ATLANTA – Piedmont Healthcare has enlisted TeleHealth Services, which develops interactive patient engagement tools and healthcare-grade televisions, to implement customized patient-centered environment, designed to improve patient education and offer interactive communication.
Piedmont Healthcare (PHC) is the not-for-profit parent company of Piedmont Hospital, a 481-bed acute tertiary care facility in the north Atlanta community of Buckhead. Officials say the new technological and process enhancements will help speed patient recovery, reduce readmissions and length of stay and involve patients more directly in better understanding and managing their care.
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Recognizing that improved patient engagement reduces preventable readmissions, and could help them meet their care coordination objectives, Piedmont opted to implement a system-wide interactive patient education system. By aiding education adherence during key transitional periods during their recovery, patients are better equipped to manage their conditions and health behaviors, officials say.
"The dedication and hard work of our clinicians, leadership and IT teams have enabled PHC to use healthcare information technology to improve our clinical effectiveness, as evidenced by the system's awards for nursing and clinical excellence," said Beth Nault, corporate director of training and development at Piedmont Healthcare. "By integrating support tools such as interactive patient education systems within the clinical care environment, our patients are making more informed decisions about their care."
TeleHealth is equipping Piedmont Hospital and Piedmont Fayette Hospital with a full enterprise TIGR system, providing on-demand patient education and patient engagement solutions to the hospitals in the system. Additionally, the TIGR system features patient surveying and reporting to facilitate immediate service recovery and aid in Piedmont's quality and patient satisfaction efforts.
Nault says the on-demand TIGR solution allows Piedmont's nurses "to spend more time providing care at the patient's bedside."
Piedmont's patient-centered solution also includes enhancements to their healthcare television system. Samsung healthcare-grade televisions and new Curbell Gen4 direct-access pillow speakers will help to create a home-like atmosphere for patients, while providing flexibility for future entertainment options.
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"The leadership team at PHC had a true vision of using home-like amenities and interactive patient education to improve patient safety, clinical outcomes and overall patient satisfaction," said Richard Bootes, vice president of development at TeleHealth Services. "We're proud to be working with Piedmont to help transform healthcare, and we congratulate them on being recognized as one of the top technology-focused systems in the United States."
