Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, MO is first in the state to implement Pulsara’s mobile-first communication platform, breaking new ground in Missouri for improved patient care and inter-organizational care team communication.
“The way we were alerting and tracking time-critical diagnoses like STEMI and stroke was a very cumbersome process that delayed patient care and we wanted to change that,” said Emergency Department Director Jeff Estes, MBA, RN, NRP, CFRN. “We’ve been using Pulsara for about 30 days and have already seen significant improvement in our processes. It’s been a great success and we expect it to only grow more.”
Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center prides itself on its commitment to healthcare excellence and cutting-edge innovation towards better and safer patient care. As the only public medical facility within roughly 30 miles, Poplar Bluff is a STEMI and stroke center serving a rural community of around 17,000. The hospital is a 410-bed facility employing around 1,200 staff members.
“We’re very proud to be the first in the state to adopt this program,” said Lacey Mcclintock, Director of Marketing and Community Relations at the hospital. “Continually looking for ways to improve patient care and clinical team processes is so important to us—and Pulsara is helping us do just that. It’s working so well that we’re currently looking at even adding it to surgery on call to use for emergent cases.”
The hospital has collaborated with many of the local EMS agencies to also utilize Pulsara, further improving the platform’s network potential for faster patient care through its real-time communication across the entire inter-organizational care team. “Pulsara has been a big hit with EMS because it has enabled their teams to have continuity of conversation while en route to the hospital,” said Estes. “We’re all on one united real-time communication channel now—it’s all-directional, not just bi-directional. That’s made such a difference in being able to provide faster and safer patient care.”
According to Estes, local EMS teams have also used Pulsara for Patients Under Investigation (PUI) in connection to possible COVID-19 cases. “It’s a huge help for EMS, notifying the ER in a timely manner and allowing us to have a different entrance and a complete isolation with those PUI patients,” he stated.
Beyond the communication and care coordination improvements achieved by Poplar Bluff and their local EMS agencies, they have also realized a cost savings benefit by moving to a flexible platform with a broad scope. The teams can use Pulsara to not only transmit the ECG from the field to the hospital, but also to replace the EMS radio report, consult with other clinicians via live video, record and send audio clips, transfer images, and ensure all team members are on the same universal clock.
“It is always exciting to hear about successes like Poplar Bluff’s, representing measurable improvements that directly impact people’s lives,” said Dr. James Woodson, Founder and CEO of Pulsara. “Improving the lives of patients and caregivers through innovative communication is our purpose at Pulsara. But it’s the talent of leading-edge care teams like Poplar Bluff that makes all the difference. Pulsara simply helps bring them together. We’re honored and excited to be supporting them and their community.”
