Mobile Devices Boost Patient and Clinician Satisfaction | HealthTech Magazine

Traditional communication devices, such as pagers, have finally begun to give way to more modern tools in healthcare organizations. Smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices are making headway in modern treatment centers and effectively streamlining clinician communication while simultaneously improving patient satisfaction.

At Kansas-based Truman Medical Centers, for example, the organization increased patient and nurse satisfaction alike by adopting Zebra Technologies TC51-HC mobile computers. By pairing the computers with a system that can connect clinicians, patients and family members, the provider has been able to more effectively communicate across the care spectrum.

“Our nurses can take high-quality pictures of wounds or other medical issues and securely text those images to a member of the care team using the TC51-HC and Cerner’s Camera Capture application,” Amy Peters, a registered nurse at Truman Medical Centers tells Healthcare IT News. “What is great about this is that it saves nurses time and creates a perpetual, real-life record automatically saved in a patient’s chart.”

But mobile deployments can also provide better care for patients.

At Phoenix Children’s Hospital in Arizona, for example, the organization has buoyed patient satisfaction immensely by placing an Apple iPad in every room and encouraging patients to make use of it. In addition to health records and treatment plans, patients have access to entertainment options, including games and social media.

“Research shows that the quality of stay for patients and their potential medical recovery can be greatly influenced by whether they have a distraction device like this,” Executive Vice President and COO David Higginson tells HealthTech. “We have patients with cystic fibrosis who have to be in isolation over the winter months. Imagine being a teenager locked in a room with no access to social media for a month. It’s miserable.”