| Issue |
PatientCentral Benefit |
| Communication Difficulties due to Language or Disability |
ImpedimentTools and LanguageTools bridge the gap to enable most patients who are neurologically capable of communicating to do so bi-directionally with physicians and hospital personnel. |
| Coordination of Medical Care |
Improves connections between the medical staff, patients and nursing staffs, resulting in more efficient and effective rounds and better documented nurse-physician coordination of care. Physician satisfaction leads to competitive advantages over other hospitals. |
| HIPAA Compliance |
Physicians and staff communicate with each other and with patients in a more HIPAA compliant manner and the communications are better documented. |
| Hospital Operating Cost |
Improves efficiency of Admission/Discharge/Transfer (ADT) office
Right-sizes ADT, housekeeping.
Reduces waste and improves inefficiencies that affect bottom line profits.
Markedly improves patient flow processes, with more reliable and more up-to-date data, from which cost saving process initiatives can be generated. Cost reductions from resolving scheduling conflicts are possible.
Right-sized ICUs, EDs, etc reduces capital costs
Right-sized nursing staff reduces costs
Improves timeliness and efficiency (the right place at the right time);
Decreases costs by right-sizing personnel in Admission/Discharge and Transfer departments, in housekeeping departments, and administrators on duty. |
| Hospitals Compete for Contracts, Patients, Doctors |
Increases competitive advantage over other hospitals that do not have this level of patient centered care. |
| Inefficient Bed Flow / Patient Flow Processes |
Increases ED throughput by integrating bedflow within the ED with bedflow in the other congestion points, the ICUs and floorspaces.
Reduces inefficiencies and errors in ADT functions
Better documentation and workflow analysis. |
| Inefficient Use of Resources |
Reduces length of stay in ED and other sites by improving scheduling of radiographic and other special studies, improving movement of the patient between various laboratories and locations, improving availability and predictability of the patient for examinations and other physician activities. |
| JCAHO Compliance |
Promotes closer adherence to JCAHO Patient Safety Goals through:
Improved accuracy of patient identification. (PatientCentral's SmartWristBand identifies patients not only to persons at the bedside, but identifies the patients in all email, secure messaging, or other electronic interchanges)
Improves the effectiveness of communication among caregivers. (PatientCentral increases speed, accuracy and content of communication with the patient as well as about the patient).
Eliminates wrong-site, wrong-patient and wrong-procedure surgery. (PatientCentral identifies the patient and performs an electronic login that can be used to confirm the patient's identity in the operating room).
Improves the effectiveness of clinical alarm systems. (PatientCentral gives the patient additional avenues to connect with physicians and staff when alarms are sounding, as well as providing the patient feedback on what the alarms mean).
Promotes compliance with JCAHO's 'Dimensions of Performance' :
Doing the right thing: efficacy and appropriateness;
Doing the right thing well: availability, timeliness, effectiveness, continuity, safety, efficiency, respect and caring. |
| Nurse Satisfaction |
Nurses can focus on providing care rather than answering unnecessary call bell activity.
Nurses perform at a higher level of decision-making.
Integrating the call bell function and eliminating a costly system that is a major dissatisfier for nurses as well as patients.
Improving timeliness and efficiency (the right place at the right time). |
| Pain Management |
More timely communication makes pain management more humane and documentable.
Less conflict over answering call bells. |
| Patient Rights |
Tools can be used to provide information to patients regarding their rights and for communicating patient's decision making.
Better communication with physicians and hospital personnel.
Emphasis on patients being at center of care.
|
| Patient Satisfaction, Desire to be at the Center of Care |
Provides a unique way to demonstrate and document consumer advocacy.
Promotes better patient-centered care.
Improves timeliness and efficiency (the right place at the right time);
Improves continuity of care by enhancing communication between caregivers and between caregivers and their patients. |
| Patients feel powerless, fear of the unknown |
Reduces anxiety and enables the patient as a decision maker in each care process.
Better patient-specific education.
Patients are better informed about their agenda (WhatWhen)
Patients better informed about test results and get better and more timely information about interpreting the results.
Patients, doctors and nurses have a better idea what to expect and when. |
| Patient-Specific Education |
Enhances the means for patient-specific education for both patient and family.
Documents what education was provided.
Enables and encourage doctors to provide their specific materials. |
| Physician Satisfaction |
Physicians can locate patients quickly and reliably.
Improved communication with patients and nurses reduces hassles and risks.
Improves timeliness and efficiency (the right place at the right time). |
| Reduce Medical Errors/ Patient Safety |
Better patient identification leads to fewer errors (SmartWristBand)
Maintains an analyzed database of quality management, process improvement, risk management events, processes and outcomes (PatientWindow and PatientFlow).
Better document and update history as obtained from patient (MyHistory and MyHealthArchive).
Better document and update history as obtained from family/visitors (MyHistory).
Documents and maintain durable history like allergies, prior medical interventions. HIV status, Living Wills
Better pain management. |
| Risk Management |
Tracks and reduces sentinel events.
Documents the patient's participation in informed consent.
Documents what was given / said in informed consent.
Enhances patient-specific informed consent.
Documents input from and output to patients, reducing liability and therefore risk management costs.
Documents history obtained from the patient. |
