At UH Geauga Medical Center, nephrologist Renato Roman, MD, came up with a proposal to alleviate dialysis staffing shortages and improve patient access. With the approval of hospital leadership, he worked with ICU nurse manager Rick Keleman to train 27 ICU nurses to use an easy-to-learn and easy-to-use machine called the Tablo® Hemodialysis System for their patients requiring dialysis.
In the ICU, two or three Tablo machines with a simple interface can be going at once under the supervision of an ICU nurse, freeing up dialysis nurses to care for their patients using standard machines. Even now that the pandemic is winding down, the benefits of these self-contained machines to UH and its patients remain.
Tablo machines are in use at UH Geauga, as well as at UH Cleveland Medical Center and UH Samaritan, Dr. Roman says.
Award-winning Innovation.
“It helped a lot and it is still helping a lot,” he says. “The patients who need dialysis who are in the ICU are being dialyzed by the ICU nurses using Tablo. That frees up the dialysis staff to do other patients. If they are able to finish their floor dialysis patients sooner, they can go to the next hospital to help out.”
Dr. Roman was recently recognized for this innovation by UH CEO Cliff Megerian, MD, FACS, Jane and Henry Meyer Chief Executive Officer Distinguished Chair, with a “Dinner with the Doc” honor.
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