Patient Bedside Info & Entertainment System at Phelps

January 2007

SLEEPY HOLLOW, New York -- One the many amenities offered to patients at Phelps Memorial Hospital also serves as an essential source of medical information for nurses and other medical staff. Next to most of the 235 inpatient beds at Phelps is a 17-inch flat touch-screen TV where patients can view 50 Direct TV channels, choose from a selection of 20 first-run movies, watch educational videos, surf the web or send e-mail. Having internet access helps patients stay connected to friends, family and business interests.

The bedside system also serves as an essential source of medical information for nurses and other medical staff, who use it to access patient charts, view X-rays and other images and verify medications.

Phelps is the only hospital in the New York metropolitan area that has replaced the majority of its bedside TVs with this information and entertainment system, called the Vigo OneTouch™ from Allen Technologies. The system has been installed in the medical and surgical units as well as in pediatrics and maternity.

"From a medical standpoint, the system is very convenient for nurses and physicians to document clinical information at bedside," says Jane Dillon, RN, Community Health Management with Phelps. As for patient satisfaction, "The screen is much larger than our old TVs and in color, and having internet access helps patients stay connected to the outside world," says Dillon.

Now, when a doctor or nurse "prescribes" an educational video for a patient to watch to learn more about their condition or treatment, it is no longer necessary to wheel a VCR into the patient's room. The system also replaces the hospital's Computers On Wheels (COWs), which needed to be rolled into and out of patient rooms to access patient information.

Nearly all Phelps patients are taking advantage of the new information/entertainment systems.

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