Stop Waiting for Callbacks: Streamlining Clinical Communication Through Improved Information Flow
Efficient patient flow is crucial for ensuring quality care and achieving better financial performance for hospitals. Various metrics, such as left without being seen (LWBS) and average length of stay (ALOS), provide us with an indirect view of patient flow. However, the flow of information, an equally vital component, lacks such clear metrics. Instead, we observe numerous instances of clinicians waiting for critical callbacks, test results, or clarifications on patient orders.
This waiting period represents not just lost time but also an information gap that impedes timely and effective patient care. Quality decisions rely on the availability of others as well as accurate and timely information.
These inefficiencies in communication within modern healthcare settings result in delays and disruptions that collectively form a significant issue impacting patient care. Multiple departments and personnel must collaborate seamlessly to ensure smooth patient transitions through the healthcare system, but oftentimes this collaboration process is hindered by disjointed systems and lack of communication tools.
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Obstacles to Information Flow
Efficiently moving patients through the healthcare system necessitates a steady flow of information among the extended care team, which includes specialists, nurses, therapists, administrators, and providers outside the hospital. Interruptions in this flow, such as waiting for responses from clinicians or lab results, hinder care delivery, potentially endanger patients, and increase costs for all parties involved.
Every clinical staff member is familiar with the ubiquitous challenge of phone tags in hospitals. Whether seeking a consult, arranging a bed for an admitted patient, or contacting a physician who relies on outdated pagers, the delays caused by waiting for responses are pervasive. Physicians using pagers may experience even longer wait times, under the misconception that pagers help manage interruptions. In fact, Tufts Medical Center specifically aimed to eliminate phone tag by adopting the TigerConnect Clinical Collaboration Platform.
Issues in information flow extend beyond initial connections. For instance, the availability of critical test results is essential for prescribing treatments. Delays occur not only while waiting for these results but also due to the lack of immediate notifications once they are ready. Different departments often use disparate communication systems that do not interoperate effectively. Especially when hospitals rely solely on EHR chat for communication across departments and facilities, it can prove challenging when non-clinical staff need EHR access or encounter restricted permissions. Consequently, if busy healthcare providers cannot find time to regularly log into the EHR to check for updates, this can lead to further delays even when lab results are already completed.
Enhanced patient flow should correlate with increased revenue. Achieving this requires a transformation of the information flow across the hospital, ensuring seamless and timely communication among all members of the healthcare team.
Clinical Communication Technology Transforms Information Flow
Implementing a clinical communication and collaboration (CC&C) solution can facilitate information-rich, asynchronous communication, effectively addressing the inefficiencies that plague traditional communication methods in healthcare settings. Consulting physicians often miss calls due to their busy schedules. The TigerConnect Clinical Collaboration Platform is a secure, encrypted, HIPAA-compliant clinical communication software that streamlines the way clinicians communicate. With TigerConnect, images, and other data can be securely sent via text, allowing consulting physicians to review the information at their earliest convenience and take immediate action.
TigerConnect connects care teams, patients, and data leading to fewer care delays and faster response times. Tufts Medical Center, has leveraged TigerConnect’s Roles and Teams function to create admission teams as soon as a patient enters the hospital. A single message can activate the entire team, significantly reducing overcrowding in the Emergency Department (ED) by facilitating faster transitions from the ED to an inpatient unit.
Moreover, by integrating push notifications with their EHR system, Tufts has optimized transitions for operating room (OR) teams, leading to improved on-time surgery starts and accelerated patient throughput. This seamless flow of information ensures that critical updates and notifications reach the right personnel promptly, minimizing delays and enhancing operational efficiency.
To increase patient flow, it is imperative to focus on improving information flow. The TigerConnect Clinical Collaboration Platform offers a comprehensive solution by connecting care teams with the necessary contextual information, thus fostering a more efficient, safe, and high-quality healthcare environment.
Learn more about Clinical Collaboration Software Platform, Resident Scheduling Software, Physician Scheduling Software, Alarm Management & Event Notification Software & Patient Engagement Software.
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