The face of healthcare is changing for the better thanks to new patient-focused innovations that improve everything from patient registration to recovery and long-term care management.
Care providers implementing these technologies are delivering better patient experiences by reducing wait-times, increasing patient-doctor communication and improving clinical care results. Here’s how:
Efficient Patient Registration
New technology is making the first point-of-contact for each patient a more pleasant, efficient and secure experience. For example, Queue, developed by CrossChx, is a patient sign-in system that collects basic identification information. This information is sent immediately to registration staff, and a digital monitor in the waiting room displays each patient’s wait-time.
Because patient registration is often complicated by existing inaccuracies and duplications, this technology identifies potentially dangerous inconsistencies between information entered into its system and existing patient records.
“By flagging those discrepancies, the hospital can identify errors and correct them to avoid potentially costly or harmful mistakes,” said Sean Lane, CEO and Founder of CrossChx. “Queue returns control of patient identities back to their rightful owners — the patients themselves.”
Since it was introduced in December 2015, Queue, installed in hundreds of locations across the country, has identified 7.3 million patient identity errors, and reduced patient wait-times by an average of 25 percent.
Interactive In-Patient Care
The concept of “ringing for the nurse,” from your hospital room is being completely modernized. In many facilities, patients can now connect with caregivers from PCs, mobile devices or even their hospital bedside TV.
From ordering a meal to ordering a movie, patients can also take greater control of their own care and hospital stay, even if their mobility is limited. Plus, tailored educational content gives patients an opportunity to learn more about their own conditions, medications and daily hospital schedules as well as exchange notes and questions with their care providers.
Mobilized Managed Care
Mobile apps are giving patients, particularly those with chronic conditions, an easier way to stay in touch with their care providers. Patients using these apps can ask their care provider questions and send updates between follow-up appointments.
Using these tools, care providers can also collect data in real-time and review patients’ progress and weaknesses on a regular basis, as opposed to relying on self-reported accounts after the fact. This allows them to customize interactive daily checklists and effectively coach patients to adopt healthier behaviors.
Used together, these technologies can create better, more secure patient experiences throughout the healthcare journey and contribute to a culture of patient-centered care.
