SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 03, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vocera Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VCRA), the leading mobile healthcare communications company, today announced that its Experience Innovation Network, focused on thought leadership and research, has released the findings of its first Humanizing Efficiency in Healthcare research study.
The study was conducted to identify ways healthcare leaders in the United States and Canada are improving quality and safety and increasing efficiency while also enhancing patient, family and staff experience. More than 100 senior level healthcare executives completed an online survey or participated in one-on-one qualitative interviews to provide insight into their organization's strategic initiatives, emerging best practices and operational infrastructures designed to drive improvement. Survey and interview findings revealed gaps in communication, infrastructure, and stakeholder engagement as many hospitals and health systems still struggle to align quality, safety and experience strategies.
“As more organizations implement Lean Six Sigma and high reliability programs, we aim to define the ideal intersection between efficiency efforts and solutions that restore empathy, respect and human connections to healthcare,” said Elizabeth Boehm, director of the Experience Innovation Network. “It takes a concerted and systematic effort to drive alignment across these historically siloed disciplines.”
When asked to describe their top three measurable goals for improvement work, 59 percent of study participants cited efficiency goals, 55 percent cited quality-related goals, and 55 percent listed patient experience goals. Yet, personnel headcounts show a clear skew to quality and safety, with organizations staffing an average of three times as many quality and safety professionals as those dedicated to patient experience improvement.
The study also showed that most organizations are not actively engaging patients and families in experience and process improvement efforts, even though 46 percent of participants point to a lack of stakeholder engagement as a top reason why improvement initiatives stall or fail. When asked to describe their organization’s adoption of structured, experience-focused improvement methodologies, less than a quarter of respondents said their approach includes specific tools for identifying gaps in experience, communication or the emotional needs of stakeholders.
“To be successful, organizations can no longer solely focus on stripping out waste and reducing cost as a growing body of evidence points to patient, family and staff experience as key drivers for transforming healthcare. We must identify technologies and design processes that hardwire humanity at every point of care,” said Bridget Duffy, MD, chief medical officer of Vocera.
A full report of the survey findings will be released by Vocera’s Experience Innovation Network during its ninth semi-annual Chief Experience Officers (CXO) Roundtable Nov. 4-5, 2015 in San Francisco. To request the Humanizing Efficiency in Healthcare Report, follow this link.
The Experience Innovation Network is an international group of thought leaders focused on putting science behind the experience of care and discovering innovative solutions that meet the Quadruple Aim of improving population health, elevating patient-centered care, and reducing costs while restoring joy to the practice of medicine.
About Vocera
Vocera Communications, Inc. is the leading healthcare communications company. Vocera provides enterprise-class communication solutions that help care teams collaborate more efficiently by delivering the right information, to the right person, on the right device, at the right time, anywhere. Vocera solutions are installed in more than 1,300 organizations worldwide, improving quality, efficiency, safety and outcomes. Via the company's research collaborative, the Experience Innovation Network, Vocera also drives thought leadership for the healthcare industry and new standards in care delivery to elevate patient, family, nurse and physician experiences. Vocera is headquartered in San Jose, California, with offices in San Francisco, Tennessee, Canada, India, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.vocera.com and @VoceraComm on Twitter.
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