Improving Internal Communications Leads to 50% Stroke Workflow Improvement

TigerConnect has seen its customers improve their stroke workflows by more than 50% when staff have access to and embrace the use of communication technology. By delivering the right information to the right person when and where they need it, organizations are able speed up patient care in an area where every second matters.

Healthcare IT Today sat down with Will O’Connor, M.D., Chief Medical Information Officer at TigerConnect, to find out how these results were achieved and why improving internal communications can have such an impact.

Every Second Matters for Stroke Patients

According to the CDC, more than 795,000 people in the US experience a stroke every year. Approximately 87% of those strokes are ischemic – where blood flow to the brain is blocked. Without blood, the brain loses 1.9 million neurons each minute.

The sooner a patient can be treated, the more likely they will make a full recovery. The longer it takes to treat them, the more likely they will have permanent cognitive and physical impairment.

“The important metric when it comes to a stroke is door-to-needle time,” explained Dr. O’Connor. “The sooner a patient with acute ischemic stroke – or AIS – can be given intravenous tissue plasminogen activator – or tPA – the more likely they are to have a good outcome.”

The recommended door-to-needle time in the US is 60 minutes or less.

Removing the Information Barrier

“We want to make that door-to-needle time as fast as possible for our customers,” said Dr. O’Connor. “We do that by working with them to understand every step in their process. We break it down and help optimize each step. We also help to ensure that we deliver the right information to the right person at the right time.”

The TigerConnect communication platform, removes the information barrier between staff. Instead of having to figure out who the neurologist on call is, TigerConnect users can just press a button and be connected to the right person right away. This simple improvement can shave minutes from the overall process.

According to Dr. O’Connor these process improvements have three significant positive impacts:

  1. Cost Reduction. Treating patients faster reduces the average length of stay which in turn reduces the overall cost of care for the organization and more importantly, for the patient.
  2. Quality of Care. Faster treatment – especially for emergency situations like stroke, heart attack, and sepsis – improves outcomes.
  3. Experience. For patients, a shorter stay, better outcomes, and faster treatment are preferred. For staff, streamlining processes by removing information friction reduces frustration.

“Our customers have seen their door-to-needle times for stroke workflows drop from 60 minutes to around 15 or 20 minutes when using our solution,” shared Dr. O’Connor.

Watch the interview with Will O’Connor, M.D. to learn:

  • What other important metrics healthcare organizations use to gauge their workflow effectiveness
  • How customers have reacted to the streamlined workflows
  • Why TigerConnect is one of the favorite applications used by hospital staff

Learn more about TigerConnect at https://tigerconnect.com/

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TigerConnect is a sponsor of Healthcare Scene.

About the author

Colin Hung

Colin Hung is the co-founder of the #hcldr (healthcare leadership) tweetchat one of the most popular and active healthcare social media communities on Twitter. Colin speaks, tweets and blogs regularly about healthcare, technology, marketing and leadership. He is currently an independent marketing consultant working with leading healthIT companies. Colin is a member of #TheWalkingGallery. His Twitter handle is: @Colin_Hung.

   

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