Transfer and operations center coordinates care

Renown Transfer and Operations Center team coordinates care across a patient’s journey.

Image courtesy of Renown Health

To make the best decisions where to send patients and deploy providers and care teams, and to better support growing telehealth options, nonprofit integrated health network Renown Health, Reno, Nev., recently opened the Renown Transfer and Operations Center (RTOC). 

At 6,000 square feet, the RTOC is one of the largest such centers in the nation. The space features a front wall of 28 high-definition dashboards, with additional monitors scattered throughout. These plasma screens display metrics — ranging from patient vital signs to bed availability to facility capacity and staffing — that are monitored around the clock. 

From the center, registered nurses and dispatchers coordinate incoming patients transferred from neighboring hospitals and facilities within Renown’s 100,000-square-mile service area across northern Nevada and northeast California. The goal is to have clinical information and the right care team and facilities ready to serve patients immediately upon their arrival at a medical center, emergency room or urgent care site. Having diagnostic, triage and electronic medical record clinical information readily at hand helps staff identify the most appropriate facility for incoming patients, establish a care plan outline and estimate a discharge date. 

The RTOC also supports remote and telehealth solutions. Video-enabled telehealth support for Renown’s four intensive care units (ICUs) aims to facilitate stronger clinical collaboration and communication around patient care. The electronic ICU is outfitted with high-definition two-way cameras, video monitors, microphones and smart alarms that support ICU physicians and nurses in monitoring patients who require intensive care from community hospitals near their homes. The center also monitors patients who are receiving hospital-level care from home. Clinical staff at the ROTC can monitor remote health data and communicate with patients through their recovery. 

Not only does this technology help improve the patient’s experience, recovery and clinical outcomes, it also ensures care beds at Renown are used for those patients most in need of specialized care.

Finally, the center is home to several dispatch positions. An environmental services dispatcher ensures that every patient receives a clean, sanitized hospital room in a timely manner. A centralized transport dispatcher connects patients to transport options, including air flight or ground emergency medical services as needed. 

The center also serves as the central point of emergency and disaster management for area hospitals, first responders and the community.