We’re thrilled that Stony Brook University Medical Center has chosen our pager replacement and smartphone messaging system, Amcom Mobile Connect. They will be using it for 3,000 BlackBerry smartphones throughout their facility to handle high-volume messaging.
This well-respected medical center will also benefit from Mobile Connect’s encrypted messages and full visibility and traceability of all message activity. This will include time and date stamps showing when messages are sent, delivered, and opened, as well as when responses are sent and the information contained in each response.
You can read more in the press release we issued today.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Everyone's on Board With Smartphone Use in Healthcare - or Maybe Not?
We recently did an extensive industry survey to learn more about what people are really thinking about smartphone use in hospitals. The results were pretty interesting. Respondents reiterated a few points we’ve been hearing for a while, such as the overall decline in pager use and a trend toward smartphones and other communications technology. But we were interested to learn why some organizations are intentionally delaying smartphone use as well.
Surprisingly, the major barrier to adoption used to be cellular coverage. This emerged in the survey as a relatively minor issue. This is most likely due to the ability of smartphones to use the local Wi-Fi network and hospitals working with cellular carriers. We’ve worked with customers on several scenarios to handle this. Some hospitals have set up coverage for all the major cellular carriers with redundancy throughout their facilities. Wi-Fi capabilities continue to be up and coming as well. This includes leveraging services such as BlackBerry Mobile Voice System (MVS) so the Amcom application can automatically select either cellular coverage or MVS as needed for delivery.
One issue survey respondents mentioned a few times was trouble gaining agreement from key stakeholders about the need for pager replacement / smartphone messaging applications. Certainly getting buy-in from those who will support and promote this type of functionality at your facility is key. Several of our customers have done small focus group-type implementations with key stakeholders to gain acceptance. Likewise, real-world examples of benefits for both staff efficiency and patient safety can help here, as can reference calls with other hospitals successfully using smartphones.
Likewise, security was a question given the sensitive nature of healthcare communications. The Amcom solution excels in this area by sending encrypted messages, which are then decrypted by the application on the smartphone. Even the message inbox can be password-protected. This helps you with HIPAA and the HITECH Act and keeps staff and patient details protected.
And some people asked what happens to investments already made in current technology and the staff training that went with it? This isn’t necessarily a sunk cost. Smartphone messaging can coexist quite peacefully with other types of devices. In fact, different staff members tend to need different things. Nurses often rely on Wi-Fi phones, housekeeping on pagers, and clinicians on smartphones. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. As long as messages reach the right people on the right device at the right time, patient safety standards can be protected and staff can be satisfied.
Let us know what you think. What are your hospital’s key concerns as far as moving ahead – or not – with smartphones in your organization?
Surprisingly, the major barrier to adoption used to be cellular coverage. This emerged in the survey as a relatively minor issue. This is most likely due to the ability of smartphones to use the local Wi-Fi network and hospitals working with cellular carriers. We’ve worked with customers on several scenarios to handle this. Some hospitals have set up coverage for all the major cellular carriers with redundancy throughout their facilities. Wi-Fi capabilities continue to be up and coming as well. This includes leveraging services such as BlackBerry Mobile Voice System (MVS) so the Amcom application can automatically select either cellular coverage or MVS as needed for delivery.
One issue survey respondents mentioned a few times was trouble gaining agreement from key stakeholders about the need for pager replacement / smartphone messaging applications. Certainly getting buy-in from those who will support and promote this type of functionality at your facility is key. Several of our customers have done small focus group-type implementations with key stakeholders to gain acceptance. Likewise, real-world examples of benefits for both staff efficiency and patient safety can help here, as can reference calls with other hospitals successfully using smartphones.
Likewise, security was a question given the sensitive nature of healthcare communications. The Amcom solution excels in this area by sending encrypted messages, which are then decrypted by the application on the smartphone. Even the message inbox can be password-protected. This helps you with HIPAA and the HITECH Act and keeps staff and patient details protected.
And some people asked what happens to investments already made in current technology and the staff training that went with it? This isn’t necessarily a sunk cost. Smartphone messaging can coexist quite peacefully with other types of devices. In fact, different staff members tend to need different things. Nurses often rely on Wi-Fi phones, housekeeping on pagers, and clinicians on smartphones. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. As long as messages reach the right people on the right device at the right time, patient safety standards can be protected and staff can be satisfied.
Let us know what you think. What are your hospital’s key concerns as far as moving ahead – or not – with smartphones in your organization?
Friday, October 29, 2010
Hot Topics in Pager Replacement: Speed and Redundancy
Every time we talk with folks at hospitals about smartphone messaging and pager replacement, two common areas of concern come up. One, the speed of message delivery, and two, the need for a backup system in case the primary messaging server has trouble.
In a hospital setting, speed is crucial for many activities – admitting patients, responding to patient requests, and especially getting important messages like code calls or consult requests to the right staff member. Message speed is fundamental; a code blue can’t dilly dally along and reach recipients five or ten minutes after it’s sent. Lives are at stake here.
