Smart room technology can create a more responsive, personalized, and efficient environment for patients and staff alike. For patients, these innovations offer greater comfort, improved communication, and enhanced safety. For staff, smart rooms streamline workflows and improve access to critical information, allowing clinicians to focus more on direct patient care. While this type of implementation will follow your normal systems implementation processes (vendor selection, hardware/network, construction (for wiring and additional outlets), system build, testing, and go-live) there are some key things to consider when implementing a smart room.
Gather the Team
Successful Smart Room implementations utilize a cross-functional team of key stakeholders that interact with the inpatient population. Key players include frontline clinicians, patient experience leaders, nursing informatics, inpatient and IT leadership, and application analysts.
Define the Use Cases
Use cases = what are the goals for the smart room?
Identify and document the intended use cases before establishing their priority. The possibilities are endless, so it is a good idea to document all options and then systematically determine which to address first.
- What are the primary use cases for Day 1 (go-live)?
- Which items can be deferred to the optimization phase or postponed for a year or longer?
- What initiatives are not currently desired?
Examples of typical Smart Room use cases include:
- Digital whiteboard to display clinically relevant data for the clinical staff including vitals, hygiene, labs, x-rays, etc.
- Who does this benefit? Clinicians and Staff
- Platform: EHR (electronic health record) or patient engagement vendor
- Hardware: Large touchscreen display, potentially a PC
- Video calling to an interpreter, family member, or staff member using the in-room displays and camera technology
- Who does this benefit? Patients, Clinicians, and Staff
- Platform: Video technology or AI vendor
- Hardware: Camera, microphone, and speaker, potentially a PC
- Digital hall displays key information about the patient’s precautions, any alerts, and which staff are currently in the room. The display or case could be illuminated in different colors depending on the role(s) present in the room.
- Who does this benefit? Clinicians and Staff
- Platform: EHR (electronic health record) or patient engagement vendor
- Hardware: Large touchscreen display, potentially a PC
- AI-enabled workflows: Depending on your organization’s goals, you may want to use AI for fall prevention (predict, detect, and help stop falls), elopement prevention (stop unauthorized departures), ambient listening (real-time physician scribing), and more!
- Who does this benefit? Clinicians and Staff
- Platform: EHR (electronic health record) or AI vendor
- Hardware: Camera, microphone, and speaker, potentially a PC
- Staff announcements that display the name role and photo of the staff member on the patient displays (TV) when they walk in the room
- Who does this benefit? Patients
- Platform: RTLS (real-time locating system) and system that is running the patient TVs (EHR or patient engagement vendor)
- Hardware: In-room TVs and/or digital whiteboard
- Infotainment – Patient education videos, entertainment, questionnaires (e.g., discharge questions), hospital announcements/events available on the patient’s in-room TV
- Who does this benefit? Patients, Clinicians, and Staff
- Platform: EHR (electronic health record) or patient engagement vendor and patient education vendor
- Hardware: Smart TV
High-Fidelity Mock Room/Lab
A high-fidelity room can be used by the project team to assess use cases and obtain approval from stakeholders. The mock room may also serve to validate requirements related to network, hardware, and cyber security. Ideally, this room should be equipped with the same network infrastructure, hardware, software, and integrations as those found in an inpatient room within your hospital. It is recommended to retain this room for the purpose of testing and validating potential future use cases.
In-Depth Onsite Testing
Depending on the selected vendor or solution, integration may be required at the individual room level. For example, it may be necessary to confirm that the camera activates in the designated room when selected, and that the provider’s name, role, and photo are displayed appropriately and in the correct room upon entry. These functions will need to be validated by the project team in each inpatient room.
The Bottom Line
Smart Room technology has the power to elevate patient care, streamline clinical workflows, and enhance safety across inpatient settings. Utilizing the steps above has been instrumental in building Smart Rooms for our clients. If your healthcare organization is ready to take the next step, we’re here to help make your Smart Room implementation a success.
