Valley Health System debuting 'smart rooms' to improve patient care
The rooms will utilize technology to improve the care experience for both patients and clinical staff.
April 4, 2023
Staying in a hospital room is no one's idea of a good time. But staying in a smart room – as envisioned by Valley Health System – could improve the experience.
The health system, which serves patients in New Jersey and southern New York, announced the building of a new hospital in 2017, and that's when the idea of a smart room was born. Health system officials reasoned that if the organization was creating a brand-new facility, it ought to rethink its patient rooms in ways that make the experience better for both patients and clinical staff.
"We brought together everyone who was involved in patient care and laid out our goals," said Marcia Kuipers, systems specialist and project manager at Valley Health System. "We wanted patients and families to have more of a say as to what's happening in their room, more autonomy over their environment. We wanted them to accomplish things without calling physician staff. We want to make it easier for staff, give them all of the information at their fingertips. And we still wanted to keep that personal relationship we have with our patients."
With input from staff and patient representatives, as well as a partnership with health technology company eVideon, the vision for the smart room began to take shape. One standout feature of the smart room is....
