Connecting With the Future

We’re here at the first day of our annual Connect user conference in Orlando, and mobile continues to be the Big Buzz among all of our customers in attendance. We’ve heard a great mobility case study by Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin, and the executive panel discussion generated a lot of talk about how communications are improving efficiency in healthcare.

We continue to hear from our customers and users that mobile is the new desktop. People are using mobile devices as the center of their communication world. They do it all – make calls, offer a texting and tweeting platform, and take pictures and videos. They manage e-mail, calendars and our entertainment. In medicine they do far more, with access to drug interaction databases and all sorts of other valuable tools for coordinating care. Mobile devices are the umbilical cords keeping us connected to everyone and everything, all the time, and users are picky about how that connection functions.

“Along our journey to design a mobility strategy we spent a lot of time thinking about improving our process and filling in gaps, like message receipt verification. We are committed to making mobile communications more efficient, and our providers are looking forward to using smartphones for quick, easy interact with their peers.”
– Ann Tesmer, Director of Access Services Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin

The take-away message is that health providers need their umbilical cord of connectivity to provide a fast, secure way to:

• Send a secure text message
• Place a phone call to a contact’s preferred device (be it a desk phone, smartphone, pager or other something else)
• Connect with other staff on smartphones with instant directory access by person or role
• Receive patient alerts, code calls and critical test results

Today we also heard from teacher, executive, and blogger Travis White, Ph.D. The Connect 12 conference theme is Wellness, and as the keynote speaker Dr. White led us all on an inspired exploration of the connection between personal and organizational wellness.

“Food is to people as ideas are to an organization. Ideas are the lifeblood of an organization and keep us engaged, active and healthy.” - Travis White, Ph.D.

We are soon headed to Discovery Cove to relax, eat dinner, and chat with fellow conference goers for a few hours the old-fashioned way: using mobile feet to connect us face-to-face.