One of the keys to a patient-friendly hospital environment is keeping patients and family members informed about wait times when they come to the hospital for a test or procedure. This was the challenge facing Beata Kasper, CIO at North Cypress Medical Center. “We wanted something visual and easy to understand, much like an airport flight schedule board,” explains Beata Kasper, CIO, North Cypress Medical Center. “Once we saw Visual SmartBoard, we knew it was what we were looking for.”
The hospital now uses iatricSystems Visual SmartBoard (VSB) to provide customized views of patient information, with color-coding that shows status at a glance. VSB’s ability to pull together rapidly changing information and present it in a clear, meaningful way has not only raised patient satisfaction scores; it also has improved coordination of care by hospital staff. “Visual SmartBoard has been a huge hit, improving the patient experience and saving us a great deal of time and money,” Beata adds.
Improves Patient Satisfaction and Coordination of Care The first SmartBoard North Cypress implemented was Radiology Waitroom, which hangs in the waiting area and shows patients how long they have to wait for their MRI or CAT scan once they arrive and register. Other SmartBoards now hang in the back to assist staff that performs radiology procedures. Schedule Radiology Today shows radiology appointments for the current day while Cancelled Appointments tracks appointments that were not kept, and why. Outstanding Radiology shows outstanding radiology exams, and tracks exam start and end time as well as patient wait time. “VSB has actually cut down patient waiting time because the techs know exactly when the patient is ready to be taken back for the procedure,” Beata explains. “If the patient is delayed, they may be able to squeeze someone else in that slot.”
Radiology Waitroom After rave reviews by Radiology patients and staff, the hospital decided to expand the use of VSB to the operating room. OR Waitroom shows family members color-coded views of patient status (e.g. pre-op, surgery, recovery) and estimated completion time. Beata made it a point to walk around requesting feedback. “Patient families love it. For example, if you see that your husband will be in surgery for the next two hours, you know you can go grab a bite to eat without worrying. Since we started using Visual SmartBoard, our patient satisfaction scores have gone up significantly.” Meanwhile, Operating Room displays patient arrival time and other relevant information to OR staff. “They now know when the patient arrives and can start getting the room ready, rather than losing time and resources preparing for a patient who doesn’t show up,” Beata notes.
Improves Payment Workflows—and the Patient Experience Too
Visual SmartBoard is also helping the hospital meet a different kind of challenge: coordinating appointment scheduling with insurance verification. Prior to the implementation of the SmartBoard, communication between the two groups consisted of phone calls and emails, leading to missed opportunities or missed reschedules. An Insurance Verification SmartBoard now correlates upcoming appointments with authorization status from the patient’s insurance company. The SmartBoard is positioned where schedulers can see it, with color-coding that shows verification status against upcoming appointments. “That’s another great SmartBoard that saves us a lot of time, and is a huge hit with our staff,” Beata adds. “They know if they need to call the patient and reschedule, or call the insurance verifiers to see what the holdup is.” A related SmartBoard, Payment Data / Patient Amount Due, uses a custom-built auto-calculation feature to display the estimated charge for appointments, the deductible, and current balance. “When staff members discuss payments or collect from the patient, they use that SmartBoard,” Beata says.
“Our patients and staff absolutely love the SmartBoards,” Beata concludes. “We’ve become VSB addicts, and we keep taking it further. I’m very proud of everything we’ve done, and very thankful for iatricSystems help.”