Key healthcare trends emerging this year include the continued implementation of platforms that support the shift towards population health management and value-based care, development and integration of digital health technology across the continuum of care and an increased focus on solutions improving the patient experience.
This last point is driven by patients themselves, who have become increasingly savvy healthcare consumers. They expect—even demand—personalized care, transparency and an experience that promotes healing.
This is where an interactive patient system (IPS) like pCare, when leveraged properly, can be a powerful tool for your organization. An IPS is a technology platform delivered over a health facility’s infrastructure to in-room TVs or tablets that offer patients access to information at their fingertips, helping them to better engage in their care. Far more than just an entertainment solution, the IPS can provide personalized education, relaxation, environmental control and enhanced communication—right at the bedside.
While full-scale implementations can be completed relatively quickly, the true impact of an IPS depends on what is in place both from an infrastructure and a process perspective. Here are seven questions to ask in order to determine if your organization can integrate a full-scale IPS solution to support your patient experience improvement initiatives this year:
1. Does your facility have specific patient engagement initiatives or a clearly defined patient experience lead/team?
A good IPS vendor will work closely with your organization’s patient experience leaders to support current initiatives, as well as suggest additional ways to use the system to support and improve patient satisfaction.
2. Does your Internet connection support your current and future digital health technology plans?
Healthcare leaders who want to get the maximum benefit from IPS need digital infrastructure that easily scales to meet evolving business needs. A dedicated fiber network is highly recommended to deliver the bandwidth required for IPS-based services such as video translation, video chat and remote monitoring.
3. Do you have a WiFi network that can meet the demands from patients and their visitors?
Patients and visitors will bring their own devices to your facility. Providing WiFi service boosts patient satisfaction by supporting the power of positive distraction. Patients and visitors may access streaming services, video chat or simply browse the Internet. And when using the mobile tablet option with TVR’s pCare solution, WiFi service allows the tablet to offer dual functionality, enabling both the IPS platform and a patient’s access to the outside world.
4. Do you have healthcare-grade smart TVs installed in your patient rooms?
Healthcare-grade (HG) smart TVs have smart ports that allow systems such as nurse call and IPS to integrate seamlessly. Also, HG smart TVs have a shielded plug. In an oxygen-rich environment like a hospital room, this important feature is critical.
5. Do you have high-definition entertainment, education and relaxation content?
Maximize your content investment by delivering it with the best quality/resolution possible. Fiber-based TV programming solutions can help ensure your organization delivers this quality.
6. Do you have a dietary software platform in place?
An IPS can integrate with your dietary system, enabling patients to access and order prescribed meals at any time directly from their in-room television.
7. Do you currently have a rounding or real-time patient feedback solution?
If you have either of these solutions in place, an IPS can integrate with them, offering an important interactivity and communications option to your patients.
Even in the absence of some of the components above, an IPS provider can work through your solution design and deployment roadmap to help your health system meet its patient experience goals.
To learn more about IPS, download the Spectrum Enterprise executive brief, Are interactive patient systems the key to a better patient experience? In addition, if you’re attending HIMSS19, the leading health information and technology conference in the world, my TVR Communications team will be talking about IPS in the Spectrum Enterprise booth (#641). One of our experts will be happy to talk to you about how IPS might benefit your organization, answer any questions and perform a quick assessment of IPS readiness in your health system or facility.
As originally posted by Spectrum Enterprise.
