Hospital reports 13 percent increase in HCAHPS after deploying leader rounding and care call technology
Thursday, January 4, 2018
SAN JOSE, Calif.
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Vocera
Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VCRA), a recognized leader in clinical
communication and workflow solutions, today announced that Hunt Regional
Medical Center has improved patient engagement and satisfaction by
standardizing nurse leader rounding and follow-up calls with Vocera
technology. After implementing Vocera Rounds and Vocera Care Calls
solutions, the 114 bed hospital reported a 13 percent increase in
overall Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems
(HCAHPS) rating and an eight percent increase in the “likelihood to
recommend” domain.
Hunt Regional in Northeast Texas is a long-time Vocera customer, using
the hands-free Vocera system in clinical workflows throughout the
hospital. Because of this trusted relationship and improvements in care
team communication, nurse leaders looked to the company to help
strengthen patient partnerships, improve engagement, and increase care
plan compliance. In 18 months, Hunt Regional completed nearly 22,000
patient rounds and 13,000 follow-up calls using Vocera technology. More
than 200,000 data points from 21,000 patients and families were captured
to drive experience improvements and identify high-performing staff
members.
“The real-time request-tracking capabilities and service recovery
interventions made possible with the Vocera technology have made a huge
difference in our processes,” said Debby Clack, Chief Nursing Officer at
Hunt Regional. “We are able to expedite our responses to patient needs,
which has dramatically improved satisfaction and the overall healthcare
experience.”
Prior to implementing Vocera Rounds, Hunt Regional used a paper-based
method to log patients’ comments during leader rounding. Now, nurses use
the Vocera mobile application on iPads, which makes it much easier and
quicker to address patient feedback, track potential trends, identify
gaps in workflows, and report performance metrics. Because it has proven
to be an effective engagement and experience tool, Hunt Regional uses
Vocera Rounds to also capture employee feedback and monitor staff
satisfaction.
Nurses at Hunt Regional who conduct mobile rounds also make patient
follow-up calls 24-72 hours post hospitalization, creating a seamless
care experience that is managed by Vocera technology. “It’s comforting
for our patients to hear a familiar voice on the phone – someone who
understands their entire experience, and is now checking-in on them,”
said Clack.
The Vocera Care Calls solution enables these nurses to have meaningful
conversations with each patient because they have access to the verbatim
comments and concerns securely captured in the Vocera Rounds
application. This information, in the patient’s own words, helps the
caller address any potential readmission risks noted in the application,
follow-up on any questions asked during the hospital stay, and close the
communication loop.
“Listening to and understanding patients are essential to improving
their experiences, compliance and outcomes,” said Brent Lang, president
and CEO of Vocera. “Hunt Regional is a great example of how
communication technology can hardwire industry best practices to improve
patient engagement, and extend compassion and care beyond the walls of
the hospital.”
About Hunt Regional Medical Center
Hunt Regional Medical Center, a large regional hospital based in
Greenville, Texas, is part of Hunt Regional Healthcare. The medical
center has been providing healthcare to the community for more than 40
years and offers an extensive list of outpatient and diagnostic services
from surgery to cancer care to open imaging. For more about information
about Hunt Regional Medical Center, visit www.huntregional.org.
About Vocera
The mission of Vocera Communications, Inc. is to simplify and improve
the lives of healthcare professionals and patients, while enabling
hospitals to enhance quality of care and operational efficiency. In
2000, when the company was founded, we began to forever change the way
care teams communicate. Today, Vocera continues to offer the leading
platform for clinical communication and workflow. More than 1,400
hospitals and health systems around the world have selected our
solutions for care teams to text securely using smartphones or make
calls with our hands-free, wearable Vocera Badge. Interoperability
between Vocera and more than 150 clinical systems helps reduce alarm
fatigue, speed up staff response times, and improve patient care, safety
and experience. In addition to healthcare, Vocera is at home in luxury
hotels, aged care facilities, nuclear facilities, libraries, retail
stores and more. Vocera makes a difference in any industry where workers
are on the move and need to connect instantly with team members and
access resources or information quickly. In 2017, Vocera made the list
of Forbes 100 Most Trustworthy Companies in America. Learn more at www.vocera.com,
and follow @VoceraComm on Twitter.
The Vocera logo is a trademark of Vocera Communications, Inc. Vocera®
is a trademark of Vocera Communications, Inc. registered in the United
States and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks appearing in this
release are the property of their respective owners.
Vocera Communications, Inc.
Shanna Hearon, 865.769.2028
shearon@vocera.com