Mobile Connect consistently delivers in this area. In fact, our benchmarking shows that messages are frequently delivered to smartphones in less than 5 seconds and nearly always faster than 10 seconds so staff can react quickly to the information they receive, and patients can be attended to more quickly. Our experience is that customers should implement a backup server for their Mobile Connect system to keep messages flowing smoothly should the primary server have problems.
The last mile (or feet) of speed and reliability comes from the in-house or wide-area wireless networks. These networks are susceptible to strained bandwidth or coverage dead spots. Finding a solution that can use a combination of in-house (Wi-Fi) and wide-area (cellular data) can ensure that messages are delivered quickly and reliably.
Establishing redundant communication paths through overlapping access points helps ensure smartphone communications reach the right person. In addition to an attention to infrastructure, the ‘if, then’ business rules of your hospital should be incorporated so that messages are automatically escalated to the appropriate person if the initial contact cannot be reached on either a primary or secondary device.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on these and other key requirements for smartphone messaging. Leave us a note below!
In a hospital setting, speed is crucial for many activities – admitting patients, responding to patient requests, and especially getting important messages like code calls or consult requests to the right staff member. Message speed is fundamental; a code blue can’t dilly dally along and reach recipients five or ten minutes after it’s sent. Lives are at stake here.
Mobile Connect consistently delivers in this area. In fact, our benchmarking shows that messages are frequently delivered to smartphones in less than 5 seconds and nearly always faster than 10 seconds so staff can react quickly to the information they receive, and patients can be attended to more quickly. Our experience is that customers should implement a backup server for their Mobile Connect system to keep messages flowing smoothly should the primary server have problems.
The last mile (or feet) of speed and reliability comes from the in-house or wide-area wireless networks. These networks are susceptible to strained bandwidth or coverage dead spots. Finding a solution that can use a combination of in-house (Wi-Fi) and wide-area (cellular data) can ensure that messages are delivered quickly and reliably.
Establishing redundant communication paths through overlapping access points helps ensure smartphone communications reach the right person. In addition to an attention to infrastructure, the ‘if, then’ business rules of your hospital should be incorporated so that messages are automatically escalated to the appropriate person if the initial contact cannot be reached on either a primary or secondary device.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on these and other key requirements for smartphone messaging. Leave us a note below!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Emory University
Emory University is among our most technologically innovative customers. Over the years they have helped us keep abreast of the trends they are seeing in healthcare and communications IT, as well as patient care. They have also participated directly in our development efforts for new products, including Amcom Mobile Connect for smartphone messaging and pager replacement.
We announced earlier this week that Emory is implementing Mobile Connect – and we’re thrilled! Half of Emory's more than 4,000 pager users also carry smartphones, making it possible for many of them to consolidate to a single device. Not only will they message to BlackBerry, iPhone and Android smartphones, but they’ll also have a fully integrated system with their Amcom hospital contact center apps. This means one database. IT teams like that. And so do we.
To learn more, check out the full announcement.
We announced earlier this week that Emory is implementing Mobile Connect – and we’re thrilled! Half of Emory's more than 4,000 pager users also carry smartphones, making it possible for many of them to consolidate to a single device. Not only will they message to BlackBerry, iPhone and Android smartphones, but they’ll also have a fully integrated system with their Amcom hospital contact center apps. This means one database. IT teams like that. And so do we.
To learn more, check out the full announcement.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Check, Please
Imagine going to dinner with a friend who’s suggested a hot new restaurant. And as it turns out, he was right - the food was great, and the service outstanding. Now here comes the check, and the inevitable question: Who pays? Your friend was the one who recommended the place, but you’ve had a great meal.
This same stare down is also taking place at hospitals across the country, only no one can escape to the restroom to avoid the check. In healthcare it’s become a question of who pays for the wave of smartphones continually flowing into healthcare facilities. We, of course, have kept tabs on the smartphone trend, and wondered who was picking up the tab. So, as we often do, we asked our customers at a few of our regional user conferences.
The simple answer: There is no answer. Our user community has reported several different models within their hospitals, but the industry seems far from any sort of standard practice.
Some facilities take a more aggressive approach, where both IT and physicians agree that smartphones are a must. These facilities tend to be the ones who are paying for (and supporting) smartphones, typically choosing to standardize on a single platform. BlackBerry tends to be far and away the most popular, probably due to BES integration (BlackBerry Enterprise Server). With this comes a layer of data protection, in that a lost device can be remotely wiped of any data it may contain. Super safe for HIPAA compliance.
Other facilities seem to want to avoid the support headache that goes along with having hundreds of new smartphones put in the hands of users who may be both less than gentle and less than tech savvy. Still, the demand is there and IT teams are stepping up to support the docs who are using their personal smartphones for hospital-related communications.
Yet another camp seems to be a bit more about sharing, where IT teams are welcoming staff members’ personal smartphones, and administrators have agreed to share the costs. So hospitals will pay staff members for some of their monthly bill, figuring that a proportional amount of use will be hospital-related. A moderately cost-effective approach, but it does add separate costs in the form of administrative effort.
So what’s the best model? We have no idea. There are pros and cons to each. Are you looking to reduce costs but willing to give up a bit of data control? Is money no object when it comes to HIPAA compliance and mobile capabilities? Like people choosing a favorite restaurant, every hospital has its own tastes too.
