Drive Your Facility Forward & Improve the Patient Experience
Posted on Wed, Nov 16, 2016
What is the patient experience? An article featured in the Patient Experience Journal defines the patient experience as “the patient’s cumulative evaluation of the journey they have with you, starting when they first need you and based on their clinical and emotional interactions, which are shaped by your people, your processes and your physical setting, and shaped by their expectations of you.”
Wouldn’t you love to impress your patients, leaving them with a lasting impression and generating a larger patient return rate?
To meet the rising standards of competition within the healthcare industry, here are four cutting edge and innovative technologies to help drive your facility forward, improve patient experiences, and stay competitive in 2017 and beyond.
ADD MOBILE PHONE UPDATES & A REAL-TIME PATIENT TRACKING SYSTEM:
Waiting for a doctor or nurse to inform them that their loved one is out of surgery can be very nerve-wracking for waiting family members. Wouldn’t it be nice to provide them with real-time updates on their loved one’s visit sent directly to their mobile phones? Consider implementing a messaging and paging system like ActiveTRACK. A patient tracking system such as this, allows family members or visitors to receive real-time notifications regarding a patient’s entire visit, even while outside the facility.
Having a patient tracking system in place not only improves patient care within a facility, but staff members will also greatly benefit. Since patient updates are constantly communicated, interruptions to staff are virtually eliminated, such as phone calls asking where a patient is. Knowing where patients are, always, allows management to proactively direct staff and efficiently assign workers to any department in the facility that is short staffed – increasing staff efficiency drastically.
USE ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES & BEDSIDE REGISTRATION:
Putting the patient directly in a room and having the registrar go to the patient is much more customer-friendly. By offering bedside registration and the ability to sign forms via electronic signature, healthcare facilities improve the overall patient experience dramatically.
Not only are patients more satisfied, but staff can easily choose to display a consent form for the patient to sign on-demand. This is convenient and cost effective. As patients sign a digital signature device or mobile tablet, their signature is then applied to the electronic form in real-time – a paperless alternative to paper-based consents.
LINK VALET SERVICE TO DISCHARGE:
Every patient, after their trip to the hospital, looks forward to the time they get to go home. Yet the time between discharge and departure is a critical and often a tense time. By linking a valet service to the discharge process, hospitals can help patients leave on a positive, stress-free note. As patients begin the discharge process, porters will be notified with a garage number and valet ticket number ensuring the patient’s car will be waiting for them as they leave the facility.
IMPLEMENT WEB-BASED RADIOLOGY ORDERING SYSTEMS:
Radiology centers in need of eliminating re-scans and entry errors should consider a web-based ordering system that can automatically index orders and create a more accurate and efficient facility. Ordering systems allow users to submit imaging orders while simultaneously scheduling procedures with great speed and accuracy. A huge benefit of web-based ordering systems is that users can connect to multiple departments and different locations on one scheduling system. When shopping around for an ordering system, Radiology Centers should consider one that will have the greatest impact on their facility.
Consider an online ordering system that offers a point-and-click interface for physicians and staff members to easily complete online forms. Data-capture allows information to map on multiple forms at the same time for seamless indexing. An added advantage to an online ordering system is that physicians can review and complete orders created by their staff, then add their signatures electronically. Context sensitive test instructions are available for printing at the time of entry and procedure-specific information or patient instructions can also be printed directly from the order interface. Patients can then leave the office happily with their personal instructions, so they are prepared for their scheduled procedure.
New business can be generated by implementing an online radiology ordering system, by impressing and satisfying the users, setting you apart from competitors, all while helping generate more referrals.
At a time when technology is constantly advancing, it is important for healthcare facilities not to fall behind. Nowadays patients expect a certain level of sophistication in technology. The healthcare technologies you have in place can reflect on patients’ perceptions of your physicians’ competence in providing healthcare. By being on the cutting edge of technology, you can ensure a positive patient experience all while driving your facility forward!