Enhancing Hospital Workflows with Automation

In today’s healthcare environment, moving toward automated code alerts and alarm management is no longer optional. Whether you are streamlining third-party alarm triggers or routing notifications through secure mobile apps, automation serves as the backbone of a responsive facility. By digitizing these workflows, organizations can strip away manual bottlenecks and human oversight, ensuring that every high-priority alert reaches the right person without delay.

Bridging the gap between alarm hardware and staff communication tools creates a more cohesive, reliable ecosystem that directly supports clinical safety. Beyond precision, the primary driver here is speed. Automation removes the need for staff to spend precious moments placing manual calls or coordinating dispatches. In critical care scenarios where time is the most valuable resource, accelerating the response by even a few seconds can profoundly impact patient outcomes.

Before Amtelco, the nurse call light would go on outside the room and alarm at the nurse desk. That meant a nurse would have to be in the hallway or at the desk to see it. Now with MergeComm we’re able to send a message directly to portable devices, they can be anywhere in the facility and see if the alert is for an immediate need or if they can get there in a minute or so. It gives nurses flexibility, portability, and more efficiency in their workflow. Luke Barthel, IS Operations Manager for CentraCare – Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar, Minnesota

Mason Peck, Integration Solutions Engineer at Amtelco explains, “Automating these code processes, whether it be from the alarm side where we’re accepting information from third-party triggers or sending out information to a messaging application or a traditional pager, is super critical.

“One reason is because we’re eliminating user error by reducing the opportunity for people to make mistakes. The other crucial component and why this is so important for healthcare organizations is that it is going to save time when dispatching a code.

“Instead of having to physically make a call, using automation is instantaneous and saves seconds. And when we’re talking about a code dispatching protocol, those seconds matter. Just a matter of seconds can save a life.” Amtelco’s customized operator workflows make code and message dispatching faster, safer, and more accurate. Automated workflows using intelligent routing, tailored scripts, and automated triggers enable hospital call center operators to lessen manual steps, reduce errors, and ensure that critical messages reach the right people at the right time.

We used our HL7 interface engine to filter for patient discharges that were processed through our physician computer order entry system, and then those triggers are sent to our Amtelco software, which then alerts the Environmental Services staff that there’s a bed that needs to be cleaned. This has greatly improved our turnaround time for patient put-through because we are now able to automatically notify that staff versus the manual process we had before. Alicia Wise, Former IS Project Coordinator for AnMed Health in Anderson, South Carolina

Kevin Mahoney, Director of Solutions Architecture for Amtelco says, “Typically, operators initiate codes with our software, but we took it to the next level with our integrations and triggers. One of Amtelco’s strong suits is our ability to build customized code workflows for the operator. We’re able to tailor the process to exactly what the agents need to do from taking the information, dispatching it out, and messaging to individual providers or care teams.”

Tailoring operator processes via automation transforms dispatching into a more precise, high-speed operation. By leveraging smart routing, custom-built scripts, and event-driven triggers, hospital call centers can replace cumbersome manual tasks with streamlined digital paths. This ensures that life-critical information is delivered to the correct personnel without the risk of human oversight.

We used to manually type information for our overhead page – ‘code blue, room X,’ – before we could get the code out. Now it’s seamless. We don’t have to do any of that because the system is pushing all the info for us. The application processes those emergency alarms so quickly and efficiently that our operators don’t even have to think about it. Anybody could sit down and process a code using Amtelco’s software. Terese Davis, MBA, CHAM, Director of Patient Access & Communications for NorthBay Health’s Finance Division/Revenue Cycle Services in Solano County, California

Beyond clinical accuracy, these optimized workflows provide significant operational relief. Scripting guides agents through complex scenarios, which effectively lowers the cognitive load on staff, accelerates the on-boarding process for new hires, and minimizes the likelihood of costly errors.

Contact us to talk about your specific needs and schedule a demo.