Five Important Trends in Clinical Communication and Collaboration

Clinical communication is not like emailing or texting friends and relatives. Because clinical messaging is intended for immediate communication, it should be brief, precise, and efficient.

Fremont, CA: Secure text messaging is generally the first thing that comes to mind when most healthcare stakeholders think of clinical communication trends. While this is significant, it is simply the first step in enabling enterprise-wide clinical communication, essential for team-based treatment with faster responses, less interruptions, and reduced paperwork.

Let us look at five trends in clinical communication and collaboration:

Network Resilience

It takes more than installing new software to implement a Clinical Communication Platform. It is also working with a trusted partner to assess network preparedness and give healthcare professionals the reliability, capacity, and security they need. In addition, health systems must consider limiting dead zones, expanding Wi-Fi access points, and maximizing network load as they add hundreds and thousands of new mobile devices that feature messaging, voice, system alerts, and scheduling.

Actionable Communication

Whether its lab results, EHR notes, or alerts, a single patient generates an average of 80 MB of health data every year. Therefore, healthcare organizations need to provide the appropriate information to the right people at the right time. For example, a genuine clinical communication platform that uses real-time scheduling data from a health system may route communications to roles rather than individuals. This sends messages to staff members who are currently caring for a patient, taking into account the subtleties of shift changes, clinical rotations, and dynamic care team models. This allows for better informed and faster decision-making, which improves results and increases patient satisfaction.

Appropriate Use

Clinical communication is not like emailing or texting friends and relatives. Because clinical messaging is intended for immediate communication, it should be brief, precise, and efficient. To ensure accuracy and avoid errors, employees should double-check spelling and read messages before sending them. Finally, don’t send any messages that aren’t necessary. While “Thank you!” may be appropriate in many professional situations, it is a disturbance to the care delivery process in a health system.

Enterprise-Level Collaboration

As the care continuum grows, health organizations will need to develop a clinical collaboration strategy that extends beyond the hospital’s four walls. Communication between clinical practitioners or non-clinical community partners in another department, building, or even another region is becoming increasingly important in inpatient care. On-premise messaging platforms that are siloed are unable to handle this level of collaboration.

Device Selection

Devices that can endure drops, bleach cleanings and 12 hours of continuous use are required by health systems, including hot-swap batteries without losing power. Medical-grade communication devices from companies like Zebra are likely to be more expensive than consumer-grade smartphones. The ability to be resistant to the rigors of a hospital or medical practice, on the other hand, results in a cheaper overall total cost of ownership. Your system will benefit from the assistance of a clinical communication and collaboration partner in deploying the appropriate devices for each business unit.

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