The Pager Predicament Recently, I stumbled upon an eye-opening NPR podcast that delved into the lingering use of pagers in healthcare—a seemingly outdated technology that continues to drive communication in hospitals. As I listened through the debate around its persistence, discussing challenges and unexpected benefits, it prompted reflections on facilitating a seamless shift to secure … Continued
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When it comes to time-sensitive events, instant, reliable communication is key. In the past, pagers were relied on for quick communications as they allowed people to communicate on the go and without access to a landline. But today, the availability of cellphones has made the portability of communication devices a standard feature, and communication technology … Continued
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Hospitals that adopt electronic health records (EHR) to optimize clinical workflows face the decision of how to integrate EHR alerts into their workflows. The rationale is to surface actionable data from EHR systems and present healthcare providers with this information to supplement their day-to-day clinical decisions. Though providers gain immense value from EHR alerts that … Continued
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Effective communication in nursing is central to providing top-quality patient care. Nurses communicate with patients to understand their health issues, and they provide them with the care and compassion needed for recovery. Accomplishing effective communication with patients directly impacts patient health outcomes, and it has far-fetched implications when carried out ineffectively. As such, effective communication … Continued
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Handoff communication occurs when a patient is transitioned from one care setting to another. Communication is central to handoffs, and clinical staff are expected to share comprehensive details about the patient’s health to the next care provider in charge. During handoff, sensitive information is passed in real time to another care provider during changes in … Continued
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) scrutinizes hospital readmission rates across the U.S. each year, and it levies financial penalties on organizations that overshoot acceptable hospital readmission rates. As healthcare systems across the country embark on a journey to introduce patient-centric models to their organizations, they must align their resources with ever-changing regulations … Continued
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Electronic health records (EHR) are real-time patient health record systems made to securely share patient information with authorized users. Users include those in medical labs, imaging facilities, pharmacies and emergency departments. Essentially, EHRs provide medical information to everyone involved in the patient-care continuum. OnPage continuously explores new ways to expand its value and enhance healthcare … Continued
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In an unprecedented incident that has left medical authorities in Western Australia (WA) in disbelief, a local teenager has been found to be the mastermind behind a massive data breach. The breach intercepted thousands of names, phone numbers and communications between doctors responding to the COVID-19 crisis from their pagers. This is an unfortunate incident … Continued
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On-call scheduling enables 24/7/365 availability of service providers for critical issues like system downtime, technician response for critical systems, and patient care. Learn about the importance of on-call schedules for your organization and its customers, how to design an on-call schedule, and multiple ways you can build an on-call scheduling program that will improve customer … Continued
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Clinical communication and collaboration (CC&C) systems enhance care coordination to improve the patient experience. The systems are equipped with secure mobile messaging, allowing care teams to ditch their insecure pagers for HIPAA-compliant smartphone applications. Gartner, the global leader in tech research, has released its Hype Cycle for Real-Time Health System (RTHS) Technologies, 2020. The release … Continued
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