Desoto Memorial Hospital and TeleHealth Services Collaborate to Bolster the Facility's CMS Core Measure Smoking Cessation Efforts

ARCADIA, Fla. and RALEIGH, N.C., June 10 /PRNewswire/ -- TeleHealth Services, the nation's leading provider of healthcare grade televisions and interactive patient education systems, today announced a new partnership with Desoto Memorial Hospital. The Arcadia, Florida based acute care facility chose TeleHealth Services as its interactive patient education provider because of the new functionality of the TIGR technology, custom financing options, and excellent service history in the facility.

Over the last several years, Desoto's management team has embraced the idea of providing clinical transformation through the use of healthcare technology and clinical talent acquisition. The focal point of this initiative was to provide an environment where innovative technology enhances the overall care provided by the hospital. The patient education portion of the program was designed to implement evidence-based technologies to provide patients and their families with the knowledge and skills needed throughout their recovery for optimal CMS reimbursement. In an effort to further their efforts, the next step was finding a strategic partner that could provide the hospital with a multi-functional technology offering that would greatly benefit both the hospital's overall patient experience without taxing their capital resources. After examining the new feature set of the TIGR V7 interactive patient education system, Desoto Memorial Hospital chose TeleHealth Services because of their experience and service in the interactive patient technology sector.

"The key factors that drove the upgrades to the new TIGR V7 were its additional functionality and how it related to our reimbursement efforts and their leadership in clinical integration," said Beverley Winston, vice president and Chief Nursing Officer for Desoto Memorial Hospital. "The interactive patient education system will help engage patients and their families more fully in their recovery process while simultaneously decreasing readmission rates through more enhanced patient education. In enabling us to more efficiently meet their clinical needs and provide optimal patient care, TeleHealth Services has been a true corporate partner to our hospital."

The TIGR V7 interactive patient care system will serve as the implementation tool for Desoto's reimbursement strategy. TIGR V7 provides hospitals with ability to automate and engage patients and their family in their care through an interactive Educational Care Plan from the on-screen menus, satisfying many of the Joint Commission's Patient Safety Goals which relate to educating patient and families on the Core Measures specific to their conditions. In addition to the reimbursement gains from better education of the patient and caregivers, TIGR also helps improve patient safety. Readmissions related to discharge planning challenges are virtually eliminated because of the multi-sensory education session and vast library of condition- specific educational content. Freeing up the nursing staff to focus on clinical tasks previously spent on documentation and non-clinical patient requests allows nurses more time to interact directly with patients, having a positive impact on patient safety and clinical care. Desoto's next implementation of the interactive patient education system focuses on providing staff and continuing education sessions to employees, providing an even more advanced level of employee satisfaction.  

"TeleHealth Services and Desoto Memorial Hospital have created a strong relationship over the past few years with a mutual goal to improve patient care through the effective use of technology," stated Dan Nathan, Vice President/ General Manager of TeleHealth Services. "Our enhanced partnership solidifies the TIGR interactive patient education system as Desoto's preferred technology to help educate and better prepare their patients throughout their recovery continuum."

About TeleHealth Services:

With more than 2,500 healthcare clients across the country, TeleHealth Services is the nation's leading provider of integrated technology and communications solutions for the healthcare market. With 50+ years of healthcare expertise and partnerships with industry leading manufacturers, TeleHealth Services is uniquely positioned to offer a full suite of hospital technology solutions that includes:

• Patient and staff video-on-demand education platforms
• Healthcare grade televisions and accessories
• Patient protection and security systems
• Bedside patient entertainment solutions
• The latest educational and entertainment content
• Custom designed communication systems
• Comprehensive design, implementation, and service packages
• Flexible financing solutions

Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, TeleHealth Services is a division of Telerent Leasing Corporation, which was founded in 1957. Telerent is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ITOCHU International, Inc., a U.S. company based in New York City and Global 500 Corporation.  For more information on TeleHealth, call 800-733-8610, or visit at http://www.telehealth.com/.

SOURCE TeleHealth Services