Keeping Families Informed

Problem Identified

A patient’s procedure is running late and the family and friends of the patient are anxious. Their inquiries interrupt and distract clinical and clerical personnel from their assigned duties thereby diminishing the safety of other patients and the efficiency of the staff.

Solution Implemented

HIPAA-compliant displays were installed in the waiting areas that make transparent to a patient’s family and friends the progress of their case. The real-time tracking of patients allows for immediate status updates to be relayed to the displays when a patient transitions, for example, from pre-op to an operating room or from an operating room to the PACU.

Benefits Documented

Clinical and clerical staff acknowledge decreases in inquiries, phone calls, and other disruptions due to keeping families and friends informed of case statuses. The results have contributed to a reduction in the anxiety experienced by families and friends and an improvement in staff efficiency and satisfaction.