Hospitals Save With VoceraHospitals Save With Vocera

Study demonstrates that Vocera Communication System saves healthcare units 3,400 hours of work per year, for a cost savings of $74,000 per unit

February 23, 2004

3 Min Read

CUPERTINO, Calif. -- Vocera Communications, a wireless voice communications company, and St. Agnes Healthcare in Baltimore, Md., announced the results of a comprehensive benefits study measuring the impact the Vocera wearable instant communications system has on time-savings, workflow, and nursing satisfaction in the hospital.

Conducted at St. Agnes Healthcare, a 299-bed, full-service, teaching community hospital in Baltimore, Md., by First Consulting Group (FCG), the study showed the Vocera Communications System saved each healthcare unit an average of 3,400 hours per year in improved communications, which equates to a cost savings of $74,000 per unit. The system also reduced noisy overhead paging by 94 percent.

“This study demonstrates the measurable impact of this technology,” said Julie Shimer, CEO of Vocera Communications. “The results show this system saves time, which means hospitals can administer better care, while the nurses can spend more time at the patient’s bedside.”

Additional study findings show:

  • Nursing and unit secretary time-savings was substantial. Specifically, unit secretaries saved 1,650 hours, nurses saved 1,146 hours, and nurse techs saved 626 hours annually. This is the equivalent of 1.7 FTEs (full-time equivalent) per unit.

  • Using the Vocera System for communications was up to five times faster than other communications methods, including paging systems. Vocera enables mobile and direct communications to eliminate hand-offs and reliance upon the unit secretary to serve as the communication hub.

  • Communications between staff on the Vocera-enabled nursing unit improved. Having the capability to directly connect with other nurses to answer questions and provide care assistance is facilitated with Vocera. Nearly 80 percent of the healthcare workers stated that Vocera saved them at least 15 minutes per shift.

  • Nurses believe Vocera improves workflow and the ability to deliver quality patient care. Almost 80 percent of the nurses agreed that Vocera has positively improved workflow.



The Vocera Communications System enables mobile workers within buildings or campuses to instantly connect with one another using simple voice commands. Combining the leading-edge technologies of Wireless LAN (WiFi), Voice over IP (VoIP), and speech recognition, the system allows users to communicate, make decisions, and act quickly anytime, anywhere within an 802.11b-networked facility. The Vocera System consists of the Vocera System Software and Vocera Communications Badges. The badge, weighing less than 2 ounces, can be clipped to a shirt pocket or collar, or worn on a lanyard, enabling instant, hands-free voice communication any time, anywhere.

“The study findings indicate a conservative estimate of time and cost savings for the nursing staff,” said William Greskovich, vice president of operations and CIO of St. Agnes Healthcare. “We anticipate the new features announced in the Vocera 2.1 release and the Nurse Call Integration Module will blow these numbers out of the water. The benefits study results encouraged us to pursue an Enterprise license of the Vocera System.”

The Vocera 2.1 release includes a push-to-talk capability for instant conversations among groups of users, voice-initiated paging, text-to-speech message playback, and new enterprise administration features. Vocera’s Nurse Call Integration Module is designed to interface with leading nurse call systems, and allows caregivers to instantly receive patient bedside notifications and respond more quickly to patient needs.

“Nurses are a mobile workforce constantly on the go, taking care of our patients,” said St. Agnes Healthcare Nurse Manager, Kathi Diver. “Vocera’s system helps us save up to 30 minutes a day we would have spent tracking down other people or hunting for information. Instead, we put that time savings back into caring for patients.” Having the capability to directly connect with other nurses to answer questions and provide assistance via the Vocera System is improving efficiency and patient care.

The study was conducted by FCG of Long Beach, Calif., in December 2003. The research was done by observing and monitoring three shifts, 24 hours a day. Data included surveys, tracking logs, direct observation, interviews, process flow analysis, time and motion analysis, and Vocera call logs.

Vocera Communications Inc.

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