The communication, collaboration, and coordination benefits of new healthcare technologies don’t pop out of the shipping boxes or gush from Internet connections. Just throwing technology at people in any environment nearly always guarantees failure, even if participants are willing to give it a go. Medical environments, under constant scrutiny and pressure, justifiably resist any new technology that doesn’t work with existing systems. We’ve written about telemental health implementation, implementation barriers to hypertension self-management, electronic health record systems implementation, and more. Successful health tech implementation demonstrably requires careful planning and well-thought-out strategy.
The mobile communications company Spectralink recently released a white paper in the form of an ebook that addresses clinical smartphone implementation. “Six Steps to Developing a Successful Clinical Smartphone Strategy,” available for free download, focuses on a specific device, but the step progression applies to enterprise-wide information system addition. Clinical smartphones aren’t the same as consumer smartphones. Configured for high-security patient care environments, clinical smartphones connect via Wi-Fi instead of the normal cell phone signals. The phones’ management features enable secure, reliable, consistent communication in all locations within the operation, typically an entire hospital.
SpectraLink’s’ six steps are: define the overall vision for mobile tech, identify communications and information flow requirements and issues, evaluate enterprise-class solutions, assess the current IT infrastructure, implement a proof of concept and a pilot program, and address implementation and operation issues including training and support. Download the white paper for SpectraLink’s full report and breakdown.
