Our Promise of Timely Communication for Prompt Patient Care during COVID-19

COVID-19 has been named a pandemic by the World Health Organization.

TigerConnect has been closely tracking Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the impact it continues to have on healthcare organizations in the U.S. and around the world. Understandably, we are seeing a surge in the usage of our clinical communication platform, as well as customers approaching us for assistance with expanding licenses, ensuring their readiness for isolation workflows, and providing tools to expedite internal and external communication.

The situation has further validated how instant, immediate, and enterprise-wide communication can play an important role in slowing and containing the spread of the virus. Healthcare systems are using TigerConnect to open dedicated communication channels with staff as well as key healthcare and public health partners in the community. Communicating updates to preparedness plans, staffing, infection control guidelines, and isolation protocols are essential when supporting staff and patients during this crisis.

As part of the healthcare community, we harbor a sense of duty to do everything we can to keep the flow of information moving as quickly as possible. This is the time to remove any barriers that might keep organizations from having every tool they need to fight COVID-19.

For organizations already using TigerConnect, we are here to support you in this critical time with complimentary license expansions beyond your current agreement, extending standard support hours, conducting webinars, and publishing resources to help optimize your communications through this pandemic.

For organizations not currently using TigerConnect, we are providing those U.S. hospital systems with complimentary use of the TigerConnect texting network to aid COVID-19 communications for up to 6 months. Similarly, we are providing current customers complimentary expansion of TigerConnect Clinical Collaboration Platform – Standard Essentials licenses for up to 6 months.

Timely communication with staff and patients is an important step outlined by the CDC in their document: Steps Healthcare Facilities Can Take Now to Prepare for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). TigerConnect can help with this:

• Communicate about COVID-19 with staff. Share information about what is currently known about COVID-19, the potential for surge, and the facility’s preparedness plans.
• Communicate about COVID-19 with patients. Provide updates about changes to policies regarding appointments and providing non-urgent patient care.
• Provide the ability to enable cross-facility/organization communication with other health partners (i.e., local, state, and/or federal departments of health)

We have seen the results of optimized communications first hand. Singapore health systems have been cited as a model for its handling of COVID-19 cases, and at the heart of their communication and coordination effort is TigerConnect.

Usage has increased more than 5x over the last 3 weeks with over 55,000 care professionals now active on the platform in Singapore. They have found the importance of being able to reach anyone within their national health system via their name, title, or department (without knowing their phone number) as a critically important element of their containment and treatment effort. As of mid-March, they have suffered zero deaths from COVID-19.

As large numbers of citizens have been quarantined, the stress on Singapore’s health system has been enormous. In turn, having a purpose-built communication network has allowed them to rapidly allocate resources and coordinate care in ways that would have been very difficult if not impossible with traditional communication methods such as phone calls, emails, or pagers.

It is clear that identifying new cases quickly and sharing that information among key stakeholders is crucial to containment and treatment. TigerConnect facilitates that type of speed and transparency. Our mission is to help organizations remove the barriers that might slow down those responses as we continue to partner with the organizations on the front lines of this crisis.

Features you can use right away with TigerConnect Clinical Collaboration Platform – Standard Essentials are:

Broadcast messaging to disseminate real-time information internally

To keep employees informed, regular notifications can be vital. This may include broad employee updates to an “All Employees” broadcast list or notifications by department or facility as new cases are reported, safety protocols are updated, or as information becomes available from the CDC. Organizations may also want to create a “Command Center” broadcast list for those leaders responsible for managing the COVID-19 protocols – this group can be used for any questions that may come up among staff.

Group messaging for specific teams

In addition to creating groups related to specific COVID-19 patients, also consider creating groups of critical players that are helping in the fight against COVID-19. This could include a “COVID-19 Supply Unit” group, a “COVID-19 EVS Request” group, and a “COVID-19 Command Center” group to give care team members easier access to staff available to support.

Communication with staff in isolation rooms

Remember that isolation protocol and personal protective equipment prevents users from using mobile devices in COVID-19 patient rooms. Fortunately, TigerConnect works on desktop/laptop computer stations, maintaining communication within isolation rooms to share details about a patient’s condition, needed medications, and other supplies. Surfacing these requests electronically decreases the number of entries/exits from the room.

Priority Messaging

Send high-priority messages that stay at the top of the recipient’s inbox and offer a unique alert sound for instant differentiation.

Forums

Have open, ongoing forum discussions around COVID-19 with colleagues across the organization on specific topics. These can be used to discuss treatment protocols, supply requirements, or other process improvement discussions.

TigerConnect supports the commitment to care for the community, and we encourage any organization that needs it to implement a complimentary pilot of our communication platform to enable your COVID-19 response. Our mission is to improve the way healthcare is delivered, and we’re here to assist in this unprecedented time.

FAQs

How long does it take to roll out TigerConnect Clinical Collaboration Platform – Standard Essentials (TTE)?

100% cloud-based, TigerConnect Clinical Collaboration Platform – Standard Essentials can be made live and instantly available to a wide base of users within minutes. Employee directories can be entered through a simple .csv upload, manual entry of individual users, or through an LDAP/Active Directory integration. Once uploaded, staff can simply download the app and onboard within 60 seconds. User management is done through the administrative console.

What does TTE include?

TigerConnect Clinical Collaboration Platform – Standard Essentials includes a robust set of standard healthcare communication capabilities that starts with secure, HIPAA-compliant messaging but extends much further to include self-deleting messages, priority messaging, broadcast messages, click-to-call capabilities, group messaging, forums, secure attachments, a full suite of administrative tools, and much more.

Does everyone in my organization need TTE?

With a rapidly spreading condition like COVID-19, word of infection can come from a range of clinical and non-clinical front line staff. While it’s possible to limit users to certain departments or types, to see the kind of success and collaboration mentioned above, we encourage organizations to add as many team members as are needed to aid in identification and treatment.

Any other tips for managing communication during a situation like this?

TigerConnect Clinical Collaboration Platform – Standard Essentials and TigerConnect Clinical Collaboration Platform – Pro are both strong tools during moments like COVID-19. TigerConnect now offers direct and secure two-way texting with patients, which may be especially helpful when trying to identify early symptoms and limit exposure in ED waiting rooms. With this easy-to-use option, providers initiate conversations from the TigerConnect app, while for patients, there’s nothing to download and no need to set up an account. Both offerings are purpose-built to enable timely communication. Check out our guide with recommended tips for moments like these.

Coronavirus COVID-19 is a global pandemic that is going to require a global effort to defeat. For as long as necessary, TigerConnect will continue to stand by the healthcare organizations on the front lines until the threats of COVID-19 are a thing of the past.

Tags: COVID-19, Coronavirus, clinical communication platform, Communication for Patient Care, Patient Care