How DTB Systems Makes Healthcare Buildings Smarter

Dynamic Technical Building Systems (DTB) is a systems integrator providing sales, service, support, and consulting for Nurse Call, and a variety of communication and workflow management systems in healthcare facilities across the Midwest.

In business for more than 16 years, DTB is based in Rapid City, South Dakota with additional offices in Sioux Falls, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, and Cambridge, Minnesota. They provide service to customers in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Western Wisconsin, as well as parts of Montana and Wyoming.

MED recently spoke with Jerry Weiler, Vice President of Business Development at DTB, to learn more about how this dynamic company is "making buildings smarter" across the region.

Question: DTB is a systems integrator for nurse call systems and various kinds of safety equipment. What does a systems integrator do?

We work with hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities, where they have to have nurse call systems and safety systems in place, and we help integrate them in their facilities. We work with multiple products and we go in and help make sure that they all work together efficiently to meet the facility's needs.

We can also act as a consultant and a design team as well as doing the actual installation and providing service and support afterward.

Our tagline is "we make buildings smarter". If you have nothing, we can pull everything together and make it cohesive. If you have something already in place, we can design something that makes it cohesive with what you have on board already.

Question: How is DTB different from other companies in this industry?

There are a number of companies that sell some of the same products, but they don't have the skillset or knowledge to know how to design and customize them appropriately to make them really work well for that healthcare facility. They don't have that mindset.

But we are not just a parts installer. We don't just come in with one product or two, install it, and walk away. When you work with a systems integrator, you get a lot for your money because you don't have to hire a consultant, an engineer, or other trades to pull this all together.

When there is an issue integrating different systems, a lot of the companies who sell these kinds of products will say, "Well, that's not our job." But we always want to be the first call for help.

We always assume that the end user is doing their best. We know that nurses and doctors went to school for a long time to do what they do. They should not have to be the experts in these systems. So it's in our service contract that we will work with third-party vendors to figure out what's going on and find a solution. We don't just pass it off to the vendor.

Question: Can you provide an example of how DTB integrates multiple systems to work together efficiently?

Let's say they already have an access control system and a PA system. We can bring in our nurse call system, our wander system, our infant protection system, and/or our temperature monitoring system, and we can pull these all together so they work as a cohesive unit. So the door access control will tie-in to the doors that tie-in to the nurse call system.

This can alleviate the frustration of trying to work with many different systems that don't tie together.

Question: How can DTB help healthcare facilities reduce alarm fatigue and improve staff workflow?

When there are alarms going off all over the place, it can get to the point where the staff start tuning them out. But we want to make sure that, when they hear an alarm, they know that it actually means something.

The other thing we do is that we consult with the different groups within the facility that are going to be affected by the systems we are installing. You have to have a system that works with the facility's workflow and not against it. If you are just putting in a nurse call system that is just there to meet code, it may not give them the functionality that they need

But we work with the different groups to come up with automation solutions that are actually going to benefit them. This makes for a better patient experience and keeps the staff happier because they are able to function and maintain their workflow.

Question: What products do you offer and what are some of the benefits?

Our two primary products are the Jeron Electronics Provider 700 and 790 Nurse Call Systems. The Provider 700 leverages the latest networking and wireless technology to streamline alerting, communications, and workflows between residents, patients, and caregivers.

The Provider 790 system has even more enhanced capabilities. It uses Voice over IP communications technology to connect the entire facility or even a network of facilities. It is one of the leading nurse call systems but it still maintains reasonable pricing and has never charged for software maintenance agreements.

The fact that the Jeron system does not make the facility pay for an ongoing software maintenance agreement, allows DTB to really shine as a preferred solution for keeping costs down. We typically come in about 40 percent less expensive than our competitors.

The other thing to note is that the Jeron system has been around since 1962 and 98 percent of their parts are made in the US. We have never had any constraints with the supply chain holding up installation. And we have a five-year warranty on the products and parts for the Jeron system.

Question: How does DTB support rural hospitals and ensure minimal maintenance and downtime for their systems?

We work with any size facility, but we are especially good for critical access hospitals because we design solutions that are rock-solid. They don't need a lot of maintenance and upkeep and they don't have constant failures.

Our very first clients were rural hospitals. When your client is in a remote, rural area, you can't be driving out there every day to try to fix a system. So we put together very good solutions that don't need a lot of maintenance.

Most healthcare facilities are required by code to have some type of nurse call system to gain occupancy. If you have to have it, you might as well buy something that is going to give you a return on investment - something that is going to help you retain staff, do more with the staff you have, and not be weighed down by a lot of service needs.

Of course, if any issues do arise, we have also set up remote access. Most of our service calls are done remotely and are taken care of within 15 to 20 minutes. That not only saves trip charges but alleviates downtime and frustration and keeps the rooms open.