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ZOLL Data: Blazing a new future for EMS software
RescueNet Suite, an extensive collection of software programs, can provide big benefits to your organization
I recently had the opportunity to tour ZOLL Data's headquarters in Broomfield, Colorado. I was impressed with the company and extensive array of software programs. All were developed from the ground up for EMS agencies.
There are a number of different companies offering software for EMS. Many consist of a few clever guys writing software plus a small marketing and customer service team.
ZOLL Data has more than 70 professionals writing code. Its offices are packed with software developers, utilization experts, IT consultants and everyone required to support them. It's a big operation.
I've heard of several EMS agencies that have faced a real nightmare when software they used suddenly became obsolete. It was no longer supported when an owner changed, somebody died, or a software company went out of business. ZOLL Data is a large and stable firm likely to remain in business for many years.
ZOLL has also been doing it for a long time. ZOLL Data was previously known as Pinpoint. ZOLL purchased that company back in October 1999. Pinpoint was founded in 1993 and developed an extensive collection of software programs. Today these EMS software products are called the RescueNet Suite.
The RescueNet Suite for EMS includes:
- RescueNet Billing
- RescueNet Code Review
- RescueNet Crew Scheduler
- RescueNet Dispatch
- RescueNet ePCR
- RescueNet Flight
- RescueNet Insight
- RescueNet Link
- RescueNet Navigator
- RescueNet Resource Planner
RescueNet is a fully integrated data management system that offers 10 different program components. It centralizes information from all the different programs into a single system. As the number of installed components expand, so, too, do your benefits.
Data is entered once, and it automatically populates in the other programs. You enter the patient name into the ePCR, and you don't have to enter it again. This creates an opportunity to redistribute hundreds of hours of work every year. It also reduces potential duplication errors and related mistakes.
Today RescueNet ePCR is one of most popular programs of its type. It is in use in more than 450 different agencies across the U.S. More impressive is that it is also available for use across a wide variety of hardware platforms. You can use it on anything from a Windows laptop to an Apple iPhone.
More importantly, there are now two ways to buy it. For many years the RescueNet Suite was only available as a hosted enterprise solution. What that meant to EMS systems was they needed servers, IT professionals and financial resources to run the system on their computers. This tended to make the solution fairly expensive. For the most part, only busy urban and suburban EMS systems and larger private companies could afford them.
What I learned during my visit is they are quickly developing these same resources for smaller EMS agencies. The new web-hosted solutions can be purchased on a per-run basis. This makes sophisticated software much more affordable for smaller rural, private and volunteer providers.
Today four or five key programs of the RescueNet Suite are available online, but I expect that very soon all of them will be. If you are interested in a free demo, check out the online trial subscription to the right of this article.
For those of you who currently use or are considering newer ZOLL monitors and defibrillators, RescueNet Link can pull the clinical data from your medical device and put it in the patient record. Imagine how much better documentation could be if it included all the data. No more writing vitals on crumpled 4x4s and then trying to read and copy them later into the ePCR.
The system provides seamless information sharing between ZOLL's E-Series defibrillator/monitor, the RescueNet ePCR patient care reporting program, RescueNet Navigator vehicle mapping, and RescueNet CAD systems, including both Dispatch and CommCAD.
Telemedicine can streamline EMS and ER communications. It allows the ER staff to see the same data you see. No longer would you be required to recite a litany of numbers. You could focus communications on your impressions and treatment.
ZOLL Data is one of the largest EMS software companies. It has been supporting our industry for almost 20 years. That is a lot of time refining and perfecting software products. It really shows in the depth of the product line and in how well everything works together.
RescueNet can provide big benefits to everyone in your organization, from the street EMTs and medics to billing, operations, management and Q.A.
Bob Kellow Wednesday, September 26, 2012 6:35:36 AM I'm not picking on ZOLL per se, but you failed to mention prices, and cost v. savings v. earnout evidence or guarantees. In today's world of heightened fuel price volatility, frozen capital markets, erroding sales and property tax revenues and declining reimbursement from federal and state health care payers and private insurers, most EMS organizations are simply hanging on for dear life, which IMHO does not include the purchase of high priced convenience technologies. The real problem is finding EMS managers who can analyze these data and make effective decisions without these expensive, though convenient luxuries (See: calculators and spreadsheets.) Making payroll and protecting the EMS workforce will always be the first management priority. EMS' obsession with costly gadgeteering simply doesn't fit today's risky economic environment. 
Dan White Thursday, September 27, 2012 1:52:14 PM Bob,
Great questions and entirely valid concerns. Better software is one of the very few things an EMS agency can buy that has the potential to appreciate rather than depreciate like everything else. You buy a new defib/monitor, and likely as not you will buy another to replace it in 5 years. An integrated and supported software platform makes you money year in and year out. That was a big surprise to me, and I forgot to mention it in the article. I agree; It does require astute mangers to aggressively compare the options. If one captures 10% more revenue or it redistributes hundreds of man hours, then it can be of enormous value. It becomes more an essential business asset rather than a luxury. Thanks for asking! Bob Kellow Thursday, September 27, 2012 1:56:37 PM The biggest problem with new technology introduction and the costs associated with them is that no one is paying more for EMS services. In fact, they're paying less. In most respects, technology costs compete directly with workers wages and salaries because the revenue "pie" remains static.
