TigrCon14 Educates On Hospital Performance Improvement Through Patient Education And Engagement

TeleHealth Services’ Interactive Patient Education Solution User Conference explores maximizing clinical quality and reimbursement initiatives with top healthcare leaders and innovators

TeleHealth Services’ 2014 user conference documented the importance of the interactive patient care model in creating more engaged patients and producing better outcomes. Themed “Make Your Tigr Roar,” the three-day conference held in Tampa, Florida featured presentations from 14 different hospitals, provided technical training, shared best practices from the hundreds of interactive users nationwide, and included exhibits by top TeleHealth content and equipment partners.

TigrCon14 brought together leading hospital executives to address the unique challenges and opportunities facing healthcare organizations. The conference showcased hospitals’ usage of interactive patient engagement solutions to address critical success factors in healthcare. The innovative best practices discussed during TigrCon14 included:

• Utilizing Interoperability to Increase ROI: Several sessions laid out the strategic importance of interoperability to drive enhanced returns from EMRs, other hospital technologies, and interactive patient education solutions. One presentation covered a very successful patient falls reduction program at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center. Sandra Young, MSN, APRN, Director of Organizational Development and Training, reported, “We emphasize our message that we want to keep you safe right from the moment the patient gets to the room, and we start the falls prevention program immediately following the orientation to the room by the nurse by starting the initial video.” Ms. Young reported that falls have declined by almost 40% so far in 2014.
• Expanding the Continuum of Care: Multiple sessions focused on expanding patient-centered care, changing health behaviors, and providing consistent patient education in clinics and other settings. Speakers documented impacts on hospital readmissions by using TeleHealth’s interactive patient engagement solutions to build patient understanding of medical conditions, enhance post-discharge care, and to increase patient engagement.
• Driving Enhanced Patient Satisfaction: A key component in value-based purchasing is increasing patient satisfaction. Using Tigr’s automated service recovery, coordinated population health management, and patient survey features, hospitals reported improved patient satisfaction scores while encouraging population health practices and prevention.
• Creating Clinical Efficiencies: Tigr interactive patient education systems are providing hospitals with more flexibility and efficiency in their patient teaching and communication efforts, and offer interactive capabilities that help hospitals provide coordinated, consistent care across their health systems. Targeted sessions were held to discuss innovative uses of the Tigr family of interactive solutions. Key topics included how to automate routine care tasks, identify system tools to manage patient needs, provide consistent education, create ways to improve the overall hospital experience, and document patient education for accreditation purposes.

TeleHealth also honored individuals and hospitals for achievements in interactive patient care resulting in better patient outcomes and performance improvements. The Tigr Innovation Awards honor individual administrators or organizations that have consistently excelled in using interactive education solutions to enhance patient outcomes and the overall quality of care. This year’s recipients included:

• Erica Ailes, BSN, RN, CPN, Patient and Family Education Coordinator from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, for their use of the system to extend the continuum of care.
• Joy Akanji, MSN, RN-BC, Educator RN II, for the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s program on familiarizing the patient to their care experience.
• Stephanie Walton, RN, BSN, Education Coordinator at Mercy Hospital and Trauma Center for the interactive patient engagement program.
• Reilly Tipton, BSN, RN, BS, Maternity Education Coordinator, and Brandi Smith, RN, Maternity Supervisor for Mercy Hospital and Trauma Center’s program to help overcome some of the challenges around health literacy.

“Congratulations to all of this year’s winners. We are very proud to recognize their passionate pursuit of innovation and excellence through uses of interactive patient systems,” said George Fleming, President of TeleHealth Services.

“My team and I learned a great deal about utilizing our iTigr interactive patient engagement solution and how to make it work for us to improve patient care, reduce staff workload, and increase patient satisfaction,” said Fiesta Clanton, Director of Professional Development and Education at CentraState Medical Center. “The education on using the system to exceed Meaningful Use and other imperative criteria was very helpful, but even better; we learned how to use the system in meaningful ways, to make it a true technology partner in patient care. We cannot wait until the next conference!”

TeleHealth Service’s Tigr brand of interactive patient care solutions includes cutting-edge platforms that deliver patient amenities and provide quantifiable metrics to drive facility quality initiatives. By using the healthcare television or any networked device, patients and staff can access valuable education, communication, and entertainment resources to improve the recovery process. By delivering the most scalable and extensive selection of powerful education solutions, TeleHealth Service’s Tigr solutions help to increase patient satisfaction scores, provide support for clinical staff, automate workflows, and aid in clinical accountability.

About TeleHealth Services
With more than 2,500 healthcare clients across the country, TeleHealth Services is the nation's leading provider of integrated technology and communications solutions for the healthcare market. Combining 50+ years of healthcare expertise and partnerships with industry leading manufacturers, TeleHealth Services is uniquely positioned to offer a full suite of hospital technology solutions that includes:

• Interactive patient education platforms
• Comprehensive hospital television systems
• Bedside patient entertainment solutions
• Comprehensive design, implementation, and service packages
• Flexible financing solutions
• Complete healthcare audio visual solutions

Headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., TeleHealth Services is a division of Telerent Leasing Corporation. Telerent, founded in 1957, operates as a subsidiary of ITOCHU International, Inc. For more information, visit http://www.telehealth.com/.