Category Archives: LAN4000 Labeling & Setup

Examples of LAN4000 configurations for various health care specialties.

How to measure the ROI for the LAN4000

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In a recent presentation to a group of optometry professionals the discussion of how to measure the Return On Investment (ROI) for the  LAN4000 light signaling software was a topic of discussion.  A user of the LAN4000 shared that prior to using the LAN4000 he estimated losing about 3-5 minutes per exam due to looking for staff when he needed them or getting involved in extraneous conversations in his dispensing area while waiting for opticians to free up.  He did the math and shared that if he only saw 16 patients per day he was losing 60 to 80 minutes per day.   He has since used this re-captured time to see 2 more patients per day.  Being conservative, that is about $400 per patient or $800 more per day in revenue to the practice!!!

In his office he has 21 computers running the LAN4000 which is an initial investment of approximately $4,000.  This means he made his investment back in one week!!!  Everyone’s situation is different, but for a busy practice (usually having patients in waiting area)  it is more than reasonable to assume an ROI of 30 days or less.

Take advantage of the Comlite 30 day unconditional money-back guarantee and see for yourself the impact on your bottom line revenue.

 

More Than a Paging System

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The Comlite LAN4000 light signaling software is more than simply a paging system.  While it will allow you to page your staff back to your rooms it also allow you to see the status of how many patients are waiting for you at any given time and to send specific text messages to staff that facilitates the proper handling of these patients.

Additionally, we understand that you are running your business while you are treating patients.  The LAN4000 helps you to manage incoming phone calls and time procedures and manager your patient flow.

Oh yes,  it is also a very efficient and discrete paging system.  Your staff will show up where you want them, when you want them!

 

LAN4000 LIGHT SIGNALING COMMUNICATION SOFTWARE

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Comlite Systems LAN4000 Communication Software

 
Comlite Systems has been providing light signaling communication technology to health care professionals since 1983 and has over 10,000 users worldwide. The LAN4000 is our latest state of the art light signaling message system specifically designed for the professional office environment. Easy to learn and simple to use, the LAN4000 increases office efficiency by streamlining communications.  Using combinations of light buttons and an audible chime, messaging is discrete and confidential.

The LAN4000 is a networked, highly configurable communication management software application. It provides an efficient alternative to the confusion and distractions common in busy professional offices and allows you to have discreet access to what’s going on in your office while freeing you to tend to patients or clients.

Typical Functions Include:

 

  1. Doctor can notify Assistants from operatories when they are needed.
  2. Doctor knows when patients are ready to be seen, how many are ready and who is next.  (This function can be automated by using the sequencing mode.)
  3. Hygiene can notify Doctor when and where patient is ready for check.
  4. Front office can notify Assistants/Hygiene when patients are signed in and ready for treatment.
  5. General paging –  “I need someone to come somewhere”
  6. Monitors Patient flow from check-in to checkout.

 Key Benefits:

 

  1. Improve Patient Flow – Doctors and staff will have a visual snapshot of patient status at any given moment during the day.  By glancing at a display they will know how many patients are waiting to be seated, in operatories, and where the Doctor is.
  2. Retain Patients and Grow Patient Base – Patients will appreciate shorter wait times.  Your office will function with less confusion, giving your patients a more favorable impression.
  3. Professional Office Environment  — Patients and staff will appreciate not hearing yelling in the halls about simple paging requests.  Staff won’t have to walk around to deliver simple messages.
  4. Efficiency — Key office personnel will be able to stay at their workstations where they are the most productive.

Patient Sequencing in a Busy Optometry Practice

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How to Use LAN4000 Patient Sequencing. 

You will need patient sequencing if you are working in a busy optometry practice using 3 or more exam rooms.

Problems:

1. You have no idea how many patients are waiting on you or how backed up you are while you are in a closed door exam.

2. You have no way of paging your techs or optical back to your exam rooms.

3. You walk around looking for help and asking staff which room you need to go to next

4. Your staff walks around looking for an empty exam room.

5. You shout down the halls to get staffs attention.

Solution: Use the Patient Sequencing feature on the LAN4000.

Scenario:

The following screen shots depict a 5 exam room office with 2 doctors who share all 5 rooms. (either doctor can be in any one of the 5 rooms).  First we must label the buttons and create 2 separate sequences, one for each doctor.

In the setup screen below everything related to Dr H is yellow.  The button on the top row labeled Dr H is used to notify the doctor that he/she has patients up front waiting.  The row of yellow exams will indicate where the doctor is and where he/she needs to go when done with a room (Note: I have selected sequence 1 and assigned the 5 yellow exam room buttons to sequence 1.  This is indicated by them being lit and displaying a 1).   The yellow buttons in the third row allow the doctor to know if he/she has a phone call, if a patient is being worked up in Pre-test or Special Test for them and to page a tech or optician to an exam room.

