BayCare Works With CLARIFIRE HEALTH® to Implement Mobile Technology for Patient Experience Initiative

Health System Uses Mobile App

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Dec 30, 2014, 04:40 ET

CLEARWATER, Fla., Dec. 30, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- BayCare Health System is using mobile technology as part of its commitment to improving service and the experience of hospital patients. BayCare Health System is the first to use the CLARIFIRE HEALTH software solution to implement a mobile application to enhance service to patients.

"This innovative software has really moved our patient experience initiatives forward," said Lisa Johnson, vice president of patient services for Morton Plant Mease and the executive leader for the project.

To help enhance the experience of patients in the hospital, certain BayCare hospitals have been using nurse leader rounds. Nurse managers of inpatient hospital units visit patients daily to talk with patients about their care and experience. "Primarily, our discussions focus on the service aspect of the patient's experience, but can also touch on clinical care," said Johnson. Using a set of questions, the patient and nurse manager discuss aspects of the hospital stay. "The conversations can range from anything to the temperature of the room to discharge information," said Johnson.

Previously, the nurse manager would document the conversation with handwritten notes and then follow up later in the day with any other hospital departments that might need to get involved to assist in addressing the patient's comment.

With the CLARIFIRE HEALTH mobile technology, nurse managers use handheld tablets to capture information during nurse leader rounding. Driven by preset smart screens specifically designed for rounding with patients, information can be updated in real time. For items that need follow up, a note function automatically sends an alert via email to the appropriate person or department.

"The ability to send a request in real time to another hospital department such as environmental services or social workers is transformational to the process and provides the nurse manager additional time to focus on interacting with the patient and their family," said Johnson. Continuity is another benefit as follow-up tasks and action item notifications are fully automated. Nurse managers can view the status of the work order via the tablet and communicate the status to the patient. Because CLARIFIRE is a unified workflow platform, information is current and available on a 24/7 basis.

Handoffs are seamless to the patient. If a different nurse manager rounds on the patient the next day, notes about the previous day's conversation automatically populate the screen on the tablet. "For example if a patient had voiced a specific concern the day before, the next nurse manager can see that information and check with the patient to make sure their concerns are addressed," Johnson noted.

The CLARIFIRE HEALTH tool offers nurse managers visibility into tasks, actions, histories, and images through easy-to-use dashboards. The software platform is compliant with privacy regulations. All clinical information is part of our existing electronic medical record process. This software captures non-clinical information and is not part of the patient record," said Johnson.

"We hope to use the software's ability to track trends to learn more about a patient's experience from their perspective. With this feedback, we believe we'll have more opportunity for individualized care beyond a patient's clinical needs and can enhance our healing environment," said Johnson.

The CLARIFIRE HEALTH software was piloted at Morton Plant, Mease Countryside and St. Anthony's hospitals in specific units. It has been launched at in all inpatient units at those hospitals, as well as Morton Plant North Bay and Mease Dunedin.

About Clarifire
CLARIFIRE is a Tampa-Bay-based company that is an automation provider delivering Software as a Service workflow and is consistently named one of the nation's fastest 500 growing private companies by Inc. magazine. It has provided leading-edge technology to process-centric industries for nearly 10 years. For more information, visit www.eclarifire.com or http://bit.ly/ClarifireHealth.

About BayCare Health System
BayCare Health System is a leading community-based health system in the Tampa Bay area. Comprised of a network of 12 not-for-profit hospitals, outpatient facilities and services such as imaging, lab, behavioral health and home health care, BayCare provides expert medical care throughout a patient's lifetime. With more than 280 access points conveniently located throughout Tampa Bay, BayCare connects patients to a complete range of preventive, diagnostic and treatment services for any health care need.

BayCare's hospitals include: Mease Countryside, Mease Dunedin, Morton Plant, Morton Plant North Bay, St. Anthony's, St. Joseph's, St. Joseph's Children's, St. Joseph's Women's, St. Joseph's Hospital-North, St. Joseph's Hospital-South (opening in early 2015), South Florida Baptist and Winter Haven. For more information, visit BayCare on the Web at www.BayCare.org.

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SOURCE BayCare Health System