Healthcare communication company 1Call is the answer for hospitals during COVID-19

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Healthcare communication challenges have always been present. Disconnect between providers, medical records, patients, on call schedules, messaging platforms, employee directories, call centers and code procedures were in many cases just the way things were, especially for hospitals and healthcare systems who weren’t willing to spend the time and money to create an integrated communication environment.

This level of healthcare communication disconnect has a severe trickledown effect that can be costly in a variety of ways such as when a code procedure is initiated; if there is no integration with a patient’s medical record, an on-call schedule, and the appropriate messaging procedures to facilitate that code, the loss of productivity can be a matter of life or death for a patient.

When COVID-19 hit, healthcare communication tools within hospitals needed to work in unison to keep up with everchanging rules and procedures. Hospitals and healthcare systems who had already implemented an integrated communication environment were much more prepared to rise to the occasion. 

A prime example of a department that was crucial to combating COVID-19 were hospital call centers. These call centers, often overlooked but the literal virtual front door of multi-hospital health systems, were being asked to implement new COVID-19 specific workflows, reference patient and on call information to triage callers appropriately, leverage telehealth technology to assist with screening patients before entering the hospital and much more, all while working remotely.

Through the help of an integrated communication environment, these hospital call centers were able to create custom guided workflows specific to COVID-19 procedures. They were able to use HL7 and FHIR interfaces to populate patient information instantly. They were able to receive real-time on call scheduling information through an integrated portal used by providers complete with preferred contact methods in order to contact resources on the right devices. They were able to use telehealth interfaces to create a virtual patient screening environment. All this was done remotely through the flexibility of their 1Call healthcare call center system and 1Call integrated clinical solutions.

COVID-19 allowed healthcare communication technology to show its true power and adaptiveness. Healthcare systems now have the opportunity to reassess how they communicate today how they can improve in order to be better prepared for the future.

Hear more about 1Call’s work during this free eHealthNews Live webinar, Technology solutions to help fight a pandemic, on 21 May. Register for free here.

To watch Joe Curtin’s presentation in the eHealthNews LIVE showcase go to this link

Source: 1Call media release, 11 May 2020

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