5 Ways Secure Healthcare Messaging Can Turbocharge Hospital Workflows

The nursing profession is experiencing significant staffing shortages, leaving many chief nursing officers (CNOs) to navigate the challenge of providing quality patient care with smaller teams and limited resources. This has become the leading factor in work-related burnout and turnover. In a survey of 272 hospitals in 32 states, RN turnover increased from 18.7% in 2020 to 27.1% in 2021, with a vacancy rate of 10%.¹ With the average cost per RN estimated at $46,100,² the turnover costs add up quickly.  

It’s time to drastically rethink the way care is delivered by healthcare’s largest provider – nurses.  Traditional models for delivering nursing care no longer work for today’s nursing workforce. Mandating higher staff-to-patient ratios, overtime, and unhealthy work environments where communication and collaboration do not occur are exacerbating nursing’s departure from healthcare.  We owe it to our nurses to create better environments with true collaboration among all team members. 

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Optimizing hospital workflows with secure healthcare messaging 

So, where do you turn to provide better, more streamlined methods of handling complex cross-team engagement to improve collaboration and care delivery? The answer lies in the issue – technology. With secure messaging apps, hospitals can protect sensitive patient data while accelerating the speed at which information is shared between healthcare providers. Making sure context-rich information is shared with the right person or team at the right time improves patient care quality and optimizes hospital operations with streamlined processes. Ultimately, secure messaging apps present a powerful solution to healthcare organizations in their efforts to provide timely and high-quality care. 

Hospitals and health systems must leverage the right, customizable tools that work in synergy to fit their unique needs and ensure quality patient care. Modern clinical communication and collaboration (CC&C) platforms that feature secure messaging are being utilized by leading hospitals. With a focus on increasing speed while maintaining data integrity and patient privacy, here are four ways a CC&C platform like the TigerConnect Clinical Collaboration Platform can turbocharge your clinical workflows and boost efficiency – both of which are essential for modern healthcare practices. 

1. Increased Productivity and Efficiency: faster communication eliminates the need to track down providers via email, fax, or phone and limits phone tag by providing updates via messaging that’s safe and convenient. 

2. Improved Patient Care: streamlined workflows enable faster clinical decisions resulting in timely and coordinated care and better patient outcomes. 

3. Enhanced Security: all messages are encrypted and HIPAA-compliant, ensuring patient data is always protected. 

4. Increased Collaboration: care team members can communicate and collaborate more effectively through role-based messaging with groups and custom teams. 

5. Verified Audit Trail: messages and files sent through the platforms can be tracked and audited to ensure HIPAA compliance. 

Secure messaging solutions are the most effective way to protect patient information and improve hospital workflow. When resources and staff are stretched to the limit, instant access to secure video, voice, and text can save lives. Unfortunately, most organizations overlook the need for integrated secure healthcare messaging as part of their overall IT strategy, not realizing that improved security and efficiency result in better patient care and overall smoother operations for the entire hospital. With strong data encryption, improved communication across networks, and detailed tracking of access and transmissions, secure messaging apps can streamline hospital workflows by ensuring sensitive patient information is safe while speeding up how quickly information is shared between healthcare providers. 

Deploying a secure communication platform minimizes fatigue and burnout among nurses by allowing for on-the-go collaboration and a simple design producing a consumer-like experience for easy onboarding and adoption with limited training. To learn more about safeguarding your critical data and internal communications, watch this webinar hosted by Becker’s Hospital Review. Charles Cathcart, MD, chief medical officer at Newark Beth Israel shares the organization’s experience with communication technology before and during the pandemic. His insights offer a glimpse into how TigerConnect has helped evolve communication at Newark Beth Israel. 

References 

1. American Hospital Association. (2021). 2022 Health care talent scan. Retrieved from  https://www.aha.org/health-care-talent-scan 
2. Nursing Solutions, Inc. (2022). 2022 NSI national health care retention and RN staffing report, Retrieved from www.nsinursingsolutions.com 

Cheryl McKay, PhD, RN, Nurse Executive Accountable Care

Dr. Cheryl McKay is a healthcare leader with over 20 years of executive experience in directing quality care for large academic facilities, smaller multi-site inpatient and outpatient centers, as well as research, quality, education, and clinical divisions. As a critical care clinical specialist, nurse executive, and researcher, she has a broad range of experience in helping clients successfully manage technology implementation and advancement, product development, marketing, and sales.

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