Becker's Hospital Review

68 Executive Briefing Unify is one of the world's leading communications software and services brands, providing integrated communications and collaboration solutions worldwide. Our customers range in size from 5 employees to 500,000+ employees. Our solutions unify multiple voice, video and data networks, connected devices and applications into one easy-to-use platform that allows teams to collaborate effectively and efficiently – anytime, anywhere. The result is a transformation of how the enterprise com- municates and collaborates that amplifies collective effort, energizes the business, improves employee satisfaction and enhances business performance. Unify has a strong heritage of product reliability, innovation, open standards and security. Our OpenScape and Circuit communications solutions provide a seamless and efficient collaboration experience – on any device. Together, the group's global team of UCC experts and service professionals set the standard for a rich communications and collaboration experience that empowers teams to deliver better results. Unify is an Atos company. patients early in the process, providers are able to deliver an experience well within a patient's expectations. Based on a Unify survey of about 1,000 board-level hospital directors in 28 countries, hospitals are aware of the importance of the patient experience. Unify asked directors to share their top issues at the board level. All directors reported the same answers for the first and tenth priorities: control of budget and patient experience, respectively. These two priorities rely on one another to succeed. If hospitals manage their costs, they will build a stronger brand. The better the brand, the more easily the hospital will attract better staff, explains Mr. Rich. Better staff yields enhanced patient experiences, outcomes, and in turn, increased revenue as the hospital develops a reputation. To ensure positive patient experiences, start delivering exceptional care right when the patient walks through the door. A patient entering a hospital is likely to feel a high amount of anxiety. Any action toward de-stressing this experience will prove beneficial. This begins at the initial point of contact: when the patient checks in all the way to discharge. Mr. Rich wonders, "Why don't we make them feel like a valued customer?" Mr. Rich offers the analogy of checking into a hotel: when a person goes to a hotel, the front staff knows exactly who the person is and the room in which he or she will stay. The ease of the check-in sets the stage for a stress-free experience. In contrast, hospitals may struggle to pinpoint correct patient records, creating a confused experience for the patient. In the average EHR system, between 8 percent and 12 percent of records are duplicates, for example. In a 2016 article published in Management in Healthcare, Mr. Rich explains how a technologically driven healthcare environment de- stresses patients, improves experiences and boosts outcomes. Communication-based technologies offer patients an avenue to receive information and take control of their healthcare journeys. As the industry sees heightened consumerism, organizations will also need to deliver on patients' expectations of convenience and affordability. "Patients increasingly resemble consumers and, as such, have higher expectations of service standards," Mr. Rich wrote in the article. He outlined various ways hospitals can improve the patient experience and the caregivers' efficiency via communication- based technology. • Advanced telephony system decreases wait times and resolves issues at first contact • Real-time patient status updates and communication via care- giver preferred mobile devices improves response times and helps ensure high-quality care at reduced costs • A bedside device provides real-time access and updates to medical records and improves care planning, outcomes and reduces stress; it supports multidisciplinary teamwork and can shorten care pathways • Tracking technology keeps a pulse on room status, patient status, wait times, staff status and equipment location to boost efficiency • Feedback surveys in the bedside console addresses dissatisfaction immediately • Alerts sent directly to patients' personal devices remind patients about medication and follow-up appointments "Digital technology is set to define the way humans will live in the future," he concluded the paper. "It will help to make resources more available to patients of all ages and allow physicians to treat more patients than ever before." How one hospital strengthened communication to streamline clinical decisions A hospital in England, Birmingham Children's Hospital faced the difficult task of gathering a care team immediately to provide support to neighboring hospitals. Through its Kids Intensive Care and Decision Support service, the hospital provides urgent assistance to clinicians in other hospitals that care for critically ill babies and children. As the KIDS service grew, it soon demanded a 24-hour operations center. The hospital sought technology that would help with quick decision making, bringing the right physicians and nurses together rapidly. The hospital landed on Unify's OpenScape Xpert in February 2014. The technology receives incoming calls via a 24/7 freephone number, and the KIDS service consultant then triages those calls. OpenScape Xpert coordinates the right physicians and nurses to address the 1,600 referrals the hospital receives annually. Mr. Rich compared the process to that of the stock market, where a trader brokers all incoming calls. OpenScape Xpert has decreased the time of gathering all the right people for a case from 30 minutes to two minutes, he noted. In a press release, KIDS Lead Nurse Phil Wilson said the technology allows for conference call flexibility, easy transfers between calls and permits the KIDS operator "to create and deconstruct conferences whilst still holding individual personnel on the console." Ultimately, this smooth connectivity across multiple phone conversations ensures the appropriate providers are engaged in the right conversation at the right time. "You're pushing the [clinical] decision firmly back to the provider at the right time," explains Mr. Rich. Conclusion As technology continues to shape healthcare delivery, successful hospitals will leverage its power to improve efficiency and — most importantly — patient safety and outcomes. "We're moving from the technology transformation of making things more efficient and now actually straying into the edges of clinical benefits," Mr. Rich concludes. The communication focus is two-fold: connecting the care team with each other and connecting patients with their providers. If used smartly, communication-based technologies will increase staff performance and yield positive patient outcomes. This cultural shift will strengthen the organization's brand, attracting more top- line staffers. n

• Cover