This post is sponsored by Sprint and is the second article in a 12-part series on mobilizing healthcare for improved communication.
In healthcare, care transitions occur during provider shift changes, when patients are transferred to different hospital departments and at patient discharge.1 During these care transitions, all of the patient’s pertinent medical information has to move from one provider to the next – the key to continuity of care.1
Despite their importance, care transitions today are fraught with problems. It might take an hour to identify all the members of a care team or locate the on-call physician.1 Doctors might share illegible handwritten notes or discuss patient care without documenting the conversation in the EMR.1 And continuity of care documents, like patient discharge instructions, might get lost in the shuffle.1
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
In fact, the nonprofit Joint Commission, which accredits and certifies more than 20,500 healthcare organizations and programs in the United States, published a report on the need for a more effective approach to continuing patient care.1 As it turns out, communication breakdowns are the major cause of ineffective care transitions, according to the commission.2
But with advances in mobile technology, there are now better ways to handle care transitions.1 Automating best practices in the care transitions space into a mobile device is on the leading edge of technology, said Adam Maguire, director of sales support for Mobile Heartbeat, which provides smartphone applications for improving clinical workflow and team communications.1 “There’s a real opportunity to solve that problem, to provide some form of automation,” he said.1
Bringing a dynamic component to care transitions is one way to improve them, Maguire said.1 For instance, with a “dynamic role” capability, the on-call respiratory therapist could be generically associated with that role.1 That means anyone on the unit can easily contact the on-call respiratory therapist without knowing who it is or how to reach them.1
Patient “hand-offs” happen at least twice a day when a doctor’s shift ends and a new physician takes over his patients’ care.2 Typically, the two doctors will get on a lengthy call with the incoming doctor taking handwritten notes about his new charges, said Jamie Brasseal, Mobile Heartbeat’s vice president of sales and marketing.3
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
With dozens of patients changing hands, he said, these calls can take an hour or more.3 “That’s a long time out of a doctor’s day that could be automated,” Brasseal said.3 “There are a lot of efficiency gains to be had there.”3
Continuity of care documents – the discharge instructions patients receive when leaving the hospital – could also improve with automation, Brasseal said.3 Research indicates that many patients fail to understand and recall their discharge instructions.3 Giving patients the ability to access these instructions – and communicate with caregivers – from their smartphones would be an important improvement, he said.3
In the end, improving care transitions is all about improving communication for providers and patients.3 “The better the communication,” Brasseal said, “the better the practice.”3
Read the first article in this series: The Value of Communication Coordination Among the Care Team
1. Adam Maguire granted permission for all of his direct quotes and indirect quotes to be used in this article. Interview date: Feb. 5, 2015.
2. Transitions of Care, www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/18/hot_topics_transitions_of_care.pdf, March11, 2015.
3. Jamie Brasseal granted permission for all of his direct quotes and indirect quotes to be used in this article. Interview date: Feb. 5, 2015.
