• Clinical Efficiency
• Digital Patient Rooms
• Digital transformation
• Digital Whiteboards
• Healthcare strategy
• healthcare technology
• Hospitals and clinics
• Interactive Patient Systems
• KLAS report
• Patient Care Coordination
• Patient engagement
• patient safety
• Telehealth
• Value on Investment (VOI)

3 key considerations for gauging the success of digital patient rooms

As someone who’s been in the business of healthcare for more than 30 years, there’s little that surprises me these days. I have seen technology evolve to include CPOE, electronic medical records and now, applications that enable virtual care and online scheduling for patients.

Within facilities, old-school “grease boards” have been replaced by whiteboards integrated with EMRs, changing the way healthcare information is communicated – making real-time, mission-critical information more accessible to all members of the care team, as well as patients and families, obviating the need for workstations or computers on wheels.

But like any potential purchase of new technology, the question of “value” persists. It's important to me that the technology our company develops has a positive impact not only on the lives of patients but also those who care for them. We work with hospitals and health systems to identify specific issues or pain points, which informs the development of strategic solutions.

While the results will and should vary among for technology solutions, the approaches for measuring the value on investment (VOI) is the same. Here are three considerations for measuring the success of digital patient rooms.

Invest in advanced capabilities

KLAS released its Interactive Patient Systems (IPS) 2023 Report that looked at the advanced capabilities that are accelerating the digital patient room of the future. The report examines the adoption of these capabilities and shines a light on the outcomes that adopters are achieving.

While each capability serves to improve personalization, accuracy and overall experience for patients and hospital staff, the key driver of investment continues to be clinical efficiency, specifically saving nurses time.

Incorporating advanced capabilities into an organization’s strategy undoubtedly requires a great deal of time and resources for success. When considering how to get started, remember that anything worth doing well takes time. It’s vital to bring the right stakeholders to the table to discuss which pain points are the most pressing and develop specific objectives for tackling each. Depending on budget and time constraints, an organization might be able to expend resources on only one or two objectives in the beginning.

Set clear objectives 

To measure value, a healthcare organization must be very clear in outlining the objectives that it wants to achieve. There’s no way to gauge success without establishing a key deliverable, so it’s important to be specific – review previously determined pain points and set the trajectory for how the technology is going to meet those needs.

Interestingly, the KLAS report indicates that most of the deep adopters surveyed noted improved patient experience (mentioned by 45 percent of respondents) and increased patient understanding (reported by 43 percent) at the top of their list of reported outcomes.

This assessment focuses on a key point, which is the increasingly complex challenge hospital leaders face of balancing patients’ expectations with the organization’s current reality. For example, a small rural hospital with fewer than 50 beds may be facing revenue constraints and may not have the means of installing a full tech stack in patient rooms that includes digital signage, whiteboards, companion tablets and telehealth. However, the organization may choose to focus on one of these solutions to meet a desired outcome of reducing the workload on bedside nurses, so it may decide to solely pursue telehealth. This approach may not include all components of a complete digital patient room, but it meets a specific need for the organization while also tackling other large issues, such as staffing shortages, patient safety and access to specialty care.

Adjust as you go

Once an organization has selected which advanced capabilities and objectives are going to guide its digital roadmap, the third and arguably most important consideration is to remain flexible.

Often, leaders enter implementation projects wanting to plan the design for numerous locations before they’ve started on the first one. In other cases, leaders are laser focused on a single location without giving a second thought to what happens next. On whichever road an organization finds itself, executives should ensure that they provide themselves and the team enough space to adjust the plan when necessary.

Every project is going to face a curveball — that’s a given. Plan for that up front and be prepared to make a change. The most disappointing projects are not those that face the most curveballs – instead, it’s the projects for which managers and leaders are unable to accept a course correction. To ensure the necessary flexibility, an organization’s executives need to bring the right people to the table and stay focused on the end goal.

Jeff Fallon is chairman and CEO of Vibe Health by eVideon.