https://assets.hillrom.com/is/image/hillrom/GettyImages-1069880922_VOALTE-EXTEND-card?$recentlyViewedProducts$
article-detail-page
knowledge
close
language Country

3 Tips for Setting Up Clinical Communications in Alternate Care Settings

Close-up of a patient with IV using mobile device in hospital bed
To increase bed capacity and accommodate a surge in critically ill patients, some hospitals are using alternate care areas that may not be equipped with the physical infrastructure of traditional care settings. So how can patients request assistance without access to a fully wired nurse call system?

Hospital leaders in Massachusetts faced this challenge with ingenuity when setting up Boston Hope, a 1,000-bed field hospital in the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center to treat low acuity and recovering COVID-19 patients.  

In a matter of days, the team deployed a cloud-hosted communications solution that uses hospital-loaned tablets for patients to send requests to assigned caregivers on their smartphones. 

We didn’t have call bells… but we needed a way to hear from the patients.  Two-way communication with the patient is key. 

Dr. Matthew Hutter, Gastrointestinal Surgeon, Massachusetts General Hospital and Chief of Clinical Operations, Boston Hope Hospital