Enabling Secure, Rapid Communication Between Physicians And Staff
By Wendy Grafius, contributing writer
St. Joseph Hospital deploys secure texting and on-call scheduling solution; physician demand for messaging with smartphone will now be met
St. Joseph Hospital, of Orange, California, has deployed secure texting and on-call scheduling solutions from Amcom Software to facilitate rapid communication between physicians and hospital staff. The implementation is expected to improve patient care with better care coordination.
A subsidiary of USA Mobility, Amcom Software provides solutions for the healthcare industry to connect clinicians to each other and to necessary data in order to save lives. The St. Joseph deployment includes an integrated web-based on-call scheduling solution in which an online staff directory is hosted and powered by Amcom’s operator console. In addition, the hospital has chosen Mobile Connect, Powered by Amcom, enabling staff to send encrypted sensitive patient information through HIPAA-compliant texts.
The easier and quicker exchange of information will enable caregivers at St. Joseph to optimize patient outcomes. “We’re excited to have so many elements of our critical communications working together,” said Asif Khattak, director of EVS, PBX, and Resource Center, St. Joseph Hospital. “Many of our physicians are demanding the ability to message to smartphones, and we address this with Amcom’s secure texting app. Staff will also be able to look up contact information, and departments can update on-call schedules themselves without inefficient paper schedules and back-and-forth emails.”
By leveraging both texting and on-call solutions from the provider, the hospital will benefit from integrated communications. “More and more hospitals see the value of having secure texting and on-call scheduling as an extension of their staff directory and call center solutions,” said Colin Balmforth, president of Amcom Software. “St. Joseph Hospital is a great example of how an Amcom total solution is helping hospitals streamline workflows, both in the call center and in clinical environments.”
St. Joseph Hospital is a ministry of the St. Joseph Health System (SJHS), the nation’s tenth largest nonprofit healthcare system, which includes 14 acute care hospitals, home health agencies, hospice care, outpatient services, skilled nursing facilities, community clinics, and physician organizations in California and Texas. The largest hospital in Orange County in southern California, 463-bed St. Joseph Hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission and designated as a Magnet hospital for nursing excellence. With 1000 physicians on staff, the facility’s Catholic healing ministry, exceptional clinical reputation, and cutting edge research and technology utilization attract patients from across the U.S.
SOURCE: Business Wire