Dive Brief:
- The vast majority (81%) of CIOs recently surveyed by Spõk, Inc. said strengthening data security is their number one business goal for the next 18 months.
- Next in terms of priority goals are increasing patient satisfaction (70%) and improving physician satisfaction (65%), according to the survey, which was administered by CHIME.
- When asked which workflow they most hoped to improve with better mobile tools, 67% of CIOs cited “care team coordination for treatment planning."
Dive Insight:
Of the more than 100 CIOs surveyed, 68% said they are actively implementing secure text messaging, while 53% have an organization-wide mobility management system in place, Spõk notes.
As providers look to up patient satisfaction, many organizations are turning to mobile healthcare solutions to stay competitive in a value-based environment. The federal government is also urging use of more flexible and innovative workflow strategies and the Joint Commission lifted its ban on text messaging by doctors this year.
According to a recent survey by VDC Research, the top three investment drivers for mobile technologies in healthcare are improving patient satisfaction, improving mobile workforce productivity and enhancing patient experience, Health IT Outcomes reports. The three employee categories most likely to receive use mobile devices are executive management, doctors and nurses.
But the Spõk survey also showed physician acceptance can make or break an organization’s success with mobile technology. Sixty percent of CIOs identified physician adoption as the greatest challenge to rolling out a secure texting solution, while 78% said it is the best measure of success.
“Adoption of new technology requires change management to be most effective,” Andrew Mellin, chief medical officer of Spõk, said in a statement. “The organizations we’ve seen with the most successful secure text messaging rollouts first identify key clinical challenges and workflow frustrations for end users and then deploy the technology alongside process improvement and change management activities to demonstrate value to the provider, care team, and patient.”