Customized Interactive Solution Increases Patient Satisfaction and Provides Joint Commission-Compliant Patient Education
Brigham and Women’s Hospital and LodgeNet Healthcare, a division of LodgeNet Interactive Corporation (NASDAQ: LNET), announced an agreement that brings the LodgeNetRXTM Interactive Patient Television System to more than 700 patient beds at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Brigham and Women’s Hospital, an internationally renowned teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, launched the system this July to provide patients with access to on demand entertainment and patient specific education.
In support of this agreement, LodgeNet completely re-designed the hospital’s patient TV network and installed the company’s video on demand (VOD) movies, music, and its patient education management solution (which, when fully implemented, will be provided in conjunction with Patient Edu, LLC).
“We did a thorough evaluation of interactive system options in the market and selected the most reliable, proven and scalable system to support our goals of better educating and empowering patients,” said Jennifer Nadelson, MBA, administrative director, Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “LodgeNet’s track record and expertise in planning, managing, and implementing their solutions assured us that the project would be handled professionally and efficiently.”
“The LodgeNet installation crew was professional and handled our cable plant and infrastructure project seamlessly,” added Nadelson. “We look forward to enhancing our patient experiences in the future with the features of this new system.”
A growing number of hospitals now offer hotel-like amenities to ease the stress of hospital stays, and a recent survey conducted by LodgeNet showed that hospitals with interactive patient television systems enjoyed greater patient satisfaction ratings and other benefits than hospitals without such systems. The research supported a key theme that is well recognized by hospital employees: when patients have easy access to rich interactive media, entertainment content and medical information, they feel more empowered and satisfied with their experiences. In addition, U.S. hospitals see some five million re-admissions a year, and experts cite better patient education as one potential opportunity to reduce this number.
Ann Furey, RN, Patient Education Program manager, said, “LodgeNet Healthcare and Patient Edu, LLC are working with my team to better understand our Patient Education Program principles. Brigham and Women’s Hospital strives for excellence in all aspects of patient care, and patient education is no exception. We intend to advance our efforts toward this goal through the application of this solution in our patient interactions.”
“To have such a prestigious hospital rely on LodgeNet for their patient education and entertainment needs speaks volumes about the service they know we can deliver,” said Gary Kolbeck, vice president of Healthcare Business Development for LodgeNet. “Our system can benefit not only the patient but the hospital as well with improved operational efficiencies.”
Brigham and Women’s Hospital is consistently ranked among the top American hospitals and has been ranked on US News and World Report’s Honor Roll of America’s best hospitals for 11 consecutive years. It is the only hospital in the nation to be named for eight consecutive years to Solucient’s list of Top 100 Hospitals. In 2008, it was recognized by the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) for being one of five top performing academic medical centers in the country in a quality and safety benchmarking study.
The LodgeNetRX Interactive Patient Television System is a leading solution supporting a growing trend in which more hospitals and healthcare facilities are seeking to deploy interactive TV systems as a way of better informing and empowering patients throughout the continuum of care. For more information, please visit the LodgeNet Healthcare Website at http://www.lodgenetrx.com/.