Arizona Hospitals Use mHealth to Connect With Patients in the ED

Four Arizona hospitals and two free-standing emergency health centers have launched an mHealth platform that gives patients and their families real-time updates on their mobile devices about wait times and next steps.

Dignity Health’s St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, Chandler Regional Medical Center, Mercy Gilbert medical Center and St. Joseph’s Westgate Medical Center and free-standing EDs in Glendale and Litchfield Park are using Vital’s ERAdvisor to reduce ED traffic – particularly during the surge in COVID-19 cases – and improve care coordination.  The connected health service offers text-messaging and updates on wait times, progress on labs and imaging, information about care teams and other resources and is personalized to reflect the patient’s care needs and language.

“We’re helping to assure patients that we’re taking the appropriate steps to make sure they are well-cared for when they are at our Dignity Health hospitals, while also allowing our team to communicate directly with patients all along their visit,” Jessica Allen, Chandler Regional’s Emergency Department clinical director, said in a press release.

According to health system officials, the platform is integrated with the hospital’s electronic health record to ensure the data is up-to-date and accurate, and includes a discharge summary that is sent to the patient’s primary care provider for care coordination. The text-messaging feature allows care teams to communicate with patients and their family members to ask and answer any questions.

The program reflects a trend across the country in improving patient engagement and care coordination via mHealth messaging. It’s driven by a need to reduce wait times for patients and waiting room traffic fpr hospitals, medical practices and clinics. And while it has picked up during the pandemic as a strategy for reducing the spread of the virus on waiting rooms, health systems were using mHealth and telehealth tools before COVID-19 as a means of improving the patient experience.

The platform can address some significant bottlenecks for providers. Surveys have shown that patient satisfaction rates can be 20 percent lower in the ED, as compared to other parts of the hospital, and as many as 90 percent of patients discharged from the ED have incomplete follow-up plans. In addition, almost 40 percent of those discharges aren’t ready when they’re let go, and don’t have transportation waiting for them to get home.

Prior to using this platform, Dignity Health officials said their waiting rooms were much busier, with patients and their family members often asking staff for updates. Now those questions are asked and answered online.

This platform could evolve as well, offering connections between patients and providers in other departments and giving providers a means of connecting both before and after hospital visits to facilitate check-in and registration, explain upcoming procedures, manage prescriptions and map out outpatient recovery and rehabilitation plans.