Hospitals, physicians and other healthcare providers are beginning to utilize existing and emerging technologies to improve the cost, quality and patient satisfaction of health services. Medical technology has been an important tool used in testing, diagnosing and treating patients since the invention of the stethoscope by René Laennec in France in 1816 and thousands of other clinical medical devices. However, the use of communications devices were mostly limited to the beeping pager a physician would wear on his/her hip to received “Stat” messages or over heard public announcement “Dr. Jones, report the  ER STAT!”

Recently hospitals such as  MetroWest Medical Center www.mwmc.com/ have been reaching outside the walls of the ER to inform potential patients of ER waits times before they enter a hospital via text messages to their cell phones.

http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2010/08/23/hospital_starts_texting_service_for_er_wait_times/

Hospitals with comprehensive electronic health records (EHR) may have a reduced their time waiting in ERs as well which can have an impact on both clinical treatment outcomes and patient satisfaction.

http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/er-wait-times-reduced-22-percent-advanced-ehrs

As hospitals in the United States gear up for being reimbursed in part by patient satisfaction results, leveraging state-of-the-art communication technology will be an important factor in keeping patients both happy and healthy.

Take care,

Michael