• Increasing the efficiency of care delivery by converting scheduled tasks to sensor-driven tasks and through dynamic task management to ensure time-critical tasks are performed as needed.
• Improving the quality of care and better outcomes by focusing healthcare staff on timely care, not documentation.

VivaTRAK is a patient-focused, sensor-assisted care system with the primary purpose of improving healthcare while increasing operational efficiency and documentation of care activities associated with preventable conditions such as pressure ulcers and falls. The system monitors a patient’s movement, processes this data, provides the appropriate alerts, then manages and verifies the response to status notifications.

Our initial sensors include a patented motion sensor that monitors patient activity in bed and an RFID reader that monitors the presence of care staff. The system can detect when a patient entered a bed, when a patient was turned as part of a procedure to prevent pressure ulcers, and whether a patient left the bed. Patient activity also is an indication that the patient may benefit from assistance to reduce the risk of falls.

The RFID reader at the bed enables the system to record the time staff was present at a patient’s bedside and the handheld computing and pager devices enable the efficient documentation of the care provided. The completion of care tasks can be monitored in real time, in turn providing a documentation pool for quality improvement, staff productivity and Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement.
The flow of data from the sensor into actionable information with verified response is shown here:

The benefits of VivaTRAK to nursing home operators include:

• Quality of care – VivaTRAK addresses both falls and pressure ulcers – two of the highest priority issues to improve the quality of care in nursing homes.
• Patient care protocols – The system helps standardize the delivery of care to a measurable protocol that can be readily monitored.
• Staff efficiency – By monitoring the completion of assigned tasks and directing resources to the patients needing attention, VivaTRAK improves the efficiency of staff.
• Risk management – The system addresses risk management issues of clinical care related to falls and pressure ulcers and the adequacy of documentation of care delivered.
• Payments from third party programs – VivaTRAK enhances the documentation process to capture the care delivered, resulting in improved payment rates.
• Census development – The system enhances a facility’s reputation by helping differentiate the quality of services though the use of innovative technology to improve patient outcomes.
• Positive financial impact – A 100-bed facility can realistically cover the cost of VivaTRAK through increased reimbursements and bed census.

VivaTRAK consists of three sets of equipment, as shown in the illustration below:

• ActivSense – The equipment at the bed consisting of:
  • A patient movement sensor, BedSense.
  • An RFID reader to monitor the presence of staff.
  • A bed computer that communicates to a wireless WiFi network.
• Standard wireless WiFi communications network equipment.
• The information processing and user interface equipment:
  • A server aggregates bed sensor data and further processes that data into actionable information in the form of notifications, reports and patient management information.
  • User interface equipment consisting of a kiosk terminal and mobile devices such as a pager.