The Evolution of the 90 Degree Pull-Out Unit: A Human-Centered Design Process
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Project-at-a-Glance:
What happens when a company partners closely with all stakeholders in a major construction project?
It leads to a unique, custom and human-centered product design that offers fast, efficient access to materials, and ensures that healthcare professionals can do what they do best — concentrate on patient care. Take the journey with us to learn more about the evolution of our 90-degree pull-out nurse server unit and how it can be custom-designed to meet your unique needs.
From Traditional To Adaptable & Innovative
Let’s rewind to 2016. As a brand-new hospital was being built in Indiana, we received an architect’s request for designing our original FlowCARE® Pass-Through Nurse Server. They needed a traditional unit for over 100 patient rooms and a particular 90-degree pull-out model for an additional 25 rooms where the conventional design wouldn’t fit.
Our collaboration with the architect was centered on creating a solution to facilitate efficient management and quick access to supplies directly within the patient rooms. This design intention was to allow medical staff to focus more on patient care. Feedback from staff highlighted the need for maximum storage, organization, and flexibility within the nurse server, as supply requirements vary from room to room in terms of quantity and size.
The Task:
- Engineer a new, innovative design that would allow the customer to pull a unit out into the corridor for stocking
- Use our Basket System to create more efficient, vertical storage
- Create a design that could adapt over time or from room to room
We started getting to work on our new solution based on our customer research. During the time needed in our proven design process, it became apparent to all parties that the other vendor’s 90-degree pull-out unit just wasn’t going to work. So, we proposed that we create a new innovative design that incorporated both a Pull-Out unit and our Pull-Out/Tilt-Down Basket System used in our Pass-Through Nurse Servers.
The First 90-Degree Pull-Out Unit Prototype
This was a successful first round. Our task was to engineer a new, innovative design that would allow nurse and medical staff to pull a unit out from the wall into the corridor for stocking supplies. Unlike the Pass-Through, the supplies are stocked on the side of the unit that is perpendicular to the wall. This allows for more vertical, efficient storage using our Basket System. The Basket System allows for flexibility to not only adapt over time, but also varies in design from room to room for the room’s unique needs.
By the spring of 2018, the engineering was complete and our new design was approved. This innovation, the FlowCARE® 90 Degree Pull-Out Nurse Server, was born.
Prototype Design
For this first prototype, the unit is 33” wide x 19” deep x 45” high and sits on a 7” high Heavy-Duty Glide system that travels at 120%. Both the Hospital and Architecture Team were absolutely ecstatic about the new design.
With the creation of the FlowCARE® 90-Degree Pull-Out Nurse Server, our Moduflex Team knew that this design would solve the same problems but with more flexibility and in a variety of patient room designs.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
We were already in talks with the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital about their new 248-bed Critical Care Building that they had started construction on. With our new 90-Degree Pull-Out Nurse Server design, we asked and were granted the opportunity to present a prototype.
Our design was liked, however the hospital didn’t like the 8” height for the slide because it took up valuable real estate within the unit. And when maximizing storage capacity is the name of the game, it was important to use every square inch possible. Born out of this customer feedback, we created the “Slim Design”.
Maximizing Storage Capacity
With the “Slim Design” 90-Degree Pull-Out Nurse Server
Engineering began on our new, innovative “slim” heavy-duty slide. This new version possessed all of the qualities of the original slide design but was only ½ the height. It had 120% travel & could handle 600+ pounds. Our ‘Slim Design” prototype was designed for a 3-1/2” high slide, vs the 8” original design. Our agile design process allowed us to create this prototype and present it to the end-user for feedback. Our goal was to learn how our heavy-duty slide worked for those that would be using the solution the most, the efficiency of the components we added for organization of supplies, and the ease of installation and maintenance for the general contractor.
The feedback was overall positive. The efficiency and maximization of space was right on the mark. However, there were some initial concerns regarding the slide being within the appropriate push/pull range to meet ergonomic requirements.
