Improving Quality of Care by Addressing Hospital Communication Problems

Everyone has experienced a communication failure at some point in their lives. Maybe you missed an important meeting because no one told you the time was changed, or you arrived at an appointment only to find out it had been cancelled. These instances were frustrating because they resulted in missed opportunities and wasted valuable time.

But in a health care setting, lack of accurate and timely communication can have devastating consequences that negatively impact the quality of patient care and burden already overworked hospital staff.

Research shows ineffective staff communication is the root cause of 66% of all medical errors, posing a serious risk for patient safety and quality. In addition, inaccurate communication can also have negative implications for staff. For example, it could force them to spend more time doing administrative tasks and less time taking care of patients.

To address this issue, here are 5 strategies for maintaining timely and effective hospital communication.

#1 Account for Staff Scheduling

Hospital staff scheduling is a complex and time-consuming task because it is difficult to keep track of who is on call at any given time, leading to delayed and missed communications. Constant changes in scheduling also affect patient handoffs. Researchers found communication issues during patient transfer caused 80% of serious medical errors (eg, performing the wrong procedure, treatment delays, and falls).

Hospitals need a system that tracks scheduling in real time and incorporates manual employee updates to remain accurate and up to date. For example, if an orthopedic surgeon is needed, the system will contact the surgeon on call to ensure timely and efficient patient care.

#2 Address Regulatory Concerns

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects patient privacy and ensures the security of patient data. For hospitals, this means that anyone handling protected patient data—ranging from physicians, nurses, and EMTs to lab technicians, administrators, maintenance staff, and others—must be compliant with the regulations.

With the high number of individuals involved in patient care, it is vital for the team to be able to share information quickly and efficiently while maintaining HIPAA compliance. Hospitals require a health care-specific communications platform that can address regulatory concerns and ensure only authorized hospital personnel will have access to health data. The platform should also enable staff to receive patient alerts automatically without having to worry about HIPAA protocol.

#3 Implement User-Friendly Technology

Hospital technology adoption is notoriously slow, with the complexity of the health care ecosystem often making it difficult to integrate and adopt new solutions. If it is difficult to integrate a communications system with the hospital’s electronic health records and internal programs, the outcome can be clunky and likely to affect user adoption negatively.

Consider moving to a cloud-based solution to achieve better staff buy-in and a more seamless transition of data between systems. Benefits include increased scalability, lower costs, and improved operations, allowing staff to focus less on change management and more on helping patients.

#4 Enable Real-Time Notifications for Effective Communication

The ways we communicate are constantly evolving. At one point, pagers reigned supreme as the primary communication tool for hospital staff. New research shows most nurses now prefer to receive patient information and communicate with other care team members via their personal smartphones.

Mobile devices are an integral part of our everyday lives, so it’s no surprise they have entered the hospital workforce setting. Offering mobile communication options, such as an app that is available to download on smart devices, eliminates missed and delayed notifications. Doctors and nurses can provide detailed replies when it is convenient for them.

Real-time functionality puts an end to the “hurry up and wait” approach to hospital communications.

#5 Keep Patients in the Loop

Keeping patients informed about their treatment is essential to the provision of quality care and an overall positive patient experience. Whether providing patients with information during the admitting process or sending messages about their care after they have been discharged (eg, to discuss lab results, treatment status, or medications), the importance of maintaining effective communication with patients cannot be understated.

Options such as patient portals have worked to improve patient communication with providers, yet communication features that operate in a text message format can be even more successful when it comes to engaging patients. A system that allows 2-way communication between medical staff and patients (while protecting the staff member’s real number) offers even more ease and convenience while ensuring patients receive proper information about their treatment.

Final Thoughts

Hospital staff have plenty to think about when it comes to providing quality and timely care to patients, and the ability to effectively communicate is essential to making this a reality.

Implementing the right technology that provides a unified source of information from multiple clinical systems, is HIPAA compliant, provides real-time scheduling, and has modern features that both staff and patients are looking for is the first step toward reducing errors and administrative burdens on staff, while offering better care and outcomes for patients.