Technology has advanced rapidly over the past decades. To remain competitive and also to offer clients better service, service providers are investing billions into groundbreaking technology. Hospitals and medical facilities have not been left behind. Just step into a doctor’s treatment room or the operating room, and you will be shocked by the type of equipment that you find.
However, there is one particular avenue that healthcare organizations have been caught napping on, hospital phone systems, communication, and collaboration. And in no other year, this gap has been significantly exposed. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a lot of dependency on effective and efficient communication among hospital staff and patients, and among medical service providers.
To help you step up the level of communication, we have compiled this article.
Hospital-issued devices
In a business as sensitive as a hospital, we recommend that you shun away from a “bring your own device” policy. Most of these devices are unsecured and can lead to a situation where information security is compromised. You don’t want to find yourself in a court of law and paying significant HIPAA fines.
The solution to this is purchasing and issuing out hospital smartphones. The devices should be run through the hands of your IT department for them to be reconfigured, secured, and managed. Hospital-owned phones don’t need to be an expensive acquisition. There are different phone brands that offer a number of affordable options.
Take stock of the practice’s requirements and workflow process
Just the fact you have decided to make use of a smart solution to the business doesn’t mean that all your problems have gone away. You need to source out this information from the people on the ground/ front lines i.e. your nurses, technical staff, and doctors. Their experience and perspective on the communication gap will allow you to better understand and create a customized solution.
Integration of mobile apps
To maximize the usability of the ROIs, you need to go a step further with your mobile-based technology. We recommend incorporating a multi-communication platform that will allow your hospital staff to talk, text, and use video. What we are talking about essentially is an application.
With the current level of technology, applications in the market can be integrated with nurse call systems, hospital phone systems, paging systems, and answering services.
Management of devices and applications
Whether you have chosen to make use of the “bring your own device” policy or a hospital-issued device, you need to be ready to manage the devices in your hospital. First, you need to have a strict mobile security policy in place. Furthermore, you will also have to conduct comprehensive training that covers every member of your staff. They need to understand the importance of a patient’s health information, how it should be accessed, communicated, and stored.
You also need to work with your IT staff to manage devices and access by former staff and also from devices that have been stolen or lost.