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!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
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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