By Dr. Andrew Brooks

Data collection and storage have undergone a vast digital modernization effort in the US healthcare industry. Amazing tools can produce digital files that go into Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. New procedures using new devices are saving lives. We should all be proud of these accomplishments – but not rest on those laurels.

The ongoing challenge is communication and collaboration. Our basic workflows – the way we make use of all this investment in digital data – are still rooted in an analog era. Improving staff communications is the next step in improving patient care, reducing staff burnout and lowering costs for providers. Some of those new life-saving procedures are only effective if we can administer them quickly. That means a great many people, several departments and support staff must work together efficiently, with no wasted time. New tools, like Clinical Communication and Collaboration (CC&C) platforms are available. Sadly, we are not using them throughout the healthcare system.

In many hospitals, pagers are still used to alert physicians and others to the need for action. That action is delayed by a frustrating game of telephone tag before any real information can be exchanged. And in many cases, the data transfer technology is a fax machine. We came a long way on the back end of care with EMRs. The front end of care delivery is where minutes matter and a lot of people need to coordinate quickly.

Relics of the 20th century slow care delivery
Within the U.S., it is estimated that nearly 40% of healthcare providers are still using paging systems as a means of care team communication. That’s about two million pagers being used within the healthcare system today. They are largely uni-directional and virtually devoid of any context. Every page looks the same. Those two factors can contribute to alert fatigue which we all know is a huge contributor to the staff burnout washing across the healthcare system.

Pagers were conceived in the 20th century as a long-range tap on the shoulder. They are one-to-one devices, focusing on whoever is wearing that pager at that particular moment. And like any tap on the shoulder, they can be ignored if you’re involved in other matters.

Today, we need process drivers that engage teams, not just individuals, and empower them with information. Pagers can’t transmit actual patient data because of their technological limitations – and they are not HIPAA-compliant anyway. So, they actually sit outside the systems we’ve already modernized, providing no additional leverage or utilization of the technology investments already made.

The fax machine is also an anachronism to the EMRs already deployed. We’ve unified the records systems, but in many hospitals, the communications and collaboration systems are still dangerously fragmented. From a clinical workflow perspective, there’s always more than one person involved in moving a patient through the system. Take, for example, discharging a patient from the hospital. Numerous people within an organization are involved in the process: an administrator, a discharge coordinator, and even the pharmacy must be included. A myriad of different professionals and processes must occur for a hospital to discharge a patient cleanly. Healthcare organizations cannot complete these processes swiftly or efficiently without better, more efficient forms of communication.

CC&C platforms: The next wave of modernization
Fortunately, those communications systems now exist. And they can be integrated with the EMRs, and other digital tools already deployed. They are also secure so that a team can access patient information as part of their response to a situation, rather than delaying that response to find that information.

Clinical communication and collaboration solutions which enable real-time communication to streamline clinical workflows have proven themselves to be effective at modernizing communications throughout the hospital. These CC&C platforms arm physicians, nurses and other care team members with the means to communicate and access patient data in real-time enable to deliver better patient outcomes.

When care teams leverage tools that enable seamless, mobile communication functionality, they can respond asynchronously and see that a message has been sent, delivered, and read – in real-time. Pagers and faxes will never have this level of accountability and functionality. The right CC&C platform ultimately provides heightened accountability, substantially raising the bar regarding quality care and administrative cost savings.

A modernized and seamless CC&C platform offers customizability for real-time notifications that can be filtered, prioritized, and assigned to different roles -- with the added flexibility of sending texts, making voice or video calls and annotating them with patient information. This facilitates rapid communication between teams and increases collaboration efficiency within the organization. Should a critical incident arise regarding a patient, an alert can be distributed to necessary medical professionals promptly. Not only can the message appear differently, but the notification sound can be customized, securing the attention of the intended receiver. These details are essential and requisite if an at-risk patient has an evolving, emergent situation.

In addition to the overall seamless approach to mobilizing teams, the CC&C platform’s flexibility enables customization options at the organizational, team and individual levels. For example, staff may have the ability to opt into receiving specific types of messages if they’re in a certain group. That way, anyone with a specific role in the overall care workflow can designate what information and messages they need most to stay on top of their unique responsibilities from shift to shift. From a user perspective, many care teams find this workflow satisfying because it enables them to focus on their work and clinical care. Also, removing unnecessary messages and information from their daily load significantly reduces most alert fatigue concerns.

Most consumers carry the power of an early 21st-century supercomputer in their pockets. Virtually every industry has gained efficiencies by leveraging these sophisticated tools and the infrastructure behind them – not just for reaching consumers but to maximize the efficiency and information sharing among teams. Patient care is a quintessential team sport, and every member of a modern healthcare organization is fully conversant in using smartphones and apps. It takes many doctors, nurses, specialists and support staff to successfully move a patient from intake to discharge. These are all dedicated professionals who got into this business to help people.

CC&C platforms help the patients and the professionals caring for them. They are the next step in modernizing healthcare.

About the author : Andrew A. Brooks, M.D., is a fellowship-trained, board-certified orthopedic surgeon. He currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer at TigerConnect, a company he co-founded in 2010 to revolutionize healthcare workflow and productivity. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in his field of interest. In addition to his work at TigerConnect, Dr. Brooks is also a managing partner for 111 West Capital; his primary focus is early-stage healthcare software businesses. Dr. Brooks is board certified by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. He received his Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine degrees from the University of Southern California.