Technology in Healthcare

Improve Patient Satisfaction and Communication With Digital Technologies

Patient satisfaction is a top priority for both doctor and patient and in this digital day and age, achieving this is easier than it’s ever been. Emerging innovative digital technologies are intended to improve the lives of all who utilize them. Throughout recent years, new digital technologies like Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have made their way through various different global industries such as manufacturing, media and entertainment, retail, and healthcare. While these new and innovative technologies have begun to greatly influence a more efficient digitized workflow across all industries, the healthcare space utilizes these innovative advances to make great gains in improving patient satisfaction, engagement, outreach, and access.

 

Achieving Successful Patient Outreach

Patients who are actively engaged in their healthcare tend to experience greater satisfaction than those who aren’t. The introduction of digital technology to the healthcare space has given patients greater access and allows them to feel more in control of their health and outcomes. Hospitals and clinics have begun using AR and VR technologies in the workplace with the ultimate goal of improving patient access. Healthcare providers believe the key to improving patient satisfaction is to provide adequate patient care access, a modern and efficient experience, and a more sophisticated workflow. Most importantly, they believe the key to improving patient communication lies in the proper and efficient use of these new technologies by hospital administrators.

Hospital administrators have been using data and communication technologies to improve patient outreach before and after specific procedures. They believe this collection of data will allow them to better understand exactly what factors throughout the patient experience are most impactful to patient satisfaction. In addition, they believe an effective patient communication platform will inherently increase overall patient satisfaction simply because patients should be and would have an interest in staying up-to-date regarding any possible future treatment or procedures they could end up needing to undergo.

Clear and concise communication between family members, hospital administrators, doctors, and nurses can also not be understated. Hospitals are utilizing digital platforms to ensure family members of patients are able to stay informed and maintain a positive experience.

 

What Types of Technologies Are Being Utilized to Promote Patient Satisfaction?

Wearable technologies are among some of the new technological and digital innovations currently being utilized within the healthcare industry. Patients who are required to wear some form of wearable technologies often report a positive patient satisfaction score. This is most likely due to the fact that patients feel informed by their wearable technology. In addition, it seems to elicit feelings of control and comfort knowing that they are able to self-monitor.

Hospital administrations are also implementing massive digital data operations to ensure that patient data is protected and readily available for doctors and patients alike. Some hospitals and healthcare providers allow users to access this data through the use of mobile apps. These apps can also be used to schedule a doctor’s visit, pay a bill, track a treatment protocol, or receive other health-related information and updates. Essentially, healthcare providers are looking to improve the patient experience as well as the doctor-patient relationship by placing each individual patient’s healthcare history in the palm of their hand.

Each of these actions taken by healthcare providers to successfully engage with their patients ultimately improves patient safety. Clear communication between healthcare providers and patients, wearable technologies that permit self-monitoring, innovative and convenient mobile applications, and patient-centered care have all been shown to have a positive and significant impact on overall patient satisfaction. The healthcare industry is expected to continue developing and adopting emerging technologies in the near future to continue to improve overall patient satisfaction.

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Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality Technologies are Transforming Healthcare

Technology in the year 2018 has already more than surpassed the incredibly innovative technological advances made throughout the previous year. New technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) have been showcased around the globe on some of the world’s biggest stages, like the recent Winter Olympics in South Korea.

While these technologies continue to make their way into our daily digitized lives, we can expect to see them very soon and much more often in nearly every single aspect of modern society. AR and VR technologies have already made their way into the manufacturing industry, the media and entertainment industry, and the retail industry. It would be ignorant to assume that augmented reality and virtual reality technologies would not also make their way into the healthcare industry.

In recent years, the healthcare industry has recognized the incredible benefits these innovative technological advances can offer to both physicians and patients. Just like the other previously mentioned industries, healthcare has followed suit and is continuously implementing AR and VR technologies into daily operations throughout hospitals and clinics.

 

How Can AR and VR Technologies Benefit The Healthcare Industry?

As Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality technologies continue to be infused into the healthcare industry and revolutionize medicine as we know it, they have the potential to make a profound impact.

Augmented Reality in healthcare has provided physicians and additional healthcare workers the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the care of their patients. AR technology, such as AR glasses, allow the wearer to view patient information while keeping their hands free to utilize gesture technology and issue commands to other applications. In addition, AR technology can be formatted to work as a preventative and diagnostic tool for doctors to use when determining care plans for their patients.

