BETHESDA, MD and FORT WAYNE, IN--(Marketwire - June 30, 2010) - GetWellNetwork, Inc. today announced a successful collaboration with EXTENSION, INC. to enable patients at Norton Brownsboro Hospital in Louisville, Ky. to send messages directly to their attending nurse as well as to automate new patient care workflows that enable the hospital to provide better service and care more efficiently. Norton Brownsboro is one of five hospitals in the Norton Healthcare system, the Louisville area's leading health provider.
The integration to EXTENSION® keeps the GetWellNetwork system connected to the right nurse and staff member, enabling nursing workflows that keep nurses informed and connected to their patients at all times -- via the Cisco wireless device. The integration is accomplished through a new systems interface developed by GetWellNetwork using the HL7 protocol.
EXTENSION specializes in solutions that turn Cisco Unified Communications into a clinical workflow tool by automating notifications using text messages, phone calls, and emails. It also allows nurses to acknowledge the notification directly from his/her phone and escalate the issue when needed. Through this integration effort, the GetWellNetwork system now sends alerts that inform nurses when patients have not completed important education videos or other service requests.
"The GetWellNetwork system provides us with valuable input from our patients but we needed an automated way for that information to be delivered to the handheld Cisco phones that are assigned to each of our staff on a given day," said Doug Winkelhake, President, Norton Brownsboro Hospital. "We appreciate how quickly GetWellNetwork and EXTENSION came together to help us make patient experience and quality of care much better and more efficient."
"By working with EXTENSION, we're able to send actionable patient information right to the attending nurse and staff at Norton Brownsboro Hospital," said Robin Cavanaugh, CTO, GetWellNetwork, Inc. "This integration effort is also noteworthy because it is standards-based, which means that we can implement this for any of our client hospitals who want to take the next level of patient engagement."
"This solution was created in a way that leverages the existing process for how nurses and other staff members receive and react to other types of alerts sent by EXTENSION," said Josh Mahler, COO, EXTENSION, INC. "By incorporating these new alerts into the existing process, minimal training was required."
About EXTENSION, INC.
EXTENSION, INC. is based in Fort Wayne, IN and is the developer of the EXTENSION® Solution Suite (ESS). EXTENSION tightly integrates any HL7-based or web services-based medical application with Cisco Advanced Unified Communications, using standards-based protocols. EXTENSION recently earned the 'Cisco Collaboration Partner of the Year for the US/Canada' award at the 2010 Cisco Partner Summit. For more on EXTENSION visit www.OpenTheRedBox.com.
About GetWellNetwork
GetWellNetwork, Inc. uses the bedside TV to entertain, educate and empower hospital patients and caregivers to be more actively engaged in their care. This patient-centered approach improves both satisfaction and outcomes for patients and hospitals. GetWellNetwork is the leader in interactive patient care solutions and exclusively endorsed by the American Hospital Association. More information about GetWellNetwork can be found at www.GetWellNetwork.com.
Contact Information:
Media Contacts:
Jenny Song
GetWellNetwork, Inc.
(703) 338-8434