Engage!

“Allen E3 digital messages were the fastest, most targeted and easiest way
to communicate flu visitation restrictions.”

Coronavirus is filling the headlines this month, but at the same time, influenza continues to be a serious health concern across the US. The CDC says that influenza has sickened at least 13 million Americans this season – and flu season hasn’t peaked yet.  As they have during previous flu epidemics, many hospitals in hard-hit regions are implementing temporary visitor restrictions to help control the spread of flu and other infectious diseases. But making sure that the ever-changing flow of visitors, patients and staff is aware of those restrictions can be a major communications and management challenge.

It has been a decade since President Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act – March 23, 2010 – shifting healthcare delivery into the value-based delivery model. Now, as we enter a new decade, hospitals also are entering a new era of patient engagement. What can we expect next when it comes to improving the hospital experience? Here’s what we see ahead.

Nowadays, the term ‘healthcare innovation’ is becoming almost cliché. Everyone, it seems, is on the bandwagon to be known as an innovator, a disrupter. New companies and technologies are coming online faster than hospital management teams can adequately vet them.

Seven years ago, Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, New York, came to Allen Technologies with a challenge not uncommon to most hospitals. The 245-bed Northwell Health facility wanted to empower and engage its patients in their treatment. It was looking for innovative ideas – and sought a technology partner with the creative chops and an innovation track record to achieve it.

Diabetes statistics are alarming. Today there are an estimated 30 million diabetes cases in the United States of America alone, and it is one of our leading causes of death. Older Americans with diabetes are more likely to be in the emergency room, and a recent study found that nearly a third of those ED visits result in hospital admissions.

Smart technology is showing up everywhere.

• In our living rooms, where we can adjust lighting or play music automatically and remotely.
• In our travels, where apps and personal assistants guide our routes and warn us of traffic delays.
• In our daily schedules, where predictive analytics smartly remind us of recurring appointments.
• And in the highest performing hospitals, where smart technology is changing the hospital experience for the better – for both patients, and staff.

Discharge planning – or more precisely, the lack of it – was a predominant conversation at the Chief Nursing Officer Summit we attended last month in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Walk into any major retailer or entertainment venue, and it’s a good bet that digital signage will grab your attention in some way. Maybe you want to find the nearest concession stand or catch video snippets of the game action at a sports arena. At the grocery store, perhaps you want to peruse the specials of the day or watch a cooking demonstration.

It wasn’t that long ago that teachers spent hours delivering lesson plans using what, then, was a creative new tool - the overhead projector.  However, what seemed like a good idea at the time has since fallen out of favor for a lot of reasons.

It’s been 12 years since the first chief patient experience officer (CXO) was hired. That was 2007 when Cleveland Clinic took the bold step to create the new position on the hospital’s executive team, along with forming a new department – the Office of Patient Experience.