Dive Brief:
- Nurses should see explosive growth in mobile communication solutions aimed at their profession, largely because they been ignored for quite some time.
- 42% of hospitals still rely on pagers, overhead speaker systems or landline phones for their nurses, even though 67% have nurses who are already using their own smart phones for professional communications, according to a new report from Spyglass Consulting.
- More than 50% of hospitals surveyed by Spyglass are evaluating enterprise-class nursing smartphone solutions, many of which will integrate with the hospital's PBX, clinical information systems, devices and nurse call systems.
Dive Insight:
Why are hospitals just beginning to support nurses with mobile solutions, while physician solutions are already maturing? According to Spyglass, it's largely because nurses are looked upon as the largest single line item on the balance sheet, while doctors are seen as revenue generators. But Spyglass researchers suggest that it's critical to include nurses in the mobile expansion, or it's unlikely that they'll be able to communicate, collaborate and coordinate care in the way that they need to under the Affordable Care Act.