Tablets Used To Improves Patient Experience
By Katie Wike, contributing writer
BayCare Health System in Tampa is using tablets to collect patient feedback and improve hospital experiences.
In Florida, tablet-based software is helping BayCare Health System hear what their patients want and need. According to a press release, BayCare’s nurses use CLARIFIRE HEALTH enabled tablets to make record of what patients request and their view of their care and stay in the hospital.
“This innovative software has really moved our patient experience initiatives forward,” said Lisa Johnson, vice president of patient services for Morton Plant Mease and the executive leader for the project. “Transitions of care are (smoother) and that absolutely instills confidence in our patients and their families that we know their story, and that is invaluable.”
According to Fierce Mobile Healthcare, the process begins with a nurse manager making patient rounds to ask patients about their hospital stay. Using a set of questions provided by the app, the nurse manager records patient answers which are then sent to the appropriate person or department for follow up. Examples of the kind of feedback received are room temperature complaints or requests for discharge information. The data is all stored in the app dashboard.
“Through the dashboards we can see where we have the greatest opportunities,” Johnson says. “It's like a patient's diary; it gives us a true view into the patient's experience and helps our approach to meeting patient's needs and knowing their understanding of their condition, medications and overall situation and what barriers there might be to following their care plan.”
Before the app, nurses had to handwrite suggestions, questions and complaints and deliver them to the appropriate department. Now, it’s all done digitally.
“We hope to use the software's ability to track trends to learn more about a patient's experience from their perspective. With this feedback, we believe we'll have more opportunity for individualized care beyond a patient's clinical needs and can enhance our healing environment,” said Johnson.