Technology Outlook 2010 reveals technologies that can “make a real impact” in healthcare this year, as identified by leading IT executives. A common thread: Supporting the clinical care workflow in real time.
The clinical workforce is mobile. Care takes place at the bedside, not at computers in remote offices. Healthcare is a face-to-face business. This means “traditional computers have become mobile devices,” according to Russ Branzell, CIO at Poudre Valley Health System (Fort Collins, CO).
Additional technologies in high demand include smartphones and interactive patient television systems. Each of these devices moves patient care to its rightful place—with the patient.
What does this mean for patient menus in hospitals? It means that excellence in care requires a real-time workflow that responds to patient needs and requests at the touch of a screen or the tap of a PDA.
Branzell believes, “One of next major advancements will be to take the traditional television and transform it into the center of the patient care experience.” This approach requires integrated hospital technologies and HL7-compliant interfaces for a unified patient health record. Vision Software is proud to have pioneered the application of patient-driven menus supported by mobile and bedside technologies, including interactive television systems. At stake is patient satisfaction, as well as crucial compliance with ever-changing clinical data: diet orders, diet history data, nutritional status, medication lists, and of course, patient requests.
Technology Outlook also emphasizes the importance of “analytical software for doing automated comparisons” to improve patient care. Does nutrition screening come to mind? Despite its automation and labor savings, the power of technology actually goes much deeper.
The real benefit of nutrition screening software is discovering patient needs and opportunities. With short length-of-stay and limited resources in hospitals today, every hour is critical. Let’s set nutritional assessment and personalized care planning into action in time to improve patients’ well-being through comprehensive, automated nutrition screening that taps into real-time information available through the electronic health record.
Are your clinical nutrition experts empowered with technology that follows—rather than impeding—their real workflows? Are you ahead of the curve in your hospital food & nutrition operation? The time is now.