Articles

Tailored Technology - Neil J. Moore, FACHE, CEO, NYC Health + Hospital/Queens

When I arrived at NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens nearly one year ago to assume the position of CEO, the smart TVs available to all patients were one of the first things that caught my attention. A sophisticated system like this, I thought, tells people who come here for their healthcare that we are a hospital of choice, with top technology for improving patient experience. The fact that we can customize this equipment to communicate the exact information we want is nothing short of remarkable. I soon learned that what started as an upgrade of our hospital’s TV service evolved into something much more comprehensive.

An Individualized Approach
The advent of these smart TVs in patient rooms ushered in the dawning of telehealth at NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens, allowing the hospital to expand its educational abilities and tailor them to each patient according to their individual needs. This interactive healthcare system now exists in the Queens Cancer Center and in several departments throughout the hospital, including perioperative, labor and delivery, mother and baby, the regular medical-surgical unit, and the extended observation unit.

When NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens began its TV-replacement journey, it had been using an analog, low-definition satellite TV feed and distributing it to old, CRT-style (“tube”) televisions in patient rooms. The quality was poor, unreliable and a source of complaints from patients and their families. Today, the hospital has a network of about 250 high-definition smart TVs integrated to communicate over the facility’s existing coaxial cable infrastructure. The new TVs run patient-engagement software from one of the hospital’s vendor partners, creating a hotel-style environment for patients. The hospital can now offer patients important educational information while continually enhancing the patient experience through new technology. 

The vendor also has programmed an intuitive, tiled home screen on each of the TVs that gives users access to TV content; hospital information, such as pharmacy hours; a set of programmable preferences; and a catalog of patient education. These smart TVs interface with the hospital’s admission, discharge and transfer system to identify who is in each room. They communicate back and forth with nurses’ station computers, enabling staff to assign appropriate content to each patient and monitor whether they watch it. The system features a library of more than 500 videos in English and Spanish, as well as with closed captions.

One of the highlights of this new TV system is its flexibility in allowing NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens to produce its own videos catering to patients. In the past, information would be given to patients as they were leaving the hospital. With the new interactive system, staff can start educating patients much earlier. We can assign videos based on their prognosis, including content that helps reinforce prescribed treatment or medications. There are even videos to help anxious patients relax.

Improved Care
NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens’ nursing staff members have embraced the interactive system, recognizing its ability to assist with delivering improved care to more patients. The hospital’s HCAHPS satisfaction scores have already begun to advance since the smart TVs were implemented in fall 2020, with early indications demonstrating that patients use and enjoy the new system, and nurses know that people are getting the health education they need. For instance, the organization had its highest score in the past two years on six of the 10 inpatient questions/domains. Ultimately, nurses can spend more time treating patients and less time reviewing the important information now offered through the system.

NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens has already begun making further improvements to the smart TV system. Plans are underway to integrate it with the hospital’s EHR to allow nurses to select and assign patient videos directly from the patient’s electronic record, making the process faster and more convenient for the nursing staff.

Merging Technology With a Human Touch
In its ongoing quest to become a truly person-centered healthcare facility, NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens recently has embarked on a journey to become Planetree-certified. A patient founded the Planetree healthcare model in 1978 as a way of restoring a greater sense of compassion and partnership in the caregiving process. The organization is committed to enhancing healthcare from the patient’s perspective. Delivering person-centered care involves caring for patients beyond their condition and tailoring the hospital’s service to suit patients’ individual needs. It’s about respecting them and their individual priorities and collaborating with them to determine the best course of action in their treatment.

To achieve Planetree certification, NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens will strive to marry new technology with the human touch in everything it does. The system will work to engage staff to become patient advocates: to put themselves in the patient’s shoes and employ more empathy and sensitivity in all they do.

—Adapted from “Tailored Technology,” Healthcare Executive, Neil J. Moore, FACHE, CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens