Deploy

The deployment phase of an Vocera Communications EMDAN product implementation.

Deploy

The following sections define the Key Tasks required to deploy the solution implementation.

Appliance Installation

This step can be performed either by a Vocera Communications Implementation resource or by someone in your IT department. Vocera will provide a VM compatible .ovf file for the application to run in a virtual environment. Once the servers have been deployed on the hospital network, it is important for Vocera to connect to them using remote access. This will ensure that the remote access feature is working appropriately.

Connectivity to External Systems Established

There are no required physical connections to the Vocera VM, other than power and network cables. A TCP/IP connection is required for each external system that communicates with the Vocera appliance.

When connecting the VM to a nurse call system that has a serial connection over an RS-232 cable, Vocera will provide a serial to IP converter made by Digi Corp. Connectivity to the Digi converter must be established and port settings must be reviewed and verified prior to performing any nurse call testing.

Each adapter will be tested with the representative for each system (nurse call, HL7, medical device data aggregator, etc.). This testing will be thorough enough to account for all message types that can be sent and received. Additionally, each adapter must undergo automated resume testing to verify that if either side restarts, the other side will resume without manual intervention.

VM Configuration and Testing

Based on the workflow decisions previously documented, the VM will be configured to meet the your requirements. The Vocera Implementation resources will test the documented workflows with the adapter vendors before moving on to User Acceptance Testing.

User Acceptance Testing

A User Acceptance Testing (UAT) script will be created from the previously documented workflow. The Vocera Clinical Specialist will conduct the UAT testing with designated clinical personnel from your facility. If there was no involvement by the Vocera Clinical Specialist, then UAT testing must still involve your clinical personnel with a designated Vocera representative. This script will detail all of the alert scenarios being used by Engage Medical Device Alarm Notification. It is possible that the nurse call vendor would need to provide a list of all nurse call types in order to create a comprehensive script.

Here is a sample from a UAT template:

Training

Vocera recommends a "train the trainer" model. Requesting a large number of nurses to attend a training session at the same time is often impractical due to scheduling constraints. For this reason, a train the trainer approach will be used to educate a small team of Super Users and/or educators at your facility. This will allow training to be completed on an individual basis, as convenient, for the remaining staff. A typical training session for these Super Users is 30 minutes.

Go Live

At Go Live, a Vocera representative will be available for onsite support for at least two days. Although the Super Users or educators of the hospital will be trained before the end users, often there are users who will need help remembering how to use the solution. The Go Live period will be a time where the Vocera team is on the floor with end users to ensure that the solution is being used correctly, and to act as subject matter experts.