With Connectivity into a safe future

The opportunities of digitisation are at the centre of many debates about the future of health care and nursing care. Under the heading "Connectivity" Stiegelmeyer develops convincing solutions for this topic. Connectivity, i.e. intelligent digital connection, covers all areas: products, processes of care and administration, planning and documentation as well as the exchange between Stiegelmeyer and its customers. At MEDICA, the leading German manufacturer of hospital beds will present new developments in the "Smart Hospital" sector.

These are hospital beds that are connected using modern wireless technology and that send location and status information to staff. In this way they relieve the employees, create a higher legal certainty for the facility and promote the protection of patients.

Protection for fall-prone patients

At MEDICA three points are in focus, which play an important role in the everyday care routine. First, the Out-of-Bed system – it reports when a patient gets up and does not return to bed within a set time interval. This system thus increases the safety of patients who are at risk of falling without deprivation of liberty measures. "If a patient knows that he is well taken care of, he dares to do more and gets mobilised faster," says Andreas Held, Head of Service at Stiegelmeyer.

The second point concerns the height adjustment of the mattress base. The bed announces when it reaches the lowest position or leaves it. Again, fall prevention is supported, because at night all beds should be moved to low position to minimise the risk of injury in case of a fall. The third status report finally monitors the power connection. It recognises if the bed is accidentally disconnected from the power and is permanently in battery mode, thus ensuring battery operation for emergencies.

Always up to date

There are several ways to receive the messages from the connected beds. Using the BLOC bed management program, they can be viewed on a dashboard – a status table – on the computer at the nurses’ station. If the caregiver is on the move, they can also receive the messages with a mobile device. Which beds are monitored, can be set individually. This ensures that staff always receives all relevant data without being flooded by signals in tense situations.

In the future, Stiegelmeyer will expand its "Smart Hospital" solutions with new sensor technology and extend them from the German to the international market. MEDICA is a great opportunity to get in touch with customers, to learn their requirements and wishes, and to receive valuable feedback. The Stiegelmeyer team is looking forward to all visitors in hall 14 at booth D05.