Many organisations in this day and age have a vision to become completely paperless – not only will this be a giant step towards protecting the environment, but it will increase efficiency, improve accessibility, and help to significantly cut costs where appropriate.
Hospitals up and down the UK create and develop their own digital strategy with goals for up to 5 years, to work towards enhancing patient and clinician experiences, as well as providing a safe and efficient environment for their local community.
According to Health Europa, data revealed that 62% of Trusts have plans to digitise all patient records – with 12% already fully digitised and a further 21% aiming to become fully digitised.
WiFi SPARK has made it a mission to help as much as possible in contributing to strategies that the individual Trusts create, as commitments are in place to making the best use of digital technology and understanding the needs for NHS staff and their patients.
Within the innovative SPARK® Media platform, there are a number of beneficial ways we can support Trust’s goals to help them become a paperless industry. Including:
SPARK® Media: Print
Staff & patients will be able to access free print from a large digital publication library including Newspapers and Magazines, available to read from their own devices as many times as desired.
Did you know? If NHS Trusts switch to SPARK® Media: Print, this will save patients 99.9% of the cost of paying for the same paper magazines.
As well as cost saving benefits, you can reduce the risk of spreading infection on shared literature in waiting rooms, staff rooms and reception areas, and users can continue to stay up to date with current affairs and their favourite articles, increasing customer satisfaction and dwell time.
SPARK® Media: Engage
Electronic meal ordering – a fantastic feature that will enhance patient experience, to give patients the opportunity to order meals directly from their bedside unit. This service provides the patient with a detailed menu they can choose from, so they have control over what they wish to eat.
Staff will not have to worry about handing out and collecting orders from each bedside. Instead, the orders can be quickly submitted, and the information logged automatically so there’s no room for human errors. Staff will then have the freedom to focus on important day to day tasks.
Per year, the average Trusts could save 237,250 sheets of paper and up to £182,000 on food wastage.
Further beneficial features include monitoring food waste and which foods are most popular, allowing for strategic menu planning and thus further reducing food waste and increasing financial savings.
In addition to the reduction in food costs, the printing and distributing of menu cards and tick box lists will no longer be a necessity.
Electronic surveys – there is a demonstrable need for Hospitals to actively seek out patient feedback in order to meet the challenges of enhancing patient experience. One of the key themes identified is the importance of listening to patients, in real time, and using that feedback to improve outcomes.
Trusts are now able to look past the lengthy, generic paper forms, which often take up valuable time preparing, printing out and passing around to patients and visitors.
Instead, Trusts can create digital surveys that are personal to their organisation and include any specific messaging they’re wanting to convey.
Investing in Real Time Patient Feedback from Hospedia has been validated by Deloitte to deliver financial benefits worth at least £250k per annum in a typical Hospital.
WiFi SPARK can host surveys onto 53,500 bedside units to reach patients at the bedside, offering advice and support to patients and staff members along the way.
Trusts are able to effortlessly view the results, freeing up more time to work on driving those improvements, and undoubtedly, will save paper and effort collating responses.
If healthcare teams work to implement more advanced survey strategies, they will be able to positively impact their patients' experience.
WiFi SPARK’s advanced services are steps in the right direction in helping Trusts achieve their goals to becoming paperless.
Digital transformation within healthcare can deliver multiple benefits, from improving clinical outcomes to patient user experience, and we want to ensure that we continue to deliver solutions that solve real issues within the industry.
Find out more about SPARK® and how the features will transform your Trust.
About the author
Ria Stevens
From helpful strategies to benefits of patient WiFi and entertainment, check out articles written by our Marketing Assistant, Ria Stevens, for all the latest healthcare and SPARK TSL news.
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