five ways to avoid clinical communication...

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Each year, The Joint Commission publishes sentinel event data by root cause. Communication has ranked among the top three leading root causes for the past five years. To prevent these tragedies and improve the effectiveness of communication among caregivers, here are five things to consider as your hospital’s communications infrastructure evolves. FIVE WAYS TO AVOID CLINICAL COMMUNICATION DISASTER SM spok.com

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Page 1: FIVE WAYS TO AVOID CLINICAL COMMUNICATION DISASTERcloud.spok.com/EB-AMER-5-Ways-Avoid-Communication...FIVE WAYS TO AVOID CLINICAL COMMUNICATION DISASTER SM spok.com Affordable and

Each year, The Joint Commission publishes sentinel event data by root cause. Communication has ranked among the top three

leading root causes for the past five years. To prevent these tragedies and improve the effectiveness of communication among

caregivers, here are five things to consider as your hospital’s communications infrastructure evolves.

FIVE WAYS TO AVOID CLINICAL COMMUNICATION DISASTER

SM

spok.com

Page 2: FIVE WAYS TO AVOID CLINICAL COMMUNICATION DISASTERcloud.spok.com/EB-AMER-5-Ways-Avoid-Communication...FIVE WAYS TO AVOID CLINICAL COMMUNICATION DISASTER SM spok.com Affordable and

Affordable and ReliablePagers remain an effective means of reaching a portion of your staff members at a low cost. They also provide redundancy and reliable coverage during disaster situations.

Hurricane Sandy The I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis

With a few clicks, the operator triggers a Code STEMI to simultaneously notify more than 30 staff

The patient receives life-saving treatment in

under 90 minutes

The code alert is received by the cardiologist, ED charge nurse, Cath Lab team, and

other responders

The operator can monitor responses

and escalations

Alert housekeeping personnel when a room is ready to be turned over for a new patient

Learn More

There are many different communication tools used throughout a hospital, including smartphones, Wi-Fi phones, tablets, voice

badges, pagers, etc. Your goal is to have an underlying communication backbone that brings all these devices together. It should

support secure texting, enable emergency notification, and help staff find the right on-call physician quickly. The diversity of

devices remains because the smartphone preferred by physicians may not be the

ideal device for transport staff, housekeeping, etc. Planning a detailed mobility

strategy will make sure you provide each group the most appropriate,

cost-effective technology that enables them to do their jobs more easily.

Many institutions have faltered during the roll-out of new communication devices

and systems because of inconsistent Wi-Fi and/or cellular service signals

throughout the facility. From the lead-shielded radiology department to interior

hallways and conference rooms, auditing signal strength and addressing any gaps

is critical to clinical workflows and patient safety. If staff can’t communicate when

they need to, even the best processes won’t work well.

MAKE IT SIMPLE AND SEAMLESS

GET THE CHECKLIST Tips on how to roll out

a mobility strategy and

secure texting solution

within your organization

SUPPORT DEVICE DIVERSITY

MAXIMIZE YOUR SIGNALS

Messages need to be easy to send, receive, acknowledge, and escalate. Part of this coordination comes with seamless

integration to the hospital’s employee directory and on-call schedules. This means all staff, not just call center individuals, can

reach the right person on the right device with the right message at the right time. Not only does an intuitive method of sending

messages speed staff acceptance, but it also means faster coordination of care for patients.

CASE STUDY IU Health Goshen Hospital in Goshen, Ind., streamlined their average door-to-balloon response time for

heart attack patients, organizing upwards of 30 staff members from multiple departments. They are able to

coordinate the entire process for a code STEMI response in an average of 68 minutes—24 percent faster than

the national guideline.

