselves to providing better, faster, and more efficient care for their patients. They've achieved amazing things in 2021, and, in spite of the setbacks and challenges, have found ways to continue to deliver top-notch care for their patients.

Join us as we take a walk through Pulsara's 2021 case studies, celebrate the stories of some of our partner organizations, and highlight the amazing results they've achieved this year!

Topics: Stroke STEMI Trauma Customer Success
2 min read

Ouachita County Medical Center Cuts DIDO for STEMI Patients by 50%

By Kinsie Clarkson on Dec 08, 2021

Ouachita County Medical Center (OCMC) is a not-for-profit hospital with 99 beds, serving residents of the rural community surrounding the city of Camden in southern Arkansas, about 100 miles from Little Rock. As a smaller, non-PCI facility, OCMC often coordinates transfers for their STEMI patients to PCI facilities.

Previously, when a patient arrived in the OCMC emergency room with a STEMI, whether by ambulance or private car, staff would first page a cardiologist at the patient’s preferred receiving facility, then wait for the physician to call back. Only then could they start the process of transferring the patient to a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) facility that could provide critical care. “Then we had to get a bed confirmed, and then we had to wait to get our EMS service to take the patient. And then, usually, most of those patients at that time went to Little Rock, which is about an hour and a half from where we are,” explained Jennifer Ray, RN, OCMC’s ER and ICU manager. “So the timeliness of the patient getting in and out was very, very slow.” How slow? During 2017, the average door-in, door-out (DIDO) time was 72 minutes for the 19 STEMI patients who came into the OCMC ER—more than double the 30 minutes or less recommended by the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association.

Topics: STEMI Press Consult Customer Success Transfer
3 min read

Seattle-Area EvergreenHealth Achieves Record 41% Decrease in Door-to-Puncture Times with Pulsara

By Nathan Williams on Nov 22, 2021

One healthcare system used Pulsara to achieve record door-to-puncture times and improved inter-organizational team communication for better care coordination. 

BOZEMAN, Mont., Nov. 22, 2021 — Pulsara, the leading mobile telehealth, communication, and logistics platform that unites healthcare teams and technologies across organizations during dynamic events published new details on Seattle-based EvergreenHealth’s record improvements in patient care. Reporting on their hospital and stroke program growth—and the increased communication challenges that growth brought on—the EvergreenHealth Case Study reveals the solutions they found to streamline care and communication across the whole organization spanning three sites. 

Serving a population of nearly 850,000 residents, EvergreenHealth is a growing two-hospital healthcare system with two emergency departments—one in Kirkland, Washington, and a freestanding emergency department in Redmond, Washington. Historically, the stroke teams were using pagers and audio calls to coordinate care. However, as both the hospitals and the stroke program grew, they began straining the limits of what former standard technologies could support. 

Topics: Press Customer Success
17 min read

Force Multiplier Patient Care - Q&A

By Team Pulsara on Nov 17, 2021

EDITOR’S UPDATE: The ET3 program is mentioned throughout the below interview. Please note that, as reported by JEMS.com on 6/28/23, the federal government is ending the ET3 program. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, “This decision does not affect Model Participants’ participation in the Model through December 31, 2023.” Read the full article on JEMS for more details: ET3 Program Comes to an Abrupt End. Be advised that Mobile Integrated Healthcare and Community Paramedicine are separate initiatives and are unaffected by the ET3 program termination.

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What if you could keep hundreds of low-acuity patients a week from having to needlessly go to the emergency room? With a scalable system of care, Austin-Travis County EMS is doing just that. In just three weeks, they kept 434 low-acuity patients out of the hospital—rerouting them to faster and more appropriate care via their ET3 clinic partner agency and the telehealth communications and logistics platform Pulsara.

Recently, Commander Steve White and Dr. Carlos Navarro presented a webinar to share their experience with creating the C4 unit, walk through a case study, and offer tangible takeaways and cutting-edge insights. If you haven't yet had the chance to catch up on the conversation, check out part 1 and part 2.

Read on to hear from Commander White and Dr. Navarro as they host a Q&A, answering audience questions about their system, how it works, and how its principles can be applied to other organizations. 

Topics: EMS Telehealth Customer Success
11 min read

Force Multiplier Patient Care [Part 2]

By Team Pulsara on Nov 10, 2021

What if you could keep hundreds of low-acuity patients a week from having to needlessly go to the emergency room? And what if, by doing so, you could reduce or eliminate the challenge of slow turnaround times, free up much-needed EMS and hospital resources, and help patients get the care they need faster, more affordably, and more efficiently?

Austin-Travis County EMS is doing just that. With a scalable system of care, they kept 434 low-acuity patients out of the hospital in just three weeks—rerouting them to faster and more appropriate care via the interconnected support of their ET3 clinic partner agency and the telehealth communications and logistics platform Pulsara.

On October 19th, Commander Steve White and Dr. Carlos Navarro shared their experience with creating the C4 unit, walked through a case study, and shared tangible takeaways and cutting-edge insights that you can apply to your own organization today.

Check out part 2 of their presentation below! (If you haven't yet had the chance to read part 1, check it out here.) 

Topics: EMS Telehealth Customer Success
18 min read

Force Multiplier Patient Care [Part 1]

By Team Pulsara on Oct 27, 2021

Editor's Update: The ET3 program is mentioned throughout the below interview. Please note that, as reported by JEMS.com on 6/28/23, the federal government is ending the ET3 program. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, “This decision does not affect Model Participants’ participation in the Model through December 31, 2023.” Read the full article on JEMS for more details: ET3 Program Comes to an Abrupt End. Be advised that Mobile Integrated Healthcare and Community Paramedicine are separate initiatives and are unaffected by the ET3 program termination.

__

What if you could keep hundreds of low-acuity patients a week from having to needlessly go to the emergency room? And what if, by doing so, you could reduce or eliminate the challenge of slow turnaround times, free up much-needed EMS and hospital resources, and help patients get the care they need faster, more affordably, and more efficiently?

Austin-Travis County EMS is doing just that. With a scalable system of care, they kept 434 low-acuity patients out of the hospital in just three weeks—rerouting them to faster and more appropriate care via the interconnected support of their ET3 clinic partner agency and the telehealth communications and logistics platform Pulsara.

On October 19th, Commander Steve White and Dr. Carlos Navarro shared their experience with creating the C4 unit, walked through a case study, and shared tangible takeaways and cutting-edge insights that you can apply to your own organization today.

Check out part 1 of their presentation below! 

Topics: EMS Telehealth Customer Success