Medical technology has rapidly changed in recent years as it has become a primary component in managing patient care, staff processes and office productivity. Long gone are the days of handwritten notes in patient files, doctors using voice recorders to take notes (only to hand-write them later) and the staff having to find a desk phone to make a call. Everything is digital, and everything is mobile.
From the consumer perspective, wearable tech continues to help shape the growing trend of mobile healthcare. This is reflective in the popularity of watches and bands, such as the AppleWatch and FitBit, which provide consumers real-time, personal health information, including pulse rate, calories burned, sleep rhythms and more. For those working in the healthcare industry, mobility is transforming the medical profession as well. The rise of digital patient record systems has allowed more than 66 percent of doctors and nurses to use laptops and tablets for patient diagnosis and documentation, according to an InformationWeek Healthcare IT Priorities Survey. Mobile applications are helping medical offices, hospitals and assisted living staff members to deliver prescription information to pharmacies, submit insurance claims and even deliver real-time information from a patient's pacemaker, for example. These mobile processes and improvements are all part of what the industry has labeled "clinical Mobility," which is now a $5.6 billion industry, according to Health Insights.
Even with all of these important improvements, the major advancements in mobility have their roots in communications. Communication is the most important aspect of healthcare, and is often the difference when lives are on the line. Mobility becomes vital as doctors and nurses need to have access to communications tools on-demand to organize care and call for assistance. Every second counts in patient care, especially during an emergency, and time spent searching for a desk phone is anything but ideal. Unified Communications (UC) systems deliver the tools and mobile applications that a medical staff needs to communicate successfully – anywhere, anytime.
Mission-Critical Communications From Anywhere
UC mobile applications connect doctors and nurses to each other, as well as to patients, and other key personnel, regardless of location. Many medical professionals work outside a traditional office or hospital, and several have multiple office locations they travel to throughout the week. The flexibility provided by mobile communications is key for professionals such as in-home health workers who travel from home to home, obstetricians who jump from office to delivery room, surgeons who travel from their office to the hospital, after-hours on-call doctors and any medical professional that travels between multiple offices. UC mobile solutions give these and countless other medical professionals access to the advanced communications features on devices they carry with them, eliminating the need for more costly hardware. These vital features include the ability to conference with other experts for assistance, record patient calls for accuracy (and reduced liability), gain access to staff members' status to see where people are located and to enable remote access to voicemail.
After-Hours Connectivity and Privacy
As we all know, a doctor's work doesn't stop when he or she leaves the office. Most offices today use an answering service to route after-hours calls to the on-call doctor, who then calls a patient back to help solve his problem. These answering services are very expensive and oftentimes charge extra to hide the doctor's caller ID or to log calls for billing. It's important for doctors to connect with patients outside office hours, but they must be able to maintain their private phone number to avoid being pestered and called for frivolous reasons. Also, after-hours phone calls may get charged to the patient's account, so keeping call logs is essential to account management.
UC solutions combined with mobile capabilities can practically eliminate the need for an answering service all together. They can route calls to the proper on-call person after hours and log these calls for billing purposes. Calls that are made from a UC mobile application automatically pass the doctor's office caller ID information without the need to remember key codes or * functions, allowing them to maintain a healthy work/life balance and protect their privacy.
If you've had a doctor's appointment recently, then it's likely you've noticed advancements with medical technology that has led to the rise of mobility in healthcare. Incorporating mobile technology into a healthcare setting improves the day-to-day lives of both caregivers and patients. And UC is an important part in this overall process.
Brian Ferguson is a product marketing manager at Digium, a business communications company that delivers enterprise-class Unified Communications. He has more than 15 years of experience working with a diverse range of technical solutions and brings a unique perspective in helping problem-solve for customers. Follow him at @brianpferguson.
The views, opinions and positions expressed within these guest posts are those of the author alone and do not represent those of Becker's Hospital Review/Becker's Healthcare. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them.