Our general user conference theme for 2012 is wellness, and one of the items we gave all of our attendees was a pedometer to track their steps. We asked everyone at the end of yesterday’s presentations to send us their daily progress and awarded a Fitbit® gadget to the top five steppers.
More than a pedometer, these little trackers monitor your stairs, your steps, and even your calories burned. The idea is to reveal a more detailed fitness pattern and provide some extra movement motivation to earn another badge, or out-pace your friends in a challenge.
I’ve been hearing a lot more lately about mHealth as items like these become popular. A friend of mine has sneakers programmed to send Facebook posts chronicling her daily mileage. Another woman I know has a heart monitor and several other devices at home which automatically send updates to her physician. And last month I read that smartphones will soon be able to double as instruments to measure blood-oxygen levels, blood pressure and body temperature.
What are some of the larger implications of this mHealth movement? There is a lot of excitement around the ability to provide better care in remote regions around the globe. What about in your neighborhood? How do you see mHealth devices changing your health and your interaction with your care providers?
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Notable Quotables
Today in Orlando it has been a full day of conference sessions covering topics from communicating lab and radiology test results to handling emergency dispatch.
You may ask, “Do hospitals handle 911 calls?” Actually, more and more healthcare facilities are asking about ways they can enhance their on-campus security team’s tool kit and improve emergency dispatch procedures. They want to be able to work in concert with local fire, police, and other emergency personnel to keep those on their premises safe. During one of our morning sessions, customers were discussing that if a patient calls 911, the facility wants to know about it in case they can help even sooner.
Does your facility have an onsite police presence? How do you manage emergency response calls?
Today was also a great day to continue discussions from yesterday and listen at the water cooler. Here is some of what I’m hearing:
And a ringing testimonial that makes me proud of my Amcom team: “I think other hospitals would find that using Amcom is the right solution. It’s that core communication system that you can build upon.” - Roberta Gump, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System
There is also a lot of buzz and excitement about having an Amcom user group for customers to continue networking, sharing experiences and improving their solutions.
I wish you were here to join the conversation!
You may ask, “Do hospitals handle 911 calls?” Actually, more and more healthcare facilities are asking about ways they can enhance their on-campus security team’s tool kit and improve emergency dispatch procedures. They want to be able to work in concert with local fire, police, and other emergency personnel to keep those on their premises safe. During one of our morning sessions, customers were discussing that if a patient calls 911, the facility wants to know about it in case they can help even sooner.
Does your facility have an onsite police presence? How do you manage emergency response calls?
Today was also a great day to continue discussions from yesterday and listen at the water cooler. Here is some of what I’m hearing:
- “Just one of the benefits of Call Recording is that our new operator 911 training is now a lot shorter. Staff can listen to recordings and learn from them.”
- “Hospitals are getting larger through mergers and acquisitions. One of our challenges is merging operations and coordinating a single communications structure for people at multiple campuses to collaborate and talk with each other.”
- “Voice With a Smile has changed our lives so much in the contact center, and now our turn-around time is unbelievable.”
There is also a lot of buzz and excitement about having an Amcom user group for customers to continue networking, sharing experiences and improving their solutions.
I wish you were here to join the conversation!
Monday, November 12, 2012
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:
“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.
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
“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.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
All My Bags Are Packed…
And I’m ready to go to Orlando for our 2012 user conference. This three-day event is always such a great opportunity for us to meet with our customers and talk about what’s happening in their organizations. Especially on the topic of mobile communications, things are changing so fast there will be no shortage of conversation about how best to manage the new landscape.
For those of you joining us at Connect 12, I look forward to seeing you there. If you aren’t able to come this year, this Mobility Blog is mobile, so stay tuned for updates next week, direct from the conference.
We have some exciting speakers and lots of topics to cover, including:
Signing off for now to catch a plane, but I will be back online again on Monday from the conference!
For those of you joining us at Connect 12, I look forward to seeing you there. If you aren’t able to come this year, this Mobility Blog is mobile, so stay tuned for updates next week, direct from the conference.