AR technology can also be used by surgeons for surgery training and preparation. Simulations of brain surgeries, spinal surgeries, or tumor resections can be practiced by surgeons down to the detail so that they are well prepared to provide the very best surgical care for each individual patient. In addition, AR technology is very useful for surgery assistance. For instance, AR technology can be used to display vital signs, patient records, and instructions/procedures for surgeries. The goal of implementing this innovative approach is to achieve a higher success rate for each surgery and to ensure the very best outcome for every patient.

 

How Can Healthcare Providers Use Virtual Reality?

Virtual Reality has been infused into and more widely practiced in the healthcare industry for longer than most realize. Doctors in Connecticut have been using VR technologies to help treat elderly patients who suffer from dementia by providing patients with an immersive virtual reality healthcare experience geared towards unlocking memories and improving overall cognitive function.

VR can also be used by practicing physicians, doctors, and surgeons as a means for an immersive training program to conduct everything from surgeries to standard treatment protocols. In addition, Virtual Reality technologies are continuously developed and innovated to perform new tasks and functions that can also be applied and further researched for future use within the healthcare industry.

As 2018 continues, it is safe to say that augmented reality and virtual reality technologies are here to stay, especially in the healthcare industry. Already, these two emerging and innovative technologies have improved the overall workflow for physicians and doctors, as well as the treatment protocols of patients. These two technologies alone have effectively initiated healthcare’s transformation into the digitized modern world.

 

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NurseGrid App Plays a Critical Role in Nursing Workforce Satisfaction

The healthcare industry is one of the most robust and volatile industries in the world. While it maintains an absolutely massive market share throughout the world, it constantly finds itself struggling to manage finances and employee relations. Nursing workforce satisfaction is consistently an issue throughout the healthcare industry. In response to the demand for an effective solution to this challenge, a new workforce management app, called NurseGrid has been introduced to the nursing workforce.

Various healthcare workforce management solutions and nursing management strategies have been proposed and implemented throughout the last several years in an attempt to improve the overall experience of a full-time nurse. Although there may have been some benefits experienced by these implemented solutions, it seems as though emerging and cutting-edge technological advancements are proving themselves to have an even greater impact on nursing management.

High-Technology Breeds Efficiency

Hospitals and healthcare providers are endlessly working to maintain the highest possible technologically sophisticated facilities in the modern world. However, in order to ensure that these technologies are utilized appropriately, the healthcare workforce must be up-to-date and in touch with these new innovations. Nurses are often the first line of defense that a hospital provides patients. Due to the demand this creates, nurses often struggle with efficient scheduling and effective workplace practice. Nursing practice must transform itself to keep up with the current times.

NurseGrid Streamlines Communication

New and emerging cutting-edge technologies continue to embed themselves into the healthcare industry. An app created by a nurse looks to maximize workplace efficiency throughout the entire nursing workforce. NurseGrid works by effectively streamlining communication between nurses, managers, and doctors, and addressing the demand for greater efficiency inside staffing and scheduling.

Since 2013, NurseGrid has been implemented throughout hospitals all across the United States. It serves as an integral communication tool for nurses to quickly contact other nurses and managers through the use of their smartphones. In addition, NurseGrid supports a calendar function to improve the overall shifting and scheduling process for an individual hospital’s entire nursing workforce. Since NurseGrid hit the market, notable improvements in nursing workforce satisfaction have been experienced throughout hospitals that have implemented the app into their daily workplace functions.

 NurseGrid Improves Patient Satisfaction

Benefits from a simple app implementation like NurseGrid help to construct a strong line of communication between nurses and nursing managers in a hospital setting. This effective line of communication can greatly increase productivity among workers and consequently improve nurse to patient relations. In addition, the shifting and scheduling functions that NurseGrid provides will only result in a positive impact on the patient experience ensuring patients receive adequate care throughout their stay in the hospital.

Because the nursing industry has such a high turnover rate, any strategy that could possibly reverse feelings of dissatisfaction across a nursing workforce should be put into action. Other various healthcare workforce management solutions could be used in conjunction with emerging technology like NurseGrid to maximize workplace satisfaction and production in the healthcare industry.

NurseGrid Saves Hospitals Money

Not only will NurseGrid help to improve employee satisfaction inside an individual hospital’s workforce, it will also save the hospital tens of thousands of dollars in turnover expenses per nurse. Raising the bar on workforce efficiency and nursing workforce satisfaction should remain a top priority to ensure nurses are taken care of adequately. Any type of solution that offers relief and improves employee satisfaction for workers in a high-stress environment will have a tremendous impact on a workforce like nursing.

Click here for 5 other things your contingent healthcare providers care about in 2018.

 

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