The hospital and healthcare industry is one of the few industries that still uses obsolete communication technologies, such as pagers, and the cumulative effect of relying on those systems costs the sector $5.15 billion every year, according to a report from the Ponemon Institute.
The report surveyed 577 healthcare professionals and found that old, inefficient communication systems cost the average hospital almost $1 million annually. Here are other major findings from the report:
• Physicians, nurses and other caregivers waste an estimated 45 minutes per day on average due to the use of outdated technology. This included inefficient pagers, as well as a lack of new technology, such as Wi-Fi. Many respondents also said the ability to use personal mobile devices, smartphones and email also prohibited productivity.
• The average patient discharge time is 101 minutes, but almost two-thirds of respondents said secure text messaging could cut that time by 50 minutes.
• More than half of respondents said HIPAA compliance can be a challenge to effective, efficient patient care.
The report surveyed 577 healthcare professionals and found that old, inefficient communication systems cost the average hospital almost $1 million annually. Here are other major findings from the report:
• Physicians, nurses and other caregivers waste an estimated 45 minutes per day on average due to the use of outdated technology. This included inefficient pagers, as well as a lack of new technology, such as Wi-Fi. Many respondents also said the ability to use personal mobile devices, smartphones and email also prohibited productivity.
• The average patient discharge time is 101 minutes, but almost two-thirds of respondents said secure text messaging could cut that time by 50 minutes.
• More than half of respondents said HIPAA compliance can be a challenge to effective, efficient patient care.
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