If you thought cellphones killed the pager, think again.
Pagers are pocketed by professionals at 39% of healthcare organizations surveyed by health-communications tech firm TigerConnect, formerly known as TigerText. And nearly 90% of those organizations are still using fax machines, even though the devices have long been targeted for the scrap heap.
The outdated tools pose a threat to more than patient privacy, according to the online survey, which was publicized this fall. They also make it harder for providers to communicate and coordinate care, resulting in delays inpatient discharges and longer wait times in emergency rooms.
The TigerConnect survey was conducted between July 15 and 31. Nearly 200 healthcare professionals responded. They included nurses, doctors and other clinicians (28%); C-level executives (22%); IT professionals (19%); administrative staff (18%); and operations staff (11%).
A significant section of survey responses show that reliance on old tools make communication hard. Indeed, 39% of healthcare professionals in the survey said it is difficult or very difficult for care team members to communicate with each other.
Patients are not blind to the problems either, according to a separate survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of TigerConnect, which is based in Santa Monica, California. Inefficient processes frustrated 74% of U.S. adults who spent time in a hospital in the past two years either because they or a family member were admitted for at least one night.
The Harris Poll survey was conducted online from Aug. 26 to 28 of 2,014 U.S. adults aged 18 or older. Of those, 870 spent time in a hospital over the past two years.
In that survey, patients also noted a disconnect between their communication preferences and the preferences of providers. While 51% of hospitals and health systems steer patients to online portals, only 20% of patients prefer that method.
“This is an area that’s ripe for innovation,” Brad Brooks, founder and CEO of TigerConnect, said in a phone interview.
And it’s not just TigerConnect, which makes secure messaging app for hospitals and has an interest in seeing mobile messaging take hold, that has seen such responses from patients. An earlier survey conducted by DrFirst shows that people overwhelmingly prefer to get communications via text than from patient portals.
However, hospitals and health systems have spent much of the past decade investing instead in electronic health records and building patient portals.
“That, to a large degree, has sucked almost all of the oxygen out of the room for IT people,” Brooks said.
But as patient experience and patient satisfaction come to the fore, hospitals have to balance that with privacy concerns that have historically prompted them to push portal use.
But Brooks believes that even aside from communicating with patients, hospitals can improve care and workflows through text-based systems or other tools that allow providers to communicate with each other even when they are busy. Several of TigerConnect customers have used the company’s messaging platform to better coordinate everything from emergency care to meal delivery.
The next step is to bring patients into the platform to improve their communication with providers. This is important all the more since patient experience is becoming a component of reimbursement under value-based care.
“We think we’re in a very unique position to help solve this for our health system customers,” Brooks said.
TigerConnect is not the only company in the marketplace of text-based communications platform for healthcare organizations. Others include Solutionreach, Luma Health and Medumo, which was bought this year by European tech giant Philips.
Photo: shapecharge, Getty Images
