Mobile strategies are gaining momentum, becoming more prevalent in healthcare, and in many cases, beginning to mature through revisions and amendments. That said, there is still a lot of room for growth and ongoing evolution. One big opportunity is to increase clinical involvement in the planning of these comprehensive mobile enablement plans. Doctors, nurses, and clinical leadership bring a vital end-user perspective to the table and can help prevent hurdles and improve adoption rates among clinical staff. The next opportunity is to weave more strategic hospital initiatives into the fabric of a mobility plan. Hospitals can elevate the thinking about these efforts beyond just adding a new technology or securing data to include the hospital’s annual goals regarding patient satisfaction scores,
Starting a mobility strategy by clearly articulating the end goals serves three very important purposes: 1. It clearly defines the end result(s) and how they will be measured. 2. It helps keep the mobility team focused and motivated to overcome obstacles along the way. 3. It unites all stakeholders and end users behind a common purpose with clear benefits to the organization, individual health professionals, and to patients.
One of the primary functions of a mobility strategy is to help align mobile plans with organizational goals and act as a framework for designing all mobile-related projects. Organizations that do not consider how mobile solutions can enhance clinical workflows and help achieve strategic goals are missing a big opportunity to maximize the investment they are making in mobility. Mobility strategies help align mobile objectives with organizational goals. They feed the framework for all mobile-related projects and answer questions such as:1 What strategic initiatives will be included in the plans for mobile enablement (e.g., decrease the ED discharge process time by 15 percent)? What are the measures of success (the time it takes to discharge patients from the ED)? What integrations are necessary to meet the larger goals of the hospital (easier communication methods among care team members to coordinate and speed necessary conversations)? In short, a mobile strategy brings together elements of security, technology, and communications in a collective platform.
IT organizations are working toward a new approach to management, one in which the device or system is not the key focus. The focus should be on data: analyzing it, enabling access to it and protecting it. IT needs to enable access and understand the data pulled from technical devices as well as those collecting data from people (wearable computers, health monitors and more in the case of healthcare) and then mitigate the risk of exposing this data to the applications that can make the best use of it.
What are some of your successes and challenges in using mobility to improve patient care ?
Brenda
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