Two of the highest complaints of patients and their family members during an extended hospital stay are boredom and a lack of information. It is no longer enough to wait for the morning rounds by the physician or press the call light for every little thing — many people want an active role in their healthcare.
Enhancing a patient's health and satisfaction in 2019 is about changing the ways hospitals interact with their patients to a more modernized style of teaching and communication. Most patients and family members have several smartphones, electronic readers, and even kid-proof portable gaming devices. Ignoring a patient's reliance on technology can decrease the perception of the care they're receiving.
Hospitals need to understand that technology "plays an integral role in health care's ability to adequately respond to patient preferences, needs, and values in the guidance of clinical decisions." says The Patient Safety Network (PS Net). To assist with this, many patient-centered software and programs are now available through tablets and healthcare infotainment terminals (HIT).
4 Positive Uses for Patient-Centered Healthcare Technology
1. Provide Purposeful Distraction
It's not only children that get bored in hospitals; many adults do as well. The Cambridge University Press published an article on the boredom of patients in a hospital. It was stated that "86% of inpatients with cancer indicated that they had 'time on their hands' and 50% said that they were bored." They also stated that increased boredom led to worsening symptoms of depression and in some cases mimic certain aspects of illnesses such as dementia or schizophrenia.
Having entertainment options like movie choices and age-appropriate games for children and adults can help to relieve much of the down-time that patients and family members experience. By relieving patient boredom, patient satisfaction will increase, and the potential worsening of symptoms associated with boredom can be avoided.
2. Offer Educational Videos
"What is an ERCP?" "What is a benign tumor?" "Is sickle cell anemia what my grandmother had when she was pregnant?" Questions like these require detailed explanations. They are time-consuming for nurses and physicians, and often, a quick verbal explanation will not suffice.
Educational-based videos can help further explain specific disease processes and surgical procedures. These videos can also reinforce education for care instructions regarding difficult procedures such as bandage changes or colostomy care that the patient needs before being discharged.
Family members and patients can have specific videos automatically uploaded to their personal accounts based upon their presenting needs. They can watch them at their leisure instead of trying to remember everything from a conversation. In a clinical environment where teaching is becoming increasingly patient-centered, using educational videos provides an excellent teaching resource to patients.
3. Improve Patient Communication
Call lights can be helpful, but sometimes patients feel guilty for pressing the call light for small items, such as a blanket, when they know the staff members are busy. To avoid these situations, instant messaging through a tablet can allow communications between patients and staff.
Not only can technology be used for patients to communicate with healthcare staff, but the opposite can be true, too. Patients today want to be informed, and the best information to provide them is a copy of the actual treatments, diagnostic images, and reports delivered directly to the patients themselves. HealthLeaders Media highlights one program that "delivers video highlights of physician-patient encounters to patients' smartphones or computers, capturing physicians' explanations of diagnoses, treatments, and procedures, as well as diagnostic images."
4. Reduce Bothersome Traffic
During overnight stays, patients may experience a constant flow of non-medical interruptions of people in and out of their rooms. These interruptions can interfere with the patient's ability to rest. By utilizing tablets and bedside terminals, hospitals can employ additional features of messaging on the tablets to coordinate non-medical events. Volunteers can message patients to schedule a time to deliver flowers, and patients can choose their menu choices for the next meal or request visits from a clergy member.
The many uses of technology in the management of patient care activities can provide solutions that both decrease interruptions for the patient and enhance the flow of patient care.
The Take-Away
Improving patient satisfaction is more than offering free Wi-Fi. Hospitals can utilize many resources obtainable from tablets and health infotainment terminals to help provide entertainment to pass the time, offer educational resources on treatment and preventive care, improve communication channels, and reduce patient interruptions for more positive patient experience.
