Mobile Overcomes Communication Challenges
By Katie Wike, contributing writer
An Accenture survey has found mHealth is key to alleviating communication problems in healthcare organizations, especially for nurses.
The latest report from Accenture, Overcoming Communications Challenges in Hospitals, outlines the biggest hurdles to communication in healthcare and ways for providers to overcome them. According to mHealth News, nurses can be considered “pioneers” of mHealth; before the time of smartphones and tablets, they were on the frontline of the mobile technology with pagers attached to their hips.
“Mobile technologies — including mHealth devices, sensors, tracking solutions, and apps — make it easier for nurses to access information when and where they need it and communicate and collaborate more effectively with a patient’s care team as well as across hospital units,” said Frances Dare, managing director of Accenture Health.
Some of the communication technologies nurses use frequently include digital signage, mobile and landline phones, patient tracking systems, and bed alarms. Accenture outlined in the report seven tips for overcoming communication hurdles:
- Begin with a focus on the four primary communications challenges: interruptions, transitions in care, nurse-physician communication and nurse-patient/family communications.
- Implement an integrated technology portfolio with a mix of standard communication devices across the enterprise.
- Embed unified communication with business rules.
- Give clinicians the ability to indicate availability and preferred communication medium.
- Create integrated applications available from one communication device that align with nurse workflows.
- Reward positive communication behaviors.
- Include options for patients and families, such as automated updates for a family member, and tablets or kiosks in waiting rooms.
“Hospital executives are beginning to understand the economic and quality impact of nursing communication challenges,” Dare said. “Alleviating those challenges is possible only with mobile technologies.”