Pneumatic Tubes and Efficiency in Hospitals

Hospitals are a massive, constantly moving, high-stress environment for patients and staff alike. Following the pandemic understaffing only became more common, drug and utility shortages grew, and efficiency and general quality of care dropped. This is at no fault to the hospitals, the pandemic threw a wrench into more than just their plans, but it’s the reality.

In response, actions have to be taken. Issues like shortages and staffing may not be so easy to fix, but a drop in efficiency? That’s something that can be addressed. One of the more interesting ways this can be done is through pneumatic tubing. Pneumatic tubes basically act as a subway for carriers full of whatever needs transferring.

By moving tracks to get things where they need to be, and sending air to push them to those locations, it’s a lot faster than manual delivery. On top of this though it’s also a much less error prone method, there’s less human contact, and less chance for things to be ruined or go missing.

This system in areas like the University of Iowa has allowed pharmacies to directly move medicine to hospitals and hospitals to directly move tests to labs. Add on the fact that more than 6,000 carriers are moved a day and it’s not hard to see the utility. While this won’t make hospitals into perfectly efficient places, even giving staff a few more minutes of time can be vital in providing quality care.

Source: Swisslog Healthcare