TIGRCon10 Focuses on Trends Impacting and Influencing Effectiveness of Interactive Patient Education Workflows

NASHVILLE, Tenn. and RALEIGH, N.C., Dec. 2, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- TeleHealth Services' TIGR User Conference documented dozens of best practices and creative approaches to improving patient and staff education and engagement through the use of interactive media including the patient television.  More than 75 healthcare experts and leaders from TIGR client hospitals filled TIGRCon10's two-day educational program with presentations on meeting accreditation standards, improving health literacy, and harnessing the power of interactive systems to connect caregivers and patients in ground-breaking ways.

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As today's medical landscape is changing, maximizing interactive patient education within clinical workflow will be a focus in enhancing the quality of care while lowering the overall cost of healthcare. The conference sessions centered on enabling attendees to develop and deliver solutions that leverage the full capabilities of the interactive systems. Keynote speaker, and one of the nation's leading authorities on patient education and Joint Commission standards, Kathy Ordelt commented, "The greatest gift we can give a patient and their family is to teach them how to care for themselves when they go home from the hospital." Utilizing the TIGR system as a multi-sensory teaching device and enabling the patient the ability to call up a customized education plan on-demand can be a powerful tool in achieving this initiative. "We can demonstrate that a patient goes home with a 90% comprehension level of their education curriculum...We have over 500 videos in use in our OB department alone, and we expect that to double with the emphasis on core measures," said Ruth Gonsoski, Perinatal Program Manager at Northridge Hospital.

The keynote address was presented by Ordelt and Diane Moyer, a recognized expert on health education and health literacy.  The interactive discussion focused on identifying key Joint Commission patient education standards and requirements, the processes of assessing, planning and implementation, as well as evaluating a patient and family education (PFE) program to meet standards. Said Moyer, "It has been demonstrated that interactive education solutions are very effective in improving the self-management of health, changing health behaviors, and service utilization. Through sharing the experience of experts from throughout the country, TIGRCon10 explored using technology to educate diverse populations with different needs."

The curriculum featured clinical and technical learning tracks to enhance the capabilities of the system within the facility. The sessions identified how TIGR has been designed to meet operational goals including improved HCAHPS scores, national patient safety goals, and staff efficiency. "TIGR is such a time saver," said Michelle Heacox, Project Manager of Patient Services at Johns Hopkins Hospital. This theme was reiterated by Jodi Reid DeMarco, Cleveland Clinic's Education Coordinator, who told attendees, "By prescribing videos in advance, when the educator goes in to assess the patient, he/she can focus on things that were not understood from the content. This saves time as they do not have to spend time covering material presented by the video, but instead can focus on the individual's area of need." TIGR's ability to increase the efficiency of the staff and clinical focus only aids hospitals as they battle the nursing shortage and move to a heightened pay for performance model of care. The interactive patient education system's interactivity with other hospital technologies, such as EMR, also aids in this endeavor.  

TeleHealth also honored individuals and hospitals for achievements in interactive patient care initiatives that resulted in better patient outcomes and performance improvements. The TIGR Innovation Awards were designed with the aim of honoring individual administrators or organizations that have consistently excelled at using interactive education solutions to enhance patient outcomes and the overall quality of care.

The Patient Education Innovation award was given to Virginia Mason Medical Center's Richard Foley for achievements in both quality and service to patients. Using the TIGR system, Richard developed a solution that would aid the clinical staff in delivering multifaceted materials and explaining the complexities of transplant surgery to each patient. The solution also aided dramatically in staff efficiency by achieving a remarkable savings of over 50 minutes per patient in consultation.

The System Utilization Innovation award was bestowed upon Duke Raleigh Hospital's Krys Dixon for utilizing hospital programming, ancillary services, and content to increase the patient awareness of the system and drive overall on-demand usage. The solution changed the dynamics of effective education delivery at Duke Raleigh by advancing usage over 200% and increasing the value by engaging patients in an interactive care program.

Mei Ling Schwartz and Robert Reiber from Kaiser Panorama City were honored with the Staff Development Innovation award. They led a Kaiser initiative to increase the availability of video content across the facility.  Over a nine month period, the hospital had saved over 35 physician and 40 nursing full time equivalents, while raising their overall patient satisfaction scores by 12 percentage points.

"Technology and the healthcare industry are rapidly evolving both what we can do and what patients expect in the way of engagement," said George Fleming, President of TeleHealth Services. "Conference attendees were able to hear first-hand about the successes of some of the most innovative healthcare organizations in the nation who are leveraging our technology to create connected communities of care. Our clients are well positioned to achieve a new level of quality based on the efforts they have already made with us, but more importantly they are poised to achieve the longer-term goal of enhanced patient outcomes. Enhanced outcomes are achieved by going beyond the minimum requirements to create collaboration between providers across all care settings, building truly connected communities of care that are fundamental to delivering higher quality care, reducing readmissions and taking costs out of healthcare delivery."

TeleHealth Service's TIGR® brand of products include cutting-edge interactive communications and information systems that deliver patient amenities and provide the quantifiable metrics to drive facility quality initiatives and satisfaction standards. By delivering the most scalable and extensive selection of powerful education solutions, TeleHealth Service's TIGR platform improves patient satisfaction scores, provides support for clinical staff, helps automate workflow, and aids in clinical accountability. By using the healthcare television, patients and staff can access valuable education, communication and entertainment resources to improve the recovery process.

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. Combining 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:

• Interactive patient and staff 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, N.C., TeleHealth Services is a division of Telerent Leasing Corporation. Telerent, founded in 1957, operates as a subsidiary of ITOCHU International, Inc.  For more information on TeleHealth, call 800-535-2459, or visit  http://www.telehealth.com/.

SOURCE TeleHealth Services