Engage!

Hospital smart rooms are disrupting traditional patient room designs.  They also are transforming the traditional patient experience. 

Pick up any newspaper, turn on any TV or open any news web site and it is clear that healthcare accessibility and costs are top of mind concerns for American consumers. In the latest Politico poll, about 80% of respondents – in both parties – said lowering healthcare costs was “extremely” or “very” important. 

“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.

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.