We have some exciting speakers and lots of topics to cover, including:
- A welcome from our new president, Colin Balmforth
- A keynote presentation on organizational wellness from Travis White, Ph.D.
- Case studies from 11 customers ranging in topics from code call and emergency response improvements to how to roll out smartphones across the physician population
Signing off for now to catch a plane, but I will be back online again on Monday from the conference!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Shhh Campaigns and Quiet Hospitals
How many of us have traveled somewhere, whether back to our childhood home for Thanksgiving, or to a vacation resort, and then had trouble sleeping? Unfamiliar noises are a constant disturbance – creaking pipes, strangers talking, traffic, howler monkeys in the distance… While these sounds are not necessarily loud, they are foreign to our routine and snap us from peaceful slumber. (If you are one of the fortunate souls who can sleep through a thunderstorm, I am envious.)
Imagine now being sick and struggling to sleep through even louder, more foreign disturbances – overhead announcements, infuser pump alarms, squeaking wheels on the laundry cart, people talking on their phone in the hall outside your door, etc. Research has shown how important sleep is to mental and physical health, and that a peaceful environment truly does promote healing. But the fact remains that patients struggle with these disturbances in hospitals every day.
An emerging trend in healthcare is to tone down the decibels and eliminate some of these sleep interruptions. I’ve read about initiatives that include the maintenance department keeping all cart wheels silent (the squeaky wheel truly does get the grease). I’ve heard of hospitals using gentle music on the overhead paging system to signal the start of quiet time at night, and posting signs on all patient floors reminding visitors to use inside voices.
Specifically from Amcom customers I hear how they use our products to support quieter environments. It’s music to my ears to know that we’re helping patients across the country heal faster in a calmer environment. Taking advantage of mobile devices, customers are reducing overhead paging with some of our communication solutions by sending messages directly to appropriate staff. Is someone looking for the admitting hospitalist? Instead of paging throughout the facility, we help behind the scenes by locating the correct person on duty and sending a message to his or her preferred device. Alerts and alarms from patient monitoring, nurse call, and other systems can also be sent as secure text messages to the appropriate nurse, physician, or rapid response team. It’s faster, more efficient, and just as important, quieter.
Do you have a Shhh campaign at your facility? (Silent hospitals help healing)
Has an Amcom solution helped reduce the din? What are some of the other approaches your facility is taking? Are your patients noticing?
Imagine now being sick and struggling to sleep through even louder, more foreign disturbances – overhead announcements, infuser pump alarms, squeaking wheels on the laundry cart, people talking on their phone in the hall outside your door, etc. Research has shown how important sleep is to mental and physical health, and that a peaceful environment truly does promote healing. But the fact remains that patients struggle with these disturbances in hospitals every day.
An emerging trend in healthcare is to tone down the decibels and eliminate some of these sleep interruptions. I’ve read about initiatives that include the maintenance department keeping all cart wheels silent (the squeaky wheel truly does get the grease). I’ve heard of hospitals using gentle music on the overhead paging system to signal the start of quiet time at night, and posting signs on all patient floors reminding visitors to use inside voices.
Specifically from Amcom customers I hear how they use our products to support quieter environments. It’s music to my ears to know that we’re helping patients across the country heal faster in a calmer environment. Taking advantage of mobile devices, customers are reducing overhead paging with some of our communication solutions by sending messages directly to appropriate staff. Is someone looking for the admitting hospitalist? Instead of paging throughout the facility, we help behind the scenes by locating the correct person on duty and sending a message to his or her preferred device. Alerts and alarms from patient monitoring, nurse call, and other systems can also be sent as secure text messages to the appropriate nurse, physician, or rapid response team. It’s faster, more efficient, and just as important, quieter.
Do you have a Shhh campaign at your facility? (Silent hospitals help healing)
Has an Amcom solution helped reduce the din? What are some of the other approaches your facility is taking? Are your patients noticing?
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