We’d love to hear your views on who pays for these devices within your hospital. Leave us a note below!
This same stare down is also taking place at hospitals across the country, only no one can escape to the restroom to avoid the check. In healthcare it’s become a question of who pays for the wave of smartphones continually flowing into healthcare facilities. We, of course, have kept tabs on the smartphone trend, and wondered who was picking up the tab. So, as we often do, we asked our customers at a few of our regional user conferences.
The simple answer: There is no answer. Our user community has reported several different models within their hospitals, but the industry seems far from any sort of standard practice.
Some facilities take a more aggressive approach, where both IT and physicians agree that smartphones are a must. These facilities tend to be the ones who are paying for (and supporting) smartphones, typically choosing to standardize on a single platform. BlackBerry tends to be far and away the most popular, probably due to BES integration (BlackBerry Enterprise Server). With this comes a layer of data protection, in that a lost device can be remotely wiped of any data it may contain. Super safe for HIPAA compliance.
Other facilities seem to want to avoid the support headache that goes along with having hundreds of new smartphones put in the hands of users who may be both less than gentle and less than tech savvy. Still, the demand is there and IT teams are stepping up to support the docs who are using their personal smartphones for hospital-related communications.
Yet another camp seems to be a bit more about sharing, where IT teams are welcoming staff members’ personal smartphones, and administrators have agreed to share the costs. So hospitals will pay staff members for some of their monthly bill, figuring that a proportional amount of use will be hospital-related. A moderately cost-effective approach, but it does add separate costs in the form of administrative effort.
So what’s the best model? We have no idea. There are pros and cons to each. Are you looking to reduce costs but willing to give up a bit of data control? Is money no object when it comes to HIPAA compliance and mobile capabilities? Like people choosing a favorite restaurant, every hospital has its own tastes too.
We’d love to hear your views on who pays for these devices within your hospital. Leave us a note below!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Closing the Loop
“He said-She said” can be an ugly game. It becomes even uglier when set in the context of patient safety, and it pits caregivers against one another following a sentinel event.
When something does occur, inevitably there are a number of questions. Even though the page log can show a message was sent, there are a string of unanswered questions that follow. Did the physician receive the page regarding the situation? Did he or she read the message? Was the appropriate action taken?
More often than not, hospitals do not have the ability to answer these questions because the most common method of communication – paging – doesn’t provide the answers. That’s when the “He said-She said” game begins.
Now, what if we were able to easily access an audit trail for these critical messages? An audit trail which was automatically generated at each step of the message flow, which even showed when the recipient received and read the message? The ability for administrators to prove that the correct steps were taken – or to reveal where deficiencies may exist – would be invaluable.
This closed-loop communications approach could potentially trigger a domino effect, whereby the realization that an audit trail exists causes everyone to be a bit more careful in how incoming messages are handled. More complete message audit trails better satisfy Joint Commission recommendations, and both patient safety and patient satisfaction would increase as a result.
This ideal scenario is one of the reasons we developed Amcom Mobile Connect, which provides an audit trail covering all the stages in the message path. Most importantly, it provides detail concerning the message and the device itself: when the message was received by the device, a read receipt once the message has been opened, user acknowledgement, and even free-form text responses. As we’ve started putting in Amcom Mobile Connect at many hospitals, this feature is getting a lot of positive buzz.
Sound like something that would be important to your hospital’s management and legal teams?
We’d love to hear your thoughts on closed loop communications and the requirements and effects within your facility. Leave us a note below!
When something does occur, inevitably there are a number of questions. Even though the page log can show a message was sent, there are a string of unanswered questions that follow. Did the physician receive the page regarding the situation? Did he or she read the message? Was the appropriate action taken?
More often than not, hospitals do not have the ability to answer these questions because the most common method of communication – paging – doesn’t provide the answers. That’s when the “He said-She said” game begins.
Now, what if we were able to easily access an audit trail for these critical messages? An audit trail which was automatically generated at each step of the message flow, which even showed when the recipient received and read the message? The ability for administrators to prove that the correct steps were taken – or to reveal where deficiencies may exist – would be invaluable.
This closed-loop communications approach could potentially trigger a domino effect, whereby the realization that an audit trail exists causes everyone to be a bit more careful in how incoming messages are handled. More complete message audit trails better satisfy Joint Commission recommendations, and both patient safety and patient satisfaction would increase as a result.
This ideal scenario is one of the reasons we developed Amcom Mobile Connect, which provides an audit trail covering all the stages in the message path. Most importantly, it provides detail concerning the message and the device itself: when the message was received by the device, a read receipt once the message has been opened, user acknowledgement, and even free-form text responses. As we’ve started putting in Amcom Mobile Connect at many hospitals, this feature is getting a lot of positive buzz.
Sound like something that would be important to your hospital’s management and legal teams?
We’d love to hear your thoughts on closed loop communications and the requirements and effects within your facility. Leave us a note below!
Monday, August 9, 2010
The Importance of Fitting In
Raise your hand if you’ve already got more systems in place than you’d ideally like to manage. Now keep it up if you want to message with smartphones, but dread the idea of introducing yet another system with its own database. OK, you can put your hand down now.
