AnMed Health is seeing bottom-line results and greater patient satisfaction after motivating hospital clinical care teams to leverage the SmarTigr patient education technology from TeleHealth Services, the nation’s leading provider of interactive patient engagement solutions.

AnMed Health, a multidisciplinary system with five hospitals and nearly 60 locations, set a goal to improve health literacy and Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) patient satisfaction scores. The foundation for the initiative was increasing the number of education videos viewed by patients and families. Patients are better educated and prepared for discharge and recovery following an annual 200 percent increase in the number of education videos viewed by patients. This achievement by the team led to:

· HCAHPS Scores – AnMed Health Medical Center realized a 2.44 percent increase in HCAHPS average scores while AnMed Health Woman’s and Children’s Hospital earned a 1.35 percent increase over a one-year period. Both hospitals also saw substantial improvements in HCAHPS discharge information scores.

· Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Points – AnMed Health earned an annual increase of two points (from two to four points) in the measuring system.

“Providing this important education to patients and families is a critical part of the recovery process,” said Paula Martin, RN, organizational development consultant at AnMed Health. “We’re pleased to have SmarTigr as our partner in patient engagement and education to help us reach our patient education, HCAHPS, and VBP goals.”

AnMed Health offers interactive patient education on a wide range of health topics and conditions, patient safety and disease prevention. Weekly emails and information meetings for nurses helped engage staff to create awareness and enthusiasm. Information was also shared with patients in English and Spanish about educational videos assigned by their doctors and clinical care team. Patients and family members were empowered to take an active role in care and recovery.

“Our SmarTigr system is an impactful technology partner in our culture of patient and family-centered care. It improves health literacy by providing another mode of learning, and allows patients and families to access important hospital information and education prior to discharge,” Martin said. “We needed nurses to be excited and to incorporate the technology into their daily workflow as an educational tool.”

The clinical staff uses the system’s StaffConnect dashboard from computers and mobile devices to prescribe education directly to patients. Patients view their My-To-Do list on their in-room television. StaffConnect allows the clinical team to monitor compliance, measure understanding and provide follow-up information as needed.

“By further integrating our patient engagement system into our daily education and clinical routine, our patients are being better prepared for discharge. Clinicians are also experiencing streamlined workflows, allowing them to focus more on their clinical tasks,” Martin said.

Value-based purchasing is part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) effort to improve healthcare by focusing incentive payments on the quality of care received. More than 3,500 hospitals across the nation are participating in the program.

“With healthcare reform incentives such as HCAHPS reimbursements and value-based purchasing, there is a growing emphasis for hospitals to create an optimal patient experience and educate patients about their care before they are discharged,” said Matt Barker, vice president of marketing for TeleHealth Services. “More than ever, hospitals are seeking technology partners to help create a coordinated-care model and exceed patient-centered goals to improve care and reduce readmissions.”

Learn more about AnMed Health, an affiliate of Carolinas HealthCare System, at www.AnMedHealth.org.

For more information on TeleHealth, visit www.telehealth.com.