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.

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