Healthcare Communications Systems
Lutheran Hillside Village

Often called the “Greatest Generation” the seniors of the 30’s and 40’s are now experiencing better quality of life and peace of mind for their self and their families because of the foundation of technology they provided in years past.

Today, Hillside’s residents can wake up, press a button to let the nurse know they are up and well, or press a button and preprogrammed phone numbers of family or friends will connect them. Pillow speakers are located in their bed if for some reason they are not up and well they will be connected to the advanced healthcare communications system.

Thompson Electronics Company designed and implemented the integration of seven major electronics systems at the Village. Starting with design development of the communications systems used campus wide, Thompson Electronics Company worked with the client and architect to develop the entire telecommunications system and infra-structure that is integrated with special billing software and allows internet access.

The electronics technology at Hillside Village is every bit as spectacular as the Village itself. Residential living provides a resort type atmosphere living while providing the care amenities expected.

Hillside residents enjoy soft background music evenly distributed through high quality speakers while they dine or move about the adjacent terrace. To accommodate programs and events in the dining room a variety of microphone inputs are available to allow the room to be configured in a variety of ways. The audio equipment is housed in an attractive side board matching the other furnishings in the dining area.

SYSTEM DETAILS

Telephone
The entire campus is served by one unified telecommunications system. The system is an eOn Millennium Digital telephone switch designed with full digital telephones in all office and administrative areas and analog telephones in each of the resident occupancies throughout the entire campus. In addition, the phone system is equipped with wireless eOn Orbit telephones for staff use and pocket pagers that are integrated with other systems (Apartment Call and Fire Alarm systems) for campus wide paging and notification. The system operates on three dedicated T-1 lines and may serve in excess of 1000
extensions in the present configuration.

Infrastructure
To support the telecommunications system, an entire “city size” utility Infra-structure was designed. The utility plan includes telephone, data and cable television as well as fire alarm and facility security. This aspect of the project also includes the telephone billing software. The actual infrastructure materials include intermediate punchdown and patch-bay location devices provided by Panduit, Siemon and Leviton. Additional telephone infra-structure devices (including outdoor teleco pedestals, grounding and lightning arrestors) were supplied by Marconi and other standard telecom vendors. The telephone billing software system is an integration between the eOn SMDR software, billing software provided by MTS Telecommunications Management. The Facility is using the MTS IntegraTRAK TABS iT product integrated with the facility supplied Advanced Answers on Demand accounting software.

Internet
Complete internet access is provided via the infrastructure provided. All data lines and voice communication lines are terminated at intermediate distribution frames using patch bay termination. This is beneficial in two ways: It allows for quick configuration of telephone and data services for each resident or staff location and allows troubled segments to be quickly identified and repaired, reducing diagnostic and repair costs.

Communications Systems

Within the Health Center where Skilled Care is provided to residents, conversation between residents and staff is fully enabled allowing for full voice communication between nursing staff and residents. Patient calls are received at the nurse’s station, and displayed on a video display master station. The touch screen display may be programmed to display resident information. This may include personal or family data to assist the caller along with contact telephone numbers for use in case of emergencies. All resident information screens are password protected for privacy. Staff may also be notified of patient calls on the nurse call system via pocket pagers or via telephone.

Apartment Call/Resident Check-in System allows calls to be initiated from a resident apartment in three ways. Calls may be placed by pushing a button directly on the face of the intercom station in the resident living area. Calls may be placed by pulling an emergency call station located in resident lavatories or bedrooms. Calls may also be placed from the apartments by pressing a wireless pendant that may be body worn by the residents. The system is also equipped with programmable software that is designed to passively monitor resident apartments for activity. Each Apartment resident must push a "check-in" button by a programmed time each day. Once (or more if desired) a report is generated listing the residents that failed to activate the apartment check-in button. Staff may then check personally on the residents who have not checked in. The system is designed with video terminals at all master station locations that allow for the entry of staff notes including personal or family data including contact telephone numbers for use in case of emergencies. Digital images of residents may also be stored in the data base so that complete resident data portfolios (protected by passwords) may be constructed to provide complete resident information on demand.

Nurse Call System in the Alzeheimer’s Care Unit -
The Dukane ProCare 1000 Visual Nurse Call System is used in Bethel Place. This system is designed to be simple to operate and easy to understand. Care plans within Alzheimer units generally include a high staff component to allow for much direct staff care for residents. Calls may be generated from resident rooms, resident common areas or from staff areas as needed. Calls are annunciated by lamp via corridor dome lights located outside of each resident room and calls are annunciated on both master stations located at the nurses' stations within Bethel Place. Staff may also place an emergency call for help on the Dukane ProCare 6000 System serving the Medical Center if in an extreme emergency additional staff assistance is required.

Portable Call Systems for residents living in the Patio Homes and Villas - Dukane ResiCare system now supplied by Advanced Digital Designs is a telephone based emergency call system. Calls may be placed by pushing a button located on the ResiCare Station or by using a wireless pendant that may be body worn. When a call is placed, the ResiCare unit seizes the residence phone line and begins a dialing sequence. The system may be programmed to dial up to five different telephone numbers. The dialed numbers cascade until a response is made from the dialed party. This assures that resident emergency calls reach a responding destination. Calls and the responses are logged via software on a line receiver as required.

Lutheran Hillside Village

The Healthcare Communications systems at Lutheran Hillside Village includes:

• Nurse Call system in the Healthcare Center
• Apartment Call/Resident Check-in System in the apartments
• Apartment Call/Resident Check-in System in the Assisted Care Living area
• Nurse Call system in the dementia care unit
• Portable call systems for residents living in the Patio Homes and Villas
• Communications also included the entire telecommunications system
  and infra-structure including billing software

TEC provided audio in dining room

Obtaining Optimal Results...
By working with the owner and architect Thompson Electronics Company was able to develop a design based on the facilities unique use. We provided and installed Card Access, Security (door monitoring), CCTV, Satellite Subscription system (TV), Internet distribution & subscription system, Telephone, Fire Alarm, Nurse Call, Mini-cellular phone/pager system and Patient Wandering System.

Taking Technology
to a Higher Level