Maple Grove Hospital truly embraces the latest technology, and we’re proud to be part of their communication solution. Built from the ground up and opened in 2009, this state-of-the-art facility is as quiet as it is modern. This helps promote healing and reduces stress for patients as well as staff.
Behind the scenes, Amcom middleware connects to the Rauland-Borg nurse call system and Philips patient monitoring units to send staff alerts on their Vocera badges. This allows the right staff members to receive notifications and respond to changes in patient conditions quickly – without a lot of noise and confusion.
Another interesting thing about how staff communicate is that because different alerts are sent to different staff members, general efficiency is amazing. If a patient presses the ‘pain’ button on the nurse call system’s bedside control unit, that goes to the appropriate nurse. But a request for ‘water’ or ‘toilet’ goes to an aide. There’s also an LED screen in each room where nurses can request supply replenishment as needed to avoid spending time tracking down particular items.
Right message, person, device, time. It’s hard to beat.
Learn more from Maple Grove’s CEO Andy Cochrane in Healthcare Executive Insight’s recent article.
Showing posts with label mobile messaging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mobile messaging. Show all posts
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Stony Brook University Medical Center is Deploying Smartphone Messaging for 3,000 BlackBerry Smartphones
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.
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.
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!
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?
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