Using Technology to Navigate the Nursing Shortage
Guest Blog – Author: Mike Knebel, CEO at Forward Advantage
During this year’s National Nurses Week, Interlace Health, the next generation of FormFast, posted on a topic we’re all keenly aware of right now – the nationwide nursing shortage. The demand for nurses is at an all-time high while the supply is at an unprecedented low. Why is this? Job burnout