SAN JOSE, Calif., August 7, 2018 – Vocera Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VCRA), a recognized leader in clinical communication and workflow solutions, today announced that Phoenix Children's Hospital has again expanded its use of the Vocera system to improve patient, family and clinician experiences one nudge at a time.

One of the largest children's hospitals in the country, Phoenix Children's boasts a medical staff of nearly 1,000 pediatric specialists across more than 75 pediatric subspecialties. With a growing number of care team members, an expanding footprint, and a focus on delivering patient-centered care, clinical and IT leaders at the hospital understand that communication is key.

"The entire ecosystem of our communication and messaging is fundamentally built on Vocera," said David Higginson, executive vice president and chief information officer at Phoenix Children's. "The technology is deeply ingrained into the hospital's clinical and operational workflows."
When the Vocera system was implemented at Phoenix Children's more than 15 years ago, nurses were the main users. Adoption of the hands-free Vocera Badge quickly spread to physicians, who now use the wearable device and the Vocera secure app on smartphones to communicate with each other, nurses and other care team members via text messages or voice calls on their devices of choice.

"I prefer to communicate with nurses through a Vocera text message because I can respond as soon as it is convenient and not be interrupted if I'm with a patient or talking to a family member," said John Hartley, MD, pediatric hospitalist. "Plus, unlike with a missed phone call or traditional page, secure texting provides patient-centric context, which helps me decide how and when to respond."

Contextual information makes it easier for clinicians to respond quickly and appropriately to specific situations, which is why the IT team is collaborating with the Magnet Nursing Counsel at Phoenix Children's to identify, design and implement patient-centric nudge notifications. Triggered by a specific event in the EHR, nudges with context are sent automatically to a patient's nurse or care team on their device of choice to remind them to close the loop on an important task or documentation.

Nurses are required to document pain scores 45 minutes after administering pain medication. If the score hasn't been documented in the EHR in that timeframe, a nudge is sent to the nurse, who can respond directly on his or her mobile device with the pain score, which automatically goes back into the EHR. Nudges are also used to remind nurses of home medication or breast milk being stored in hospital refrigerators during a patient's stay. These nudges include the name of the patient, what is being stored in the refrigerator, and where. Using intelligent alerting and escalation rules, the hospital is ensuring patients and families make it back home with their valuable resources.

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