Most of the systems out there designed to deliver messages to smartphones include some sort of web-based portal for inputting the message, and often this includes visibility to a full audit trail for the message path. However, where does such a system get its data? Does it integrate with something you’ve already got in place? Probably not - which means another database for someone to manage and keep current. Just what you need!
Your high-level goal then should be simple: being able to send a message to one or many people and have it be received simultaneously, regardless of the device each person is using. Sending the message should require a single system that pulls relevant contact information from a single database which supplies information to operator consoles, on-call schedules, and other related applications. The sender shouldn’t have to go from system to system to message to different types of devices. That wastes times and introduces errors and inefficiency, especially when tracking responses and monitoring escalation rules.
The good news is that with the right system, you can integrate smartphone messaging as a piece of your existing infrastructure. This makes everyone happy, including the IT team administering things on the back end. Integration also improves patient safety with the ability to reach staff quickly using the right contact information the first time around.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on the challenges you’re seeing within your hospital when it comes to physicians and other staff member going more mobile. Leave us a note below!
Most of the systems out there designed to deliver messages to smartphones include some sort of web-based portal for inputting the message, and often this includes visibility to a full audit trail for the message path. However, where does such a system get its data? Does it integrate with something you’ve already got in place? Probably not - which means another database for someone to manage and keep current. Just what you need!
Your high-level goal then should be simple: being able to send a message to one or many people and have it be received simultaneously, regardless of the device each person is using. Sending the message should require a single system that pulls relevant contact information from a single database which supplies information to operator consoles, on-call schedules, and other related applications. The sender shouldn’t have to go from system to system to message to different types of devices. That wastes times and introduces errors and inefficiency, especially when tracking responses and monitoring escalation rules.
The good news is that with the right system, you can integrate smartphone messaging as a piece of your existing infrastructure. This makes everyone happy, including the IT team administering things on the back end. Integration also improves patient safety with the ability to reach staff quickly using the right contact information the first time around.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on the challenges you’re seeing within your hospital when it comes to physicians and other staff member going more mobile. Leave us a note below!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Mobility - Now in Tablet Form
One of our Application Engineers here at Amcom is a huge Apple guy, and the iPad is his toy of the moment. With such excitement from a gadget geek like Paul, I wondered if our customers shared the same enthusiasm for this and other tablet PCs. So at our recent Connect 10 Philadelphia area user conference, we asked.
Our user events always include an open forum discussion on some of the trends our customers are seeing in both their industry and their facility. The discussion always seems to come around to mobility and emerging devices. While the BlackBerry remains king in healthcare, we’ll hear about numerous others also making an appearance. And among those, sure enough – the iPad.
But exactly what for? While attendees of our conference did report seeing the iPad at their hospitals, it wasn’t as widely reported as the iPhone or Android. However, keep in mind this is a crowd – and an event – focused on communications, which is not the area where a tablet PC’s capabilities would be most appreciated.
Looking forward I see two major trends that would directly favor tablets: patient satisfaction and EMR/EHR.
Tablets give physicians a tool with which to greatly improve their bedside manner and the way in which caregivers directly interact with patients. Imagine lying in a hospital bed when your doctor walks in with an iPad (instead of a clipboard) tucked under her arm. She sits next to you as she shares a 3D CAT scan image along with imagery related to a scheduled procedure.
Access to EMR/EHR data would also lend itself perfectly to sharing via tablet. Software vendors such as Epic are introducing iPhone applications for their EMR, so the demand is there. Tablets are just the next step up and allow for sharing, quite similar to the patient-caregiver interaction described above.
Although tablets probably won’t ever be as mobile as a pocket-sized smartphone, we still see them as a viable endpoint for mobile communications. As long as doctors and other hospital staff are carrying a tablet, why not message to it? The more popular a device, the more it’s going to be right in front of a doctor’s face – and therefore a perfect endpoint for critical lab results, consult requests and so forth. I can see an iPad running the Mobile Connect iPhone client, receiving messages generated from a web directory system via WiFi connection. Any why not? This isn’t too far afield from where Amcom is today.
Tablets have their share of negatives as well. The iPad OS probably doesn’t fit within most hospital IT department’s Windows preference. The price might also limit how many devices a hospital can deploy, which combined with the fact that many tablets are somewhat fragile definitely does not make it a medical-grade device. And the iPad specifically doesn’t include a hot-swappable battery, which surely won’t match most shift times.
We at Amcom are watching with excitement as yet another wave of mobile devices enters the market. Time will tell just how much a part of patients’ and caregivers’ lives these devices will become, and we plan on keeping a close eye on the progress to plan how we might fit in.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on how you see tablets impacting care at your facility. Is there a communications element, or do you see it strictly as a data access device? Leave us a note below!
Our user events always include an open forum discussion on some of the trends our customers are seeing in both their industry and their facility. The discussion always seems to come around to mobility and emerging devices. While the BlackBerry remains king in healthcare, we’ll hear about numerous others also making an appearance. And among those, sure enough – the iPad.
But exactly what for? While attendees of our conference did report seeing the iPad at their hospitals, it wasn’t as widely reported as the iPhone or Android. However, keep in mind this is a crowd – and an event – focused on communications, which is not the area where a tablet PC’s capabilities would be most appreciated.
