Interactive patient television systems enhance a patient’s experience and could improve conditions for staff, according to a recent survey from LodgeNet Healthcare, a unit of LodgeNet Interactive Corp., Sioux Falls, S.D.

The LodgeNet system enables patient education, and allows patients to make nonclinical requests, such as asking for pillows or a room cleaning. The system also offers patients movies, music and games, similar to interactive television systems featured in hotels.

In a telephone survey of 400 people, 90 of whom had stayed in rooms with interactive systems and 310 who stayed in rooms without them, both groups said that being able to easily access features such as TV programming, medical information, meal menus and staff members was important. They were asked to rank the importance on a seven-point scale, with seven as “very important” and zero as “not at all important.” Both groups rated items from the features list from 5.22 to 6.64.

“Patients have begun to expect this kind of amenity, similar to what they have in their homes,” says Gary Kolbeck, vice president of business development for LodgeNet Healthcare. “We expect demand for these technologies to continue growing.”

The systems may also contribute to improved outcomes, Kolbeck says. The patients in hospitals with interactive systems were more likely to receive patient education to assist them with their care than those patients that were in hospitals without interactive systems, at 70 percent and 60 percent, respectively.

Nursing staff may also benefit from the systems. The survey showed that patients with interactive systems were less likely to make nonclinical requests of nurses. Of these patients, only 20 percent made such requests compared with 35.5 percent of the group of patients who did not have interactive systems.