How a Unified Platform Transformed Clinical Communication at a CA Hospital

August 29, 2022 - Clinical communication and collaboration are the bedrock of hospital operations. The various care teams that help move patients through their care journey at the hospital and beyond must have open and secure lines of communication to ensure clinical efficiency and patient safety.

Not only is valuable time lost if communication processes are inefficient, but data from The Joint Commission shows that inadequate communication during handovers is a factor in 80 percent of all adverse events.

Ensuring secure and effective communication between clinicians is easier said than done, but technology is helping to change that by streamlining the process and promoting collaboration through clinical mobility.

California-based Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center is one of the many organizations that has turned to technology to close clinical communication gaps, improving operational efficiency, patient care, and clinician experience in the process.

WHY IMPLEMENT A UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY

One of the main reasons that Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center switched to a technology-driven solution was to create a unified enterprise-wide clinical communications strategy, according to Kent Hoyos, chief information officer for the hospital.

As hospitals look to ensure secure ways of transmitting patient data between caregivers and departments throughout their facilities, there has been a focus on moving toward a solution that maintains the integrity of clinical data, whether through shared or personal devices.

Many hospitals, such as Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, want to make certain that devices for patient communication are used as intended and provide privacy protection.

“Secure messaging was one of the bigger issues because people would use their own phone,” Hoyos said. “The organization wanted to implement security controls because communication through unsecured devices put protected health information at risk.”

“Getting to a supported, secured messaging application made a lot of sense,” he said.

When clinicians communicate through various modalities, and with multiple logins, this can also lead to confusion about patient care and result in a broken chain of communication.

“Before implementing the solution, we had clinicians claiming to have communicated with another care team member, but just because they sent information doesn’t mean that another clinician received the information,” describes Hoyos.

DEPLOYING A NEW STRATEGY AND OVERCOMING CHALLENGES

In November 2021, Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center implemented Oracle Cerner’s CareAware Connect, which is designed to bring together various types of clinical communication on a single mobile device.

The hospital primarily makes use of the solution’s secure messaging, voice call, and medical alert capabilities.

“The platform is integrated into the EHR, so clinicians can also use the mobile devices to input data like vital signs into the medical record,” Hoyos said.

Using mobile devices eases access to patient data for clinicians who are constantly on the go caring for patient needs while also requiring timely communication with others across the enterprise who are involved in the patient’s care. Included with the application is a unique feature that allows it to be used by providers, both inside and outside the four walls, allowing for shared information critical to the patient’s care across the continuum.

But as with any new technology, implementation comes with a unique set of challenges. At Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, Hoyos shared that it was vital for their success to roll out the solution across the entire facility the same day, which helped alleviate some of the challenges with clinician buy-in.

Hoyos stressed the importance of hands-on training during the roll-out. This was a collaboration between Pomona’s team and Cerner’s implementation team.

A group of Pomona associates, called clinical liaisons, were tasked with helping clinicians log into and use the platform from their devices, while Cerner’s team worked in tandem to help with any troubleshooting and software issues.

“They’re the on-the-floor, boots-on-the-ground kind of help,” he said. “They’re walking around helping people log in, showing them tips and best practices with the devices.”

In addition to the operational aspects of the roll-out, there were important policies to address.

Governance is an important tool to ensure that organizations’ implementation and adoption of technology and processes align with their business goals and comply with regulations.

“During the implementation process, we were able to uncover gaps in our communication policies,” explained Hoyos. “This helped us to create consistent communication practices around when, what, and to whom communication should be addressed.”

BENEFITS OF A UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY

The implementation of CareAware Connect has positively impacted several areas at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, including patient care and clinician experience.

Perhaps the most important, having communication unified on one platform has enabled more direct and immediate contact between care team members at the hospital, positively impacting timely care delivery. A patient care team directory that intelligently identifies the right care team members associated with a patient.

Additionally, the solution provides a comprehensive view of communications through the organization, ensuring everyone is on the same page regarding patient care.

“If people are using the tool correctly, the directory feature makes it a lot easier to find who owns the care with a particular patient and determine what care is needed for that patient,” Hoyos said. “Communication is now directed to the right people, compared with the more traditional methods used previously.”

Care teams can complete workflows more efficiently when they can ask questions and get answers in near-real time as patients move across the continuum.  This approach helps improve operational efficiency by centralizing operations and leveraging near real-time analytics, predictive intelligence, and advanced mobile clinical workflows. It also enables situational awareness that triggers immediate care team action.​

In addition to achieving greater efficiency within hospital operations, clinicians, too, have reported enhanced workflows following the implementation.  Though there was a learning curve with the technology, clinician feedback has been complimentary, and they have reported increased employee satisfaction due to improved communication and collaboration, according to Hoyos.

Though Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center has not officially calculated the solution’s return on investment (ROI), Hoyos said using the legacy phone system they used to have was just as expensive.

“Now we’re sitting on a new platform with a lot more capability, for basically close to the same cost,” he added. “So, more communication, same cost. That’s a fantastic ROI in my book.”

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About Oracle Cerner

For 40 years, Cerner has worked at the intersection of healthcare and information technology to connect people and systems around the world.  We support our clients by surfacing data that enables them to make informed decisions for better management of operations, while arming their clinicians with the information they need to provide smarter care. 

Are you ready to transform communication to help drive outcomes with people, processes, and technology?  Let Oracle Cerner help evaluate where you are and guide you to where you want to go.  Visit https://www.cerner.com/solutions/careaware-connect

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