Cameron Memorial Community Hospital – Testimonial
“We wanted a more universal way to communicate to staff and visitors if someone was in isolation precautions. We also wanted something that would be esthetically pleasing in a new hospital. My job was easy, because the minute I saw the ISOSIGN product at the APIC Conference, I knew that is what we had to have for our facility. I viewed two other samples from various competitors and neither was as nice looking or well made. The ISOPLUS sign was perfect for our needs. The signs save man hours related to staff communication. The sign serves as the communicator, so the staff can utilize their time for other tasks and should serve as an insurance policy to prevent patient or staff harm. The sign is a universal message that can be individualized to each patient. When it’s not in use, it holds a “Welcome” Risk Management insert and our hospital “Tagline” in the Isolation Precaution window. They look extremely professional and are a great asset to our new units. The patient safety is the most relevant feature in today’s healthcare world. We are lucky to have the ISOSIGN in our facility!”
Shannon King, RN, BSN, CIC / Infection Prevention Coordinator / Cameron Memorial Community Hospital – Angola, IN
Cameron Memorial Community Hospital – Testimonial – After 2 years in use
“We have been using the Iso SIGN system at Cameron Memorial Community Hospital since December of 2014. The staff has had nothing but positive things to say about the signs. They feel that the signs have a cleaner look than the laminated signs we used to place on the door frames of patient rooms. Iso SIGNS are easy to use and provide many more signage options. This saves the clinicians from wasting valuable time trying to find the appropriate isolation sign. From an infection prevention stand point they convey the correct information regarding a patient’s isolation status and can be changed easily as the patient’s condition changes. The signs are also cleanable which, is also an important infection prevention measure. The signs have shown no signs of wear and tear, unlike our old signs which would need to be replaced periodically. I have received compliments from fellow Infection Preventionists regarding our Iso SIGNs. Overall, we have been very pleased with the function and look of the signs.”
Sincerely,
Heather Kaiser RN, ASN, BS
Infection Prevention Coordinator – Cameron Memorial Community Hospital
Home of the Innocents – Testimonial
“It was very easy working with ISOSIGN to complete our project. Kevin was responsive to our needs and request. We chose ISOSIGN for our facility to better identify room assignments and precautions to staff, families, and visitors. The staff are raving about the signs because they are easy to read and fit within our color scheme. The signs have resolved the issue of identifying the precautions that must be taken with the residents in the rooms. I would certainly recommend ISOSIGN for any future signage needs.”
April Raddish, RN, BSN / Vice President of Clinical Services / Kosair Charities Pediatric Convalescent Center / Home of the Innocents
Shriners Hospitals for Children – Portland
“We originally heard about the ISOSIGN from our Infection Control Nurse. She received a sample sign from a conference she attended and brought it to our staff. They really liked the idea of having all the signs designed the way we wanted and plus, we were able to customize signs that fit our unit. Working with the ISOSIGN was a great experience and they were very helpful with the entire process. We wanted to prevent future efforts of taping signs to patient doors and also wanted the ease of having all the signs needed in one place for the staff. ISOSIGN was the obvious choice. The staff really likes the signs and some of our other departments have had positive things to say about them. The Risk Management signs are great. We use the NPO sign often and in the past, the NPO information was inside the room, so it was difficult for nutritional services to know if a child was truly NPO. The installation process was extremely easy to implement, we had no issues putting the signs up on the wall. If a new opportunity arises to work with the ISOSIGN again, we will do so.”
Pam Scott, Manager of Inpatient Unit / Child Life Department, Shriners Hospitals for Children – Portland
Floyd Memorial Hospital – Mini-Case Study
Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services is a regional healthcare provider and facility in Southern Indiana. Floyd has over 600 physicians and over 2,000 associates. Floyd Memorial has a large number of specialty services such as Maternity, Cancer Care, Heart and Vascular, Joint Replacement, General Care, Orthopedics, Rehabilitation, Spine, Sleep Disorder, Urgent Care and Weight Management just to name a few.
Liz Couch, Manager of Quality and Care Coordination, and her team chose ISOSIGN to eliminate the sign issues they were constantly having at Floyd. Here is her story:
Sign Problems
“The main reason we chose ISOSIGN was the fact that we had not seen anything like this on the market. We had many issues with our homemade signs that we were using. One issue was that the signs we were putting up were tearing up our doors and walls and leaving a sticky film behind. To try to combat this, we placed roller strips to hold the signs in place throughout the building. However, these were pretty costly to implement throughout the hospital and most of sign holders broke within months, which continued to cost more money to replace. This put us back to the same problem that we were having before…using tape to secure the signs. Another problem that we were having was frequently replacing signs. Signs would disappear and staff spent lots of time searching for the correct sign. Often, instead of searching, staff would remove a sign from a patient’s door and photo copy the sign. Albeit creative, this was unprofessional and did not make a good presentation. When we did replace the signs the correct way, it became very costly, as you have to factor in the cost for paper, printer ink, laminating supplies and labor.”
ISOSIGN Solution
“ISOSIGN was able to eliminate our issues with the damage to the doors, time searching for signs, poor presentation and the cost for sign replacement. Since our implementation of the ISOSIGN infection control system, we have not had to replace one sign! The staff replaces the sign inserts and the sign inserts go back into its wall pocket ready for the next use. It was very easy to work with ISOSIGN on the project. We loved working with our ISOSIGN team! They were very willing to do whatever we needed to customize the signs to fit our facilities policies and procedures. The instillation process was easy! We chose to install our own signs with the assistance of our Facilities team. They had no problem installing them.”
