Skylight Healthcare Systems Announces 4th Annual Client Conference

Bridget Duffy, MD to Provide Keynote Address in National Symposium Focused on "Improving the Patient Experience throughout the Journey of Care"


SAN DIEGO, May 18, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Skylight Healthcare Systems, the leading provider of interactive patient care systems, announced today the dates and the keynote speaker for its 4th Annual Client Conference. Once again being staged in San Diego, CA, Enhancing the Patient Care Continuum 2010 (EPCC 2010) will be held at the historic Hotel del Coronado on September 22nd – September 24th. Skylight is also honored to present Bridget Duffy, MD as the conference keynote speaker.

Dr. Duffy currently is Chief Experience Officer of ExperiaHealth whose mission is to assist health care organizations worldwide in transforming the patient experience by listening to the voice of the patient consumer, systematically mapping the gaps in experience and hardwiring experience design and solutions as a business process. Most recently, Dr. Duffy served as the Chief Experience Officer at the Cleveland Clinic where she established patient experience as the institution's top priority. Dr. Duffy has earned a national reputation and track record for providing leadership, vision, and strategic planning for industry and health care delivery systems, mobilizing individuals and organizations around the common goal of improving the patient care experience.

Dr. Duffy's passion for defining and creating optimal healing environments for patients has been the focus of her work throughout her 20 year career. At Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota, she created one of the first "Hospitalist" services in the country – an inpatient care service designed to improve the clinical, economic, and quality of life outcomes of hospitalized patients. Dr. Duffy also served as medical director of St. Jude and Medtronic. At both organizations, she led the development and implementation of patient-centered disease initiatives, physician education, and leadership programs that sought to foster the convergence of information, technology and a humanistic delivery of that care.

The theme of EPCC 2010 is "Improving the Patient Experience throughout the Journey of Care." Supporting that theme, healthcare leaders from the nation's most innovative hospitals will deliver hard hitting presentations reflecting how their institutions are meeting operational goals, while also striving to improve the patient experience.

Additionally, several Skylight clients will report on their deployment of new products launched as part of Skylight's strategic initiative—iCarePassportTM and iCareRoundsTM. EPCC 2010 will feature presentations that highlight efficiency and the effectiveness of Skylight products by imparting actual experiences, lessons learned, and results from these product deployments. These presentations will show that hospitals who extend their reach beyond the hospital stay will result in better educated patients, higher patient satisfaction, safety, comfort, loyalty, knowledge and a better patient experience.

Representatives from Skylight's hospital clients and industry experts will be sharing their experience, knowledge, and insights including:

  • Utilizing iCarePassport, hospitals bring personalized care and content throughout the patient journey; from pre-admission through post-discharge
  • Bringing video "connection" to patients and families in the comfort of the patient room with iCareRounds; hospitals deliver a whole new level of patient satisfaction  
  • Improving patient satisfaction and presenting specific examples of how to utilize Skylight's system to directly impact HCAHPS scores
  • Enhancing the nurse experience by leveraging Skylight ACCESS as an integral tool to significantly improve communications—especially through the discharge process
  • Communicating the impact on the patient and family experience related to relevant issues like communication and stress reduction
  • Enhancing revenue through retail and outpatient services, digital dining and other opportunities
  • Sharing best practices from Skylight clients and new, creative methodologies to increase the value of Skylight System to hospitals and patients
  • Receiving a report from the Skylight Clinical Advisory Board on enhancing nurse engagement
  • Outlining the future vision for the company from Skylight's Chief Executive Officer

"Our guiding principle is to create the optimal healing environment for patients and families while addressing their every need to improve and enhance the patient experience," commented Sheri Hawkins, RN, MS, MBA, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Shawnee Mission Medical Center in Shawnee Mission, Kansas. "Ongoing participation in Skylight's annual conference gives me and my staff indispensible knowledge for getting the most of our Skylight system for the benefit of everyone involved in caring for our patients."

"In light of the rapidly changing healthcare landscape, improving the patient experience—clinical, physical, and emotional—has become a top priority for US hospitals. Having potential impact in key areas including reimbursement, outcomes, loyalty and patient satisfaction scores, the topics at EPCC 2010 are especially relevant," said David Schofield, Skylight President and CEO. "Our clients come here to share and learn from real-world experience. For the past four years, our clients have told us that this is truly a must attend event as they continually improve processes in interactive patient care."

Conference Facts:  
   
Conference Title:  Enhancing the Patient Care Continuum 2010;
  4th Annual Client Conference
Conference Dates:  Wednesday, 9/22/2010 through Friday, 9/24/2010
Conference Theme:  Improving the Patient Experience throughout the Journey
  of Care
Conference Location:  Hotel del Coronado, San Diego, CA
Conference Attendees: Skylight Healthcare Systems clients; plus select technology, 
  education, & information partners
Conference Contact: Suzie Simoes, ssimoes@skylight.com

About the Skylight Healthcare Systems Client Conference, EPCC 2010

Continuously seeking to place Skylight as the premier force in the Interactive Patient Care market space—a force that advances its capabilities and stays ahead of the technology curve to exceed the needs and wants of patients, families, doctors, nurses and a hospital's executive administration—Skylight created its new strategic vision in 2007: "Enhancing the patient care continuum." Based on the premise that the continuum of care begins when the patient first considers seeking treatment and will extend years after a healthcare event, the continuum builds ongoing connection, communication, and support for patients from pre-admittance through post-discharge, with the foundation being the ACCESS system in the patient room.

In conjunction with its strategic vision, Skylight presented its first client conference in September 2007. Every year since, the Skylight Client Conference has shown annual growth of 40%. As the first and largest conference focusing on improving the patient experience with Interactive Patient Care systems, EPCC has evolved into an essential healthcare event featuring top healthcare industry presenters and many of Skylight's innovative hospital partners who speak on meeting increasingly important core measures and achieving operational goals.

About Skylight Healthcare Systems

Founded in 1999, and headquartered in San Diego, CA, Skylight® Healthcare Systems is the industry pioneer in interactive patient care technology. With patient communication as the cornerstone of a safe, comfortable and clinically optimal hospital experience, the Skylight ACCESS® Interactive Patient System encourages patients and family to actively participate in their health care, improves communication between staff and patient/family members, and can provide a smoother and faster recovery and discharge plan. Skylight's vision is to provide hospitals with a robust tool which will allow them to greatly enhance connection and communication along the entire patient care continuum. Hospitals implement Skylight to support their ongoing endeavors in improving patient satisfaction and outcomes, enhancing operational & service excellence, meeting evolving clinical demands, and delivering on commitments to making a positive difference in the lives of the people they serve. 

The Skylight Healthcare Systems logo is available at  http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=4652


            

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