As with any business, a medical office can make more profit AND keep patients happy by running more efficiently. At North Florida Communications we have a simple product that can help your clinic run more smoothly. The Clinic-Call system by Tech Works is an easy to use color-coded light system for staff-to-staff communication.

Each Exam Room has a 4-button keypad installed on the outside of the door. Each physician and staff member is assigned a color on the keypad. When a patient is placed in a room, the staff member presses the corresponding button, which lights a corridor light located above the Exam Room door. This light then indicates who needs to see this patient next.

For example, lets say a patient is placed in Exam Room 1 for Dr. Jones, who has been assigned the yellow light. The light begins to flash on the keypad, corridor light, and on a master room status indicator located in his office. Now, lets also assume that patients have been placed in Exam 2 and Exam 3. These lights have a “steady” yellow light on their indicators.

Dr. Jones sees the slowly flashing yellow light and knows that he needs to visit that patient first. Right before he enters the room, Dr. Jones pushes the yellow button again. This changes the slowly flashing yellow light to a fast flash, which allows staff members to know exactly which room the doctor is in.

After an examination, Dr. Jones determines that the patient needs an x-ray, so he presses the blue button, which has been assigned to the X-Ray Tech. The blue light starts to flash, alerting X-Ray. Then Dr. Jones presses the yellow button because he is done with the patient, until the x-ray is completed. This extinguishes the yellow light on Exam 1.

Now Dr. Jones can look down the hallway, or at a master status indicator to see with room he needs to go to next. The Clinic-Call system automatically starts to slowly flash the room indicator for the patient who has been waiting the longest. The cycle continues throughout the day making sure patients are cared for in a timely and orderly manner.

Should a practitioner need staff assistance, he/she can simply press the “red” button, or a help button installed inside the Exam Room. An alert will sound and the room will be indicated by a flashing red light. Help buttons and/or pull cords can be installed in other locations, such as lavatories, for emergency needs.

The simplicity of the Clinic-Call system is one of it’s greatest strengths. The easy to learn system of color coded lights provides the staff with complete information at a glance. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. We have a demo kit that can be brought to your office to show you how easy the system is to operate and how valuable it could be to your clinic.

Larry Nazworth