Protecting patient information in transit
When medical emergencies strike, people rely on their local emergency medical services (EMS) to deliver the first line of care - fast. Acadian Ambulance Service’s 4,500+ employees are dedicated to serving residents across Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennesse and Texas, both on the ground and in the air.
With nearly 50 years of experience, Acadian understands the importance of constantly moving forward. That’s why their field medics now use Apple technology. Along with a powerful mobile device management (MDM) solution, Acadian said using iPad devices in their ambulances and helicopters propelled them into the realm of how healthcare should look in the 21st century.
The unlikely beginnings of EMS
While it’s often unsettling to remember healthcare methods of years past, Joey Branton, director of technology, Acadian Ambulance Service, said EMS processes were also worth a cringe. “Prior to the 1970s, a lot of funeral homes did ambulance work,” he said. “But they didn’t want to be in the ambulance business, and residents didn’t want the same people who would take them to the grave taking them to get medical attention.”
In 1971, a small group of ex-Vietnam medics began running ambulances for Lafayette and the surrounding area. Thus, Acadian Ambulance Service was born. Over the years, the organization grew and now roughly 3,000 field medics delivering care across 74 counties and parishes in four states.
As the company’s expansion continues, Branton said they recognize the importance of continuously innovating and improving in order to meet the needs of their patients. One of the best ways to do so, he said, is through technology. That’s why in 2018, Branton’s team started working with Apple to purchase iPad devices and enroll in Apple’s Device Enrollment Program (now Apple Business Manager).
Selecting the tools to streamline processes
“We wanted a one-stop-shop for device, MDM, security, privacy and control,” Branton said, explaining that when Apple told him about Jamf’s day-zero support of Apple releases, the choice was simple. “I’m in a very dynamic, constantly moving environment,” he said. “I can’t have an MDM that’s one or two days behind an OS update. So Jamf was the perfect choice.”
Acadian started with a pilot in one of their districts, and after other areas learned of the shift from their previous Windows-based tablets, which cost approximately $3,500 each, they wanted to upgrade as well. After switching to iPad devices with ruggedized cases, the cost of each unit dropped to roughly $1,300 - an exceptional savings for Acadian.
Medics in nearly 600 Acadian ambulances and 10 helicopters now use the iPad devices for mobile point-of-care and data entry into their electronic patient care record (ePCR). Each ambulance has a mobile gateway that serves up LTE connectivity to the cloud using their cellular network. They also have bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, so iPad devices can operate on or offline - an absolute must to accommodate their constantly changing location and environment. Additionally, helicopter devices use an air card, which enables them to maintain constant connection with the Acadian network.
Any type of new software release can make or break the entire fleet, so the fact that Jamf is on top of it immediately on day zero gives me peace of mind. I don’t have to worry about the devices being inoperable when I roll out an update.
Ensuring quality in a mobile environment
In addition to their continuous work within the ePCR, field medics use the iPad devices to access email and reference corporate policies and procedures. Additionally, the dozen+ apps they use for activities, such as finding fuel locations (Fuelman) and accessing their employee benefits while on the move, help employees with both efficiency and productivity.
“From my perspective, our crews’ jobs are hard enough,” Branton said. “We expect a lot out of them. So from the IT department, the last thing I want to do is give them a device that’s more frustrating to them than it is productive. That’s why we were very interested in getting into that environment where we had iPads and all the qualities they bring to the experience of our end users.”
Richard Pellerin, the ePCR Service Desk Supervisor at Acadian, said he couldn’t agree more. He explained that since the company switched from their previous tablets to iPad devices, they also experienced a decrease in support calls. “The calls were different in a way that we knew the combination of the software and the iPad was more reliable,” he said. “It was more user friendly, as well as being a more predictable platform.”
Working in the healthcare field, predictability isn’t something Pellerin said they are willing to leave to chance. He said the stability of the Apple platform, along with the ability to manage the devices remotely through Jamf, has saved the company time while eliminating frustration for the medics. With their previous tablets, for example, he said every time a device broke, they would wait up to two weeks for repairs. Now, thanks to remote management and device durability, that time shrunk to minutes, not days.
While time is highly valued in the EMS industry, so is the ability to protect patient information in a rapidly changing environment. With Apple and Jamf, Acadian is confident they have the market’s best solution.
We couldn’t reliably do business and give our customers faith in the security of their data if we didn’t have Apple and Jamf.
Ensuring the security of patient information
“There isn’t a crew that works for us that isn’t either collecting, documenting or putting data into the system that’s not private,” Branton said. “It’s all medical data, and it’s all related to a patient encounter.” He explained that’s why selecting the right MDM was vitally important. “Jamf gives us the capability to know that anything that’s done on the iPad that’s related to patient encounters is encapsulated in the actual ePCR software and can’t go anywhere else.”
While properly securing patient information is a main concern for Acadian, Branton said the MDM also ensures all content is managed appropriately. “If you don’t have Jamf, it’s like the wild west, the frontier,” he said, explaining that employees would likely download any app of interest without understanding the result that action could have on their system.
“Instead, the more abilities we have around the software controlling the behavior, the less errant behavior we have.”
Joshua Lagrange, Acadian’s mobile device specialist, said around 600 Acadian field medics touch an iPad device every day. That’s why having the ability to remotely manage each iPad, and set up secure methods of protecting patient data by unique sign-ins to the ePCR, is essential. “Trying to pinpoint a device at any point in time is next to impossible,” Lagrange said. “Mobile device management of this scope would be chaos if I didn’t have remote capabilities.” And when he is working in Jamf Pro - it’s a positive experience.
Implementing a progressive platform
“Jamf’s user interface is very, very fluid - very easy to navigate,” Lagrange said. “The user interface was one of the big selling points for me. It’s all the bells and whistles wrapped up into one efficient, yet aesthetically pleasing package.” And when something isn’t quite right, he heads to Jamf Nation - a location he said holds the key to the majority of his questions.
But in the rare occasion it doesn’t, Lagrange knows who to ask. “The customer support with Jamf is awesome! They’re very patient and knowledgeable and work diligently until the issue gets resolved.”
And with so many hands touching the devices in multiple locations every day, Branton said he can’t overstate the importance of having a secure, stable environment. While Acadian continues to push forward and learn new ways to deliver better care to their patients, all while providing an improved experience for their field medics, they know they’re headed down the right path. Branton said, “There are sometimes insurmountable obstacles for healthcare in a mobile environment, yet we’ve been able to overcome them using Jamf.”
