A lot of EMR companies offer solutions that provide patients access to their information while they’re in the hospital, similar to a traditional “portal” app. But giving patients access to their medical records and some education doesn’t complete the full inpatient journey. Technologies exist now that enhance the whole hospital stay. They pull from multiple sources of truth to make patients feel informed while bringing them other types of meaningful information, services, and comforts while they’re in the hospital. Here are a few things to think about:
- Inpatient portals are traditionally driven from an EMR and delivered on a handheld device while the patient is in the hospital. This is useful because patients can access their results, schedule, and who their care team is, but it can be limited and using the handheld devices puts a burden on nursing staff to keep track of them, ensure they’re charged, and keep them “clean” (both data-wise and physically). They can also be difficult for patients to hold and use. Interactive patient experience solutions are delivered in a variety of ways - via a tablet attached to a swing arm stand, on the patient’s TV, or using a hybrid that can also include patients’ own devices.
- Patient experience companies focus on the holistic experience a patient engages with from the time they're admitted until the time they're discharged. Features such as entertainment (movies and streaming TV), service requests, specific patient education based on diagnosis and stage of care, video visits with loved ones and the patient's physician, relaxation content that helps with stress and sleep, and so much more can all be pieces of a complete patient environment.
- Patient experience solutions integrate with the patient's electronic medical record, so patients can access the full breadth of what’s available in their EMR along with everything else a true patient experience offering brings to a hospital stay.
Watch the video to learn more about the difference between “inpatient portals” and patient experience solutions, and why it’s important to think about the patient’s whole person experience as an end user.