Notify the nurse when a patient calls for assistance

Learn More

Help ensure physicians can quickly connect for consultation requests

Learn More

Page 3: FIVE WAYS TO AVOID CLINICAL COMMUNICATION DISASTERcloud.spok.com/EB-AMER-5-Ways-Avoid-Communication...FIVE WAYS TO AVOID CLINICAL COMMUNICATION DISASTER SM spok.com Affordable and

CASE STUDY Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisc., is using a

secure texting solution to create a better provider

communication process, increase physician

satisfaction, and enable encrypted messaging

to mobile devices.

“During the three months immediately following

implementation [of the test results management

solution], we saw an 11% improvement in patient

discharge times.”

José Bennett, PACS Administrator, Palmetto Health Tuomey

TIPSLook for a vendor that supports the entire messaging process— web-based staff directory and on-call scheduling, secure texting, sending patient care system alerts to staff’s devices, and more. A fully integrated process will operate smoothly, track messages, and help you take a giant step forward in delivering well-coordinated care for patients in a way that protects both patient information and your hospital’s reputation. The easier it is for staff to use a HIPAA-compliant messaging solution, the more likely they will be to adopt it.

FOUR RULES FOR HIPAA-COMPLIANT TEXTING:• Staff’s mobile devices must be locked on both the sender and receiver side

• ePHI must be encrypted throughout the message’s journey

• ePHI must be stored securely to prevent unauthorized access

• The hospital must have a signed Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with any vendors though which ePHI flows

The greatest benefit of well-integrated mobile devices is the ease of communicating

securely, especially with text messages, images, and videos. Always sending electronic

protected health information (ePHI) via a secure texting app helps your hospital reduce

the risk of HIPAA violations and protects sensitive patient data at all times.

IMPROVE CLINICAL WORKFLOWS

CASE STUDY PinnacleHealth System in Harrisburg, Pa., is improving patient safety and satisfaction with technology that sends

messages from patient monitoring and nurse call systems directly to the right staff member’s mobile device.

MAKE HIPAA COMPLIANCE A PRIORITY

Mobile devices offer the opportunity to reevaluate many clinical workflows. For

example, delivering test results to the ordering provider can become much faster

with a system that logs the results in the patient’s EMR and also sends a secure

message to the physician. The time savings from immediate notification instead

of unnecessary phone tag can directly improve patient outcomes. Other potential

workflow enhancements include faster response to consultation requests, better alarm

management procedures, and a nurse call process that’s more satisfying for patients.

Secure texting apps can track when messages are sent, received, and acknowledged—as well as the actual replies. These audit trails are key for Joint Commission regulations, staff accountability, and escalation monitoring in emergencies such as code calls.

CASE STUDY Palmetto Health Tuomey in Sumter, S.C. is using a test results management system to link communications between

the health information system (HIS), radiology information system (RIS), and the picture archiving and communications

system (PACS). Now they are better able to facilitate follow-up on incidental findings discovered during exams.

Page 4: FIVE WAYS TO AVOID CLINICAL COMMUNICATION DISASTERcloud.spok.com/EB-AMER-5-Ways-Avoid-Communication...FIVE WAYS TO AVOID CLINICAL COMMUNICATION DISASTER SM spok.com Affordable and

SM

TAKE CHARGETake advantage of all that communication technology has to offer, including

more efficient work patterns and new ways to communicate among your staff.

Send test results to ordering providers, allow a nurse to respond immediately

when his or her patients call for assistance, and simplify your code call process.

Make your organization a safer place for patients, staff, and visitors.

ABOUT SPOK, INC.Spok, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK), headquartered in Springfield,

Va., is proud to be a leader in critical communications for healthcare, government, public safety, and other

industries. We deliver smart, reliable solutions to help protect the health, well-being, and safety of people

around the globe. Organizations worldwide rely on Spok for workflow improvement, secure texting, paging

services, contact center optimization, and public safety response. When communications matter, Spok

delivers.

U.S. hospitals waste more than $12 billion annually from communication inefficiencies among care providers.1

© Spok, Inc. 2014, 2016 All Rights Reserved. Spok is a trademark of Spok Holdings, Inc. Other names and trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.

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