Internet of Things Buttons for Real-Time Notifications in Hospital Operations: Proposal for Hospital Implementation.

BACKGROUND: Hospital staff frequently performs the same process hundreds to thousands of times a day. Customizable Internet of Things buttons are small, wirelessly-enabled devices that trigger specific actions with the press of an integrated button and have the potential to automate some of these repetitive tasks. In addition, IoT buttons generate logs of triggered events that can be used for future process improvements. Although Internet of Things buttons have seen some success as consumer products, little has been reported on their application in hospital systems. OBJECTIVE: We discuss potential hospital applications categorized by the intended user group (patient or hospital staff). In addition, we examine key technological considerations, including network connectivity, security, and button management systems. METHODS: In order to meaningfully deploy Internet of Things buttons in a hospital system, we propose an implementation framework grounded in the Plan-Do-Study-Act method. RESULTS: We plan to deploy Internet of Things buttons within our hospital system to deliver real-time notifications in public-facing tasks such as restroom cleanliness and critical supply restocking. We expect results from this pilot in the next year. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, Internet of Things buttons have significant promise; future rigorous evaluations are needed to determine the impact of Internet of Things buttons in real-world health care settings.

Virtual monitoring of suicide risk in the general hospital and emergency department.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether continuous virtual monitoring, an intervention that facilitates patient observation through video technology, can be used to monitor suicide risk in the general hospital and emergency department (ED). METHOD: This was a retrospective analysis of a protocol in which select patients on suicide precautions in the general hospital and ED received virtual monitoring between June 2017 and March 2018. The primary outcome was the number of adverse events among patients who received virtual monitoring for suicide risk. Secondary outcomes were the percentage of patients for whom virtual monitoring was discontinued for behavioral reasons and the preference for observation type among nurses. RESULTS: 39 patients on suicide precautions received virtual monitoring. There were 0 adverse events (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.000-0.090). Virtual monitoring was discontinued for behavioral reasons in 4/38 cases for which the reason for terminating was recorded (0.105, 95%CI = 0.029-0.248). We were unable to draw conclusions regarding preference for observation type among nurses due to a low response rate to our survey. CONCLUSIONS: Suicide risk can feasibly be monitored virtually in the general hospital or ED when their providers carefully select patients for low impulsivity risk.