Keep Designing for the Customer
Aligning to their invaluable feedback
Gaining end-user feedback, from those that are going to use your product or solution the most, is invaluable. This pushed us to think outside the box and again, align our focus to our customer. With the feedback in hand, we went back to the drawing board for our next iteration. We partnered with a third-party engineering/manufacturing partner that could help us take our slide to the next level.
It was important that the slide did the following:
- It need to be smoother when pushing and pulling the storage unit in and out of the cabinetry
- A soft-open and soft-close feature so that it was less of a disruption and minimize the risk of unit banging into the cabinetry if someone were to push it closed too hard
- And most importantly — so that this solution can be applied to hospitals across the country, we needed to make our system parametric to work across multiple sizes
With a few attempts and different approaches — we finally felt as though we designed a solution that met all the requirements. But it wasn’t about what we felt was right, we had to validate our design with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
With our next prototype installed with our newest, quiet, soft-close/-open slide, the feedback from the hospital leaders and contractors was a thumbs up and a verbal approval of design.
New Innovations
Anyone who is involved in large construction projects knows that there is a substantial amount of down-time from the “approved” design phase to the production phase. It was during this inbetween phase that Cincinnati Children’s Hospital requested a new feature that would help with security and audit tracking of medications within the Pull-Out Nurse Server.
A Secure, Built-in Medication Drawer
Ease of use was important for the nurse and medical staff so that they didn’t need to remember any 4-digit PIN codes, but rather, they could just use the same badge they use for everything else to gain access in the hospital. So we started designing some ideas to make this happen.
Our challenge was to design a hard-wired proxy reader and locking mechanism solution in a ‘moving system”. Meaning, the storage unit moves in and out of the ‘fixed cabinet.’ We also needed to design a solution that eliminates the concern of wires bunching or slacking. Our solution was to develop, with a local manufacturing partner, a cable track system so that all wiring would be hidden within the cabinet (not exposed regardless of its state) and did not get bunched up or too loose as the unit was pulled in and out.
Where are we now?
Our newest projects
After the installation of our first FlowCARE® 90 Degree Pull-Out Nurse Server units at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, we have since had our units installed in new construction in Indiana as well as a new hospital in Oregon.
We have projects in Maryland, Oregon, Colorado, Texas, Georgia, Ohio, New Jersey, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Florida, and are continuing to install FlowCARE® 90 Degree Pull-Out Nurse Server units and FlowCARE® Pass-Through Nurse Server units in new projects.
Since our final deliveries in Spring 2021, we have been re-contacted for new work by the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and their contractor and we will provide them with our solutions. As of November 2021, the new hospital has been officially opened.
Final notes
While our Moduflex Team is proud of the upgrades we have made to perfect our FlowCARE® 90 Degree Pull-Out Nurse Server, we will not stop working on continuous improvements, and our customers know it. An iterative, customer-centric design process is in our DNA. As shown by a recent note from the Director of Projects for the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital:
“Since engaging Moduflex during the schematic design phase more than two years ago, Moduflex has worked to deliver innovative customized solutions for our pass-throughs, a critical element of the project. Equally important has been Moduflex’s listening and problem-solving skills, responsiveness, and commitment to a final product that will deliver on experience and value.”
We are very happy with the work we have accomplished and take pride in the way we develop solutions. We care about the wants and needs of end-users, groups, architects, and construction managers and ensure we provide everyone with exactly what is requested, no matter what.
To learn more about our latest FlowCARE Pull-Out Nurse Server, click here.
Related Projects
Take a look at some of our latest projects to see how the FlowCARE Nurse Server has made a difference for these hospitals:
UW Health, Wisconsin
Looking to stay ahead of the game in hospital design, Wisconsin’s premier research hospital worked with FlowCARE on a custom nurse server that would provide efficiency today — and into the future.
Brookings Health System
When a 25-bed hospital in the Midwest wanted to redesign their hospital around patient care and optimize the flow of materials from the dock to a patient’s bedside, we helped them deliver.