The recent influx of next-generation mobile devices has changed the way that employees communicate and stay connected to their network. This transformation is best typified by the healthcare industry, where nearly every doctor, nurse, administrator and medical student relies heavily on their smartphone.
Pagers are no longer the lone communication device at large hospitals. Healthcare personnel lean on smartphone technology to receive important notifications, make person-to-person communiqués and retrieve vital data.
In fact, a recent Spyglass Consulting Group survey found that 94 percent of physicians are using smartphones to communicate with their staff and patients, stay connected to business and personal matters as well as access critical medical information.
The burgeoning desire for clinicians to obtain hospital support for their smartphone has left IT teams with many questions. How do you manage all the protocols and devices that will be involved in delivering and receiving important information? How do you ensure that the messages will reach their destination safely and on time?
After all, the highly sensitive and critical nature of the data being transmitted at large hospitals makes security and reliability top priorities.
Amcom Software, a leading provider of mission-critical communications technologies, recently issued a white paper to address these concerns and identify important trends that 300+ bed hospitals need to be aware of. The white paper is titled, “Six Things Hospitals Need to Know About Supporting the Adoption of Smartphones.”
Healthcare facilities must recognize the ubiquitous nature of smartphone technologies and adjust accordingly, say the authors of the white paper. Clinicians are looking to scrap their pagers and rely only on their smartphone devices. Therefore, IT teams must consider implementing a communications strategy that takes all messages into account, including critical and non-critical updates.
“Attempts to ignore the growing smartphone trend will likely be futile,” the authors note.
In addition, Amcom suggests that administrators only consider a messaging system that is integrated with current or planned infrastructure. Stand-alone systems that don't harmonize with all related applications – including on-call scheduling systems, employee directories and contact center operator consoles – are much more likely to fail and provide more problems than solutions.
Another key fact that hospitals should consider is that the smartphone market runs extremely deep. With hundreds of different models on the market – and more coming each day – hospitals must deploy a backend technology that can support a myriad of devices, all without dragging down IT staff members.
To read more about smartphone adoption strategies at hospitals, click here and check out the complete white paper.
Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.
Beecher Tuttle is a HealthTechZone contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Jennifer Russell