Looking forward I see two major trends that would directly favor tablets: patient satisfaction and EMR/EHR.
Tablets give physicians a tool with which to greatly improve their bedside manner and the way in which caregivers directly interact with patients. Imagine lying in a hospital bed when your doctor walks in with an iPad (instead of a clipboard) tucked under her arm. She sits next to you as she shares a 3D CAT scan image along with imagery related to a scheduled procedure.
Access to EMR/EHR data would also lend itself perfectly to sharing via tablet. Software vendors such as Epic are introducing iPhone applications for their EMR, so the demand is there. Tablets are just the next step up and allow for sharing, quite similar to the patient-caregiver interaction described above.
Although tablets probably won’t ever be as mobile as a pocket-sized smartphone, we still see them as a viable endpoint for mobile communications. As long as doctors and other hospital staff are carrying a tablet, why not message to it? The more popular a device, the more it’s going to be right in front of a doctor’s face – and therefore a perfect endpoint for critical lab results, consult requests and so forth. I can see an iPad running the Mobile Connect iPhone client, receiving messages generated from a web directory system via WiFi connection. Any why not? This isn’t too far afield from where Amcom is today.
Tablets have their share of negatives as well. The iPad OS probably doesn’t fit within most hospital IT department’s Windows preference. The price might also limit how many devices a hospital can deploy, which combined with the fact that many tablets are somewhat fragile definitely does not make it a medical-grade device. And the iPad specifically doesn’t include a hot-swappable battery, which surely won’t match most shift times.
We at Amcom are watching with excitement as yet another wave of mobile devices enters the market. Time will tell just how much a part of patients’ and caregivers’ lives these devices will become, and we plan on keeping a close eye on the progress to plan how we might fit in.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on how you see tablets impacting care at your facility. Is there a communications element, or do you see it strictly as a data access device? Leave us a note below!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
(Mobility + Middleware) > Mobility + Middleware
We’ve all heard the expression that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” and here is a perfect example of that. You may be familiar with applications which are used to deliver point-of-care alerts like nurse call or patient monitors to third-party systems such as in-building wireless phones. These applications are generalized as “middleware” for obvious reasons.
You may also be familiar with the Joint Commission’s requirement that each activity associated with a patient be documented. One of the key phrases we hear all the time from our customers is “audit trail.” Most Amcom systems do a great job of enabling administrators to view an audit trail of the many changes made or messages sent. However, mobility within a hospital has an inverse relationship with ability to log activity. And with smartphones in play, this challenge is certainly magnified.
We speak often about doctors and other hospital staff who wish to move away from their pager and consolidate messaging to their smartphone. What happens when the same shift is made with in-building wireless phones? Currently a patient can activate their nurse call system, and use the pillow speaker to speak directly with a nurse on a wireless set from Polycom or Cisco - pretty cool. Can the same functionality be available someday using smartphones?
Manufactures such as RIM are already anticipating these needs, and are developing services such as the BlackBerry MVS (Mobile Voice System) which allows a BlackBerry to be fully integrated with an organization’s PBX, and act just like a phone set off the switch.
Looking forward, we see a scenario where a patient setting off a nurse call system will notify the nurse via his or her smartphone, and with a service such as MVS in place the nurse can directly speak with the patient regarding the nature of the patient’s need. By streamlining the communication process between the patient and nurse your organizations could reduce falls and increase patient satisfaction.
Now imagine that smartphone being integrated with the hospital’s EMR system. With this connection in place, we could log the times of these transactions to the patient’s record, visible at any time. There’s your audit trail. Granted, this is pretty far over the skis from where we are today, but these are the types of scenarios we’re looking ahead to.
Another sample scenario would be critical lab results being received by doctors and nurses on their smartphones. The doctors would then be able to respond and acknowledge the results, all the while creating the elusive audit trail and automating the communication process. This would have an effect on patient safety and satisfaction by ensuring they receive appropriate care in a timely manner.
The increase mobility within hospitals is great, as it the functionality offered through middleware applications. Combine the two and you’re introducing capabilities far greater than the sum of these disparate parts.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on how you see middleware pairing with mobile devices – especially smartphones – at your facility. Leave us a note below!
You may also be familiar with the Joint Commission’s requirement that each activity associated with a patient be documented. One of the key phrases we hear all the time from our customers is “audit trail.” Most Amcom systems do a great job of enabling administrators to view an audit trail of the many changes made or messages sent. However, mobility within a hospital has an inverse relationship with ability to log activity. And with smartphones in play, this challenge is certainly magnified.
We speak often about doctors and other hospital staff who wish to move away from their pager and consolidate messaging to their smartphone. What happens when the same shift is made with in-building wireless phones? Currently a patient can activate their nurse call system, and use the pillow speaker to speak directly with a nurse on a wireless set from Polycom or Cisco - pretty cool. Can the same functionality be available someday using smartphones?
Manufactures such as RIM are already anticipating these needs, and are developing services such as the BlackBerry MVS (Mobile Voice System) which allows a BlackBerry to be fully integrated with an organization’s PBX, and act just like a phone set off the switch.