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The next screen shot shows that we have selected sequence 2 and assigned the 5 blue exam room buttons to sequence 2.  (We have duplicated the button labeling from the two yellow rows on the two blue rows for Dr S to monitor his patient flow.)

Now that we have the buttons labeled and 2 sequences set up let’s solve the problems.

PLEASE NOTE: When using patient sequencing the first button that is lit in a sequence will be flashing. ( We can’t show that in a static photo.)  Subsequent buttons pressed in a sequence will light solid.

In this example we will pretend that Ex 3 yellow is flashing and Ex 1 Blue is flashing.  The flashing Exam rooms buttons indicate that the doctor is in that room with a patient.

1. Dr H is in Ex 3 (Ex 3 is flashing).  Dr H can glance at this panel and see that he/she has a patient waiting in ex 5 and also patients waiting up front (Dr H button lit on top row.). With at least 2 patients waiting up front he/she knows that there are at least 3 patients waiting.  Dr S is in Ex 1 (Ex 1 is flashing).  Dr S can glance at the panel and see that he/she has patients waiting in Ex 2 and Ex 4 and also has a patient being worked up in Pre-Test (PT), and has at least 2 patients waiting up front.  He/she is slammed!

2.  Dr S has paged an optician to Ex 1 (remember Ex 1 is flashing indicating that Dr S is in that room)  Note: either doctor can page for a tech or optician by lighting their buttons

3.  No need to look for staff, simply press the appropriate button to page who is needed.  When the doctor is finished in a room they will turn off the flashing light and which ever exam room is next to be seen will start to flash. (This is what sequencing does. It keeps track of which room to go to next.)  Off the doctor goes to that room, and the staff knows where the doctor is)

4.  The staff sees EX 1 go off ( not flashing or on solid) and they know that Ex 1 is available for a patient to be seated.  No more walking around peaking into rooms.

5. No need to shout, or walk around looking for people.  Just look at the panel and monitor your patient flow.

Using Patient Sequencing for a busy optometry practice, the LAN4000 will help improve your patient flow, increase productivity, reduce stress and increase profits for your practice.  If you have any questions, please post them here or call us at 800-426-5271 to discuss a the best labeling scheme for your practice.

Labeling a Light-signal Communication System for an Optometry Practice

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This layout is for an optometry office that has 3 doctors, but no more than 2 doctors on any given day.  There are 3 exam rooms and either doctor can be in any of the 3 rooms.  The doctors want to know which room to go to when they finish with a patient and to be able to page techs or optical back to the exam room for the hand-off.  In addition they want to know how many patients are waiting on them at any given time.  The following screen shot is a solution to this scenario.

The first thing you will notice is that each doctor has their own color so that it is easy for them and the staff to know what is needed and by whom.  The button labeling is the same for each doctors row, indicating the 3 exam rooms and a button to page either a tech or optical to their active room.   The doctors buttons on the top row labeled (Dr H, Dr S, Dr J) let then know that they have patients waiting out front (lit solid means 1 patient is waiting, lit flashing means 2 or more patients are out front waiting)  In this example both Dr H and    Dr S have a patient waiting out front.  The lights also show that Dr H is in exam room 3 and has paged optical to come there and    Dr S is in exam room 2.

The patient sequencing function will tell a doctor where to go next.  This is a static screen shot so you can’t tell that their exam room lights are “flashing” indicating that the doctor is in that room.  In this scenario if a patient is put in exam room 1 for Dr H that light would light solid.  When Dr H is done in exam room 3 he turns that flashing light out and exam room 1 changes from solid to flashing, indicating that is where he needs to go next.  On days when a doctor is working all 3 rooms this is very helpful.  On the bottom row we have labeled the buttons to allow each Dr to be notified of a phone call and have added 2 timer buttons to monitor patients that are dilating.

This light-signaling layout saves the doctors time by letting them know how many patients are in their skew (waiting on them) so they can better manage the social conversations (band, basketball, etc.) in their closed door exam room.  Also by paging techs and optical back to the room rather than walking out front the doctors avoid many other extraneous conversations that robs them of valuable time.  Also, by monitoring the exam room lights the staff no longer has to walk around looking for an empty room, they simply wait for the light to go out.

We will post more examples of light-signaling layouts and continue to discuss various ways that our customers are using the LAN4000 light-signaling communication software.  If you have a question about using our system please post it here and we will respond.