Results
“The ISOSIGN team was very patient with us as we journeyed through the process. Since there were so many stakeholders in developing these signs AND everyone had a different opinion, we changed our mind several times on the content of the signs. ISOSIGN was very understanding and very accommodating to us. The staff loves the signs! With hospitals, time is money! The staff does not have to worry about finding a sign for communication; they should be worrying about the most important thing…the patient! ISOSIGN accomplishes this – the ISOSIGN provides the staff the tool to do their job without the hassle. “
Liz Couch RN, BSN, CIC
Manager of Quality and Care Coordination / Floyd Memorial Hospital & Health Services
Community Hospital McCook – Testimonial
“ISOSIGN was great to work with. Michael went out of his way to accommodate what we as a facility wanted in our signage. The signs look very sharp and we wanted to get away from our “ghetto signage”. When I showed the sample to the staff they were very impressed with the look of the sign. We were having difficulty getting the proper isolation as we just had a stop sign and staff had to circle appropriate PPE. Now it is a slam dunk. The staff likes the signs very much! Very nice looking, easy to use, right there at point of use, the staff do not have to go find a stop sign to tape to door. The installation process was very easy. If an additional opportunity arises to work with the ISOSIGN, we will do so accordingly.”
Sharon Conroy, Infection Prevention / Employee Health, Community Hospital McCook
Mary Lanning Healthcare – Testimonial
“Working with ISOSIGN has been a pleasure. They were very patient with us through the development process. We reached out to the ISOSIGN because we felt their sign solution would solve our primary issue of existing sign clutter in our facility. We were looking for a convenient and professional looking signage system – we got it! The clutter of signs on doors and door frames will be gone, a thing of the past! Although we have yet to install them, everyone that has seen the signs love them and are excited to see them put up. If we move forward with additional signage, we will definitely be reaching out and will use ISOSIGN again, as we would recommend their service to anyone looking for a smart, quality sign system.”
Janet Riese, Infection Control, Mary Lanning Healthcare
Trustpoint Hospital – Testimonial
“I found working with ISOSIGN a pleasure. Mike gave us a concise overview of the process in the beginning and then walked us through each step of the process as we went along. He also stayed in frequent contact with us to let us know of the progress of our signs. Once we received them, installation was fast and easy. These new signs have provided our hospital with an effective process for communicating important patient information to visitors and ancillary staff. The signs are so helpful for our isolation patients, our infection prevention initiatives, and patient safety (fall precautions, diet precautions, etc.). I have heard from nurses, nurse aides, housekeeping, and dietary staff how helpful and professional these signs are! Nursing and therapy now have an effective method of communicating with visitors and other disciplines regarding safe patient handling and precautions. I would absolutely recommend ISOSIGN to anyone who is looking for great customer service and professional products for their facility and look forward to working with them again in the future.”
Mika Polly, BSN, RN-BC, Performance Improvement / Infection Control Coordinator, Trustpoint Hospital
St. Peter’s Hospital and Infection Control – Case Study
St. Peter’s Hospital is a premier health care provider in Montana. They have over 1,200 skilled health care professionals covering areas such as specialty care, infection prevention, surgery, cancer treatment, cardiology, hospice and behavioral health, just to name a few.
St. Peter’s feels strongly about infection control. Isolation precautions vary depending on the germ and are usually communicated with signs that nurses post at the patient’s door. On any given day, 10-15% of our patients will be on isolation precautions. Research suggests that patients in isolation precautions are generally less satisfied and are at increased risk of falls and medication errors. Isolation precautions prevent disease transmission in the hospital.
The Challenge
Our challenge in hospitals is to make sure we don’t over-use isolation precautions and then strive to continuously improve the practice of isolation precautions so it becomes less frustrating for everyone. Just over a year ago, a group of hospital personnel began meeting with the intent of improving isolation precautions at St. Peter’s Hospital. The group relied on their front line experience to map out the current state which illustrated why the process was so frustrating.
The Solution
The group quickly brainstormed and experimented with new sign systems to eliminate the waste generated in constantly searching for signs to tape on patients’ doors. They sought to improve the sign system so that it was always found in the same place and communicated useful information. To that end the group worked with a sign manufacturer, Sign4 and the ISOSIGN, and developed a sign system that they piloted on the Medical Unit. After collecting feedback from their peers, the group made adjustments and then asked for money to implement the new sign system. The senior management team was supportive and agreed to fund the improvement house wide. The new signs have been hung. They look great! This improvement is a great example of what is possible when we tap into the expertise of those closest to the problem.
St. Peter’s Hospital anticipates decreased waste, related to nurses searching for sign information and also improvement in employee satisfaction as the isolation process becomes a little less frustrating – this was one of the main reasons St. Peter’s went with the ISOSIGN solution. The ability to customize the signs exactly the way the hospital needed them was a huge plus. They recommend ISOSIGN to any hospital considering a total sign solution for their facility.
Twin Lakes Hospital – Testimonial
We love to tout our signs, but don’t take our word for it. Earlier in the year, we were contacted by Rose Mary Goins about looking into isolation signage for their hospital. The time and effort it was taking to continue putting up and taking down signs, printing and managing was taking its toll. After looking at their situation further, they decided to go with the ISOPLUS sign to solve their problems. Here’s what Rose Mary had to say:
“Greg,
We have all of our signs up and everyone loves them. The staff really likes them and the patient areas look so much better without having signs taped on doors, etc. Our CEO took some of our Hospital Board Members around and they were very impressed. We also had a trainer from SWC nurse call system that was here and she was very impressed with our signs. I appreciate all the work you did and please let everyone know that we will promote your product at every opportunity.
Thanks again,
Rose Mary”
Rose Mary Goins, Clinical Information Specialist, Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center