Looking forward, we see a scenario where a patient setting off a nurse call system will notify the nurse via his or her smartphone, and with a service such as MVS in place the nurse can directly speak with the patient regarding the nature of the patient’s need. By streamlining the communication process between the patient and nurse your organizations could reduce falls and increase patient satisfaction.
Now imagine that smartphone being integrated with the hospital’s EMR system. With this connection in place, we could log the times of these transactions to the patient’s record, visible at any time. There’s your audit trail. Granted, this is pretty far over the skis from where we are today, but these are the types of scenarios we’re looking ahead to.
Another sample scenario would be critical lab results being received by doctors and nurses on their smartphones. The doctors would then be able to respond and acknowledge the results, all the while creating the elusive audit trail and automating the communication process. This would have an effect on patient safety and satisfaction by ensuring they receive appropriate care in a timely manner.
The increase mobility within hospitals is great, as it the functionality offered through middleware applications. Combine the two and you’re introducing capabilities far greater than the sum of these disparate parts.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on how you see middleware pairing with mobile devices – especially smartphones – at your facility. Leave us a note below!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Smartphone Standardization - Smart Business or Recipe for Disaster?
In my June 9 post I posed the question of whether it’s possible to standardize on a single communications device in healthcare. The same question is coming up about smartphones – is it possible to support just one kind? Once again, the answer is ‘probably not.’
When we began designing Mobile Connect over a year ago, we knew from day one that the problem at hand wasn’t just that physicians and other staff wanted to move away from pagers. There was also the issue of variety. The smartphone revolution has led to a vast array of devices we all carry, healthcare workers included. While IT teams can attempt to standardize on some device types – say a BlackBerry – that doesn’t stop physicians from using an Android or iPhone, especially if they’re not employed directly by your organization.
One thing we’ve heard over and over is that while the BlackBerry right now is the most popular non-pager device in hospitals, it isn’t the only smartphone on the block. The customers we’ve spoken with remind us that while there are other applications out there that give hospitals a pager alternative, most vendors seem to focus on just one or maybe two types of smartphones. Some develop strictly for the BlackBerry. Others are iPhone only. Pretty convenient for the vendors, but not for hospitals.
Amcom offers support for iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android smartphones. Looking ahead we’ll be supporting other devices and platforms as well, knowing that if our customers are going to have to deal with the abundance of choices, so will Amcom.
This is another area where we’d like to hear from you. What smartphones do your staff members carry and how are you supporting them?
Leave us some comments below, and please be sure to check out our previous blog entries below!
When we began designing Mobile Connect over a year ago, we knew from day one that the problem at hand wasn’t just that physicians and other staff wanted to move away from pagers. There was also the issue of variety. The smartphone revolution has led to a vast array of devices we all carry, healthcare workers included. While IT teams can attempt to standardize on some device types – say a BlackBerry – that doesn’t stop physicians from using an Android or iPhone, especially if they’re not employed directly by your organization.
One thing we’ve heard over and over is that while the BlackBerry right now is the most popular non-pager device in hospitals, it isn’t the only smartphone on the block. The customers we’ve spoken with remind us that while there are other applications out there that give hospitals a pager alternative, most vendors seem to focus on just one or maybe two types of smartphones. Some develop strictly for the BlackBerry. Others are iPhone only. Pretty convenient for the vendors, but not for hospitals.
Amcom offers support for iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android smartphones. Looking ahead we’ll be supporting other devices and platforms as well, knowing that if our customers are going to have to deal with the abundance of choices, so will Amcom.
This is another area where we’d like to hear from you. What smartphones do your staff members carry and how are you supporting them?
Leave us some comments below, and please be sure to check out our previous blog entries below!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Mobile Messaging and Encryption
We’re often asked whether we see encryption coming into play when messaging to mobile devices. To us, this question is better turned around to our customers – are they seeing a need for encryption? The answer has been an overwhelming yes. Especially in the healthcare community where patient data enters the mix, encryption is a necessary component of mobile messaging.
We agree with our customers. Sensitive information via SMS needs to be encrypted from the time it leaves the host system – a hospital’s Web directory or operator console – until it is received by the smartphone. Government initiatives such as HIPAA and HITECH are dictating the requirements when it comes to the exchange of electronic protected health information (ePHI). As we develop our applications, we’re paying close attention. This is especially important as we at Amcom look ahead to the future of our mobile applications and consider our plans to deepen our integrations with EMR systems.
Here again is where Amcom Mobile Connect comes into play. One of the many advantages of an application that resides on the smartphone is that it can handle decryption, helping to ensure the integrity of data. Something else to consider is that the BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server) takes care of encryption on its own, which many of our customers find appealing. For those using Android or other popular smartphones, Amcom also offers encrypted communications that meet industry standards.
While messages sent via a BES are encrypted, messages passing through other network-based pathways are not. We’ve heard our customers loud and clear, and understand the need for secure messaging and the assurance that sensitive information is traveling over a secure connection.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on encryption. Do you see it as a requirement for healthcare messaging? Would you consider implementing a system which wasn’t encrypted?
We agree with our customers. Sensitive information via SMS needs to be encrypted from the time it leaves the host system – a hospital’s Web directory or operator console – until it is received by the smartphone. Government initiatives such as HIPAA and HITECH are dictating the requirements when it comes to the exchange of electronic protected health information (ePHI). As we develop our applications, we’re paying close attention. This is especially important as we at Amcom look ahead to the future of our mobile applications and consider our plans to deepen our integrations with EMR systems.
Here again is where Amcom Mobile Connect comes into play. One of the many advantages of an application that resides on the smartphone is that it can handle decryption, helping to ensure the integrity of data. Something else to consider is that the BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server) takes care of encryption on its own, which many of our customers find appealing. For those using Android or other popular smartphones, Amcom also offers encrypted communications that meet industry standards.
While messages sent via a BES are encrypted, messages passing through other network-based pathways are not. We’ve heard our customers loud and clear, and understand the need for secure messaging and the assurance that sensitive information is traveling over a secure connection.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on encryption. Do you see it as a requirement for healthcare messaging? Would you consider implementing a system which wasn’t encrypted?
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Is It Possible to Support Only One Type of Communication Device?
The quick answer: probably not. Although the term ‘pager replacement’ comes up a lot these days when smartphones are mentioned, the truth is that pagers will be around for a while. So will Wi-Fi phones like SpectraLink and Cisco. And Vocera badges. And all of these tools will need to be supported alongside smartphones. More likely than not, we’ll see this varied mix for years to come.
When it comes to smartphones, they probably won’t ever replace 100% of the pagers in hospitals. The rock-solid reliability of pagers in code call situations comes to mind. But a lot of organizations are putting plans in place to incorporate smartphones in addition to pagers and other devices. Particularly in the case of physicians, there is definitely a movement afoot to simplify communications in this way. This is largely because it’s easier for them (as well as certain other staffers) to carry a single smartphone versus a whole tool belt full of buzzing gadgets.
Above all, there are a few keys to remember. Communications have to reach the right person, at the right time, on the right device. The end device shouldn’t matter. What matters is that the message can be easily and quickly sent to and received by the person who needs the information. Having one system messaging to pagers and another to smartphones is illogical and even dangerous when lives are at stake; precious time can be lost in the shuffle. The systems doing the communicating need to function as a hub to work effectively within this diverse new world.
So with all of these different devices floating around, IT teams need to rely on an integrated system behind the scenes. They need to check all the boxes next to a list that includes things like keeping physicians happy, protecting patients, supporting smartphones regardless of service provider, and making sure all communications flow at lightning speed.
Don’t worry. It can be done. Here at Amcom we’re working with hospitals right now to revolutionize their communications in just this way.
So what’s your take on this? What devices are you seeing in your facility? What are you supporting today? What do you see coming?
Leave us some comments below, and please be sure to check out the previous blog entry if you haven’t already.
When it comes to smartphones, they probably won’t ever replace 100% of the pagers in hospitals. The rock-solid reliability of pagers in code call situations comes to mind. But a lot of organizations are putting plans in place to incorporate smartphones in addition to pagers and other devices. Particularly in the case of physicians, there is definitely a movement afoot to simplify communications in this way. This is largely because it’s easier for them (as well as certain other staffers) to carry a single smartphone versus a whole tool belt full of buzzing gadgets.
Above all, there are a few keys to remember. Communications have to reach the right person, at the right time, on the right device. The end device shouldn’t matter. What matters is that the message can be easily and quickly sent to and received by the person who needs the information. Having one system messaging to pagers and another to smartphones is illogical and even dangerous when lives are at stake; precious time can be lost in the shuffle. The systems doing the communicating need to function as a hub to work effectively within this diverse new world.
So with all of these different devices floating around, IT teams need to rely on an integrated system behind the scenes. They need to check all the boxes next to a list that includes things like keeping physicians happy, protecting patients, supporting smartphones regardless of service provider, and making sure all communications flow at lightning speed.
Don’t worry. It can be done. Here at Amcom we’re working with hospitals right now to revolutionize their communications in just this way.
So what’s your take on this? What devices are you seeing in your facility? What are you supporting today? What do you see coming?
Leave us some comments below, and please be sure to check out the previous blog entry if you haven’t already.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Solving Mobile Device Madness: Pager Replacement With Smartphones
Hi everyone,
Customer feedback is something we love here at Amcom. We’re always talking about how customer suggestions help us develop new products. Our newest technology, Amcom Mobile Connect, is proof of just that. We’d been hearing bits and pieces for some time about “mobile device madness” and how our healthcare customers were seeing a growing variety of devices within their facility.
Over the past year, we’ve held series of regional user conferences. These events have given us the chance to have one-on-one and small-group conversations with customers, usually discussing the challenges they face every day and how we might help. At our kickoff event in New York last year, we heard several attendees tell us about requests from physicians and other staff who wanted to send page messages to their smartphones, rather than having to carry both a pager and their phone. This was an increasingly common complaint. They were tired of the “tool belt” of devices.
We heard this same thing echoed at the next user conference in Atlanta. And then again in Chicago, Dallas, Palo Alto, and St. Louis. Paired with the mobile device madness we’d been hearing about outside of these conferences, we realized this was a trend where Amcom could have an impact.
We decided to delve deeper with our customers. Who exactly were making these requests? Were they looking to move away from pagers completely or implement a strategy to use pagers along with smartphones and other devices? What types of confirmations were required? What smartphones were their teams carrying, and which were supported by IT?
Armed with this great feedback, we devoted significant R&D dollars to design, develop, and test an application to solve this burgeoning issue. Once we had something built, we got more input from a customer focus group and ultimately beta tested at three major hospitals.
The result was Amcom Mobile Connect (AMC), an application which enables critical messaging to physicians and staff members carrying smartphones such as the BlackBerry and Android.
For the hundreds of hospitals currently using an Amcom operator console, Web-based directory or other application, AMC fits right into their existing environment to serve as the endpoint for page messages instead of traditional pagers. Message input for operators and Web users is exactly the same as it ever was.
For those not running an Amcom system, the application comes with a browser-based input module.
Our customers also requested full traceability for these messages, as well as the ability for message recipients to input a free-form text response. Done and done. When a message arrives to the Mobile Connect smartphone client, a delivery receipt is sent back to the sender, and a read receipt will be returned once that message has been opened. Recipients can actively acknowledge the message, which is then also transmitted back to the sender. In addition to acknowledgement, users can respond to a message using free-form text, which is tied with the original message in system log files for continuity purposes.
Meanwhile the sender can track all of this through the web portal or console product from which they originally sent the message.
We’re thrilled with the way our customers have responded to AMC. While first available for BlackBerry smartphone users, we’re now offering the system for Android users and are looking to beta test this in the coming weeks.
The other interesting thing we hadn’t anticipated was that although a lot of hospitals eventually see themselves completely replacing pagers, the reality is that this isn’t practical now. They need to use pagers and other in-house devices alongside the increasing use of smartphones in a phased approach. This fits perfectly with our philosophy and our ability to support messaging to so many different devices. This allows each hospital to implement its unique strategy at their own pace. It’s not our way or the highway!
We’d love to hear your feedback by commenting below on the blog. How have smartphones affected your organization? Is pager replacement a hot topic?
Customer feedback is something we love here at Amcom. We’re always talking about how customer suggestions help us develop new products. Our newest technology, Amcom Mobile Connect, is proof of just that. We’d been hearing bits and pieces for some time about “mobile device madness” and how our healthcare customers were seeing a growing variety of devices within their facility.
Over the past year, we’ve held series of regional user conferences. These events have given us the chance to have one-on-one and small-group conversations with customers, usually discussing the challenges they face every day and how we might help. At our kickoff event in New York last year, we heard several attendees tell us about requests from physicians and other staff who wanted to send page messages to their smartphones, rather than having to carry both a pager and their phone. This was an increasingly common complaint. They were tired of the “tool belt” of devices.
We heard this same thing echoed at the next user conference in Atlanta. And then again in Chicago, Dallas, Palo Alto, and St. Louis. Paired with the mobile device madness we’d been hearing about outside of these conferences, we realized this was a trend where Amcom could have an impact.
We decided to delve deeper with our customers. Who exactly were making these requests? Were they looking to move away from pagers completely or implement a strategy to use pagers along with smartphones and other devices? What types of confirmations were required? What smartphones were their teams carrying, and which were supported by IT?
Armed with this great feedback, we devoted significant R&D dollars to design, develop, and test an application to solve this burgeoning issue. Once we had something built, we got more input from a customer focus group and ultimately beta tested at three major hospitals.
The result was Amcom Mobile Connect (AMC), an application which enables critical messaging to physicians and staff members carrying smartphones such as the BlackBerry and Android.
For the hundreds of hospitals currently using an Amcom operator console, Web-based directory or other application, AMC fits right into their existing environment to serve as the endpoint for page messages instead of traditional pagers. Message input for operators and Web users is exactly the same as it ever was.
For those not running an Amcom system, the application comes with a browser-based input module.
Our customers also requested full traceability for these messages, as well as the ability for message recipients to input a free-form text response. Done and done. When a message arrives to the Mobile Connect smartphone client, a delivery receipt is sent back to the sender, and a read receipt will be returned once that message has been opened. Recipients can actively acknowledge the message, which is then also transmitted back to the sender. In addition to acknowledgement, users can respond to a message using free-form text, which is tied with the original message in system log files for continuity purposes.
Meanwhile the sender can track all of this through the web portal or console product from which they originally sent the message.
We’re thrilled with the way our customers have responded to AMC. While first available for BlackBerry smartphone users, we’re now offering the system for Android users and are looking to beta test this in the coming weeks.
The other interesting thing we hadn’t anticipated was that although a lot of hospitals eventually see themselves completely replacing pagers, the reality is that this isn’t practical now. They need to use pagers and other in-house devices alongside the increasing use of smartphones in a phased approach. This fits perfectly with our philosophy and our ability to support messaging to so many different devices. This allows each hospital to implement its unique strategy at their own pace. It’s not our way or the highway!
We’d love to hear your feedback by commenting below on the blog. How have smartphones affected your organization? Is pager replacement a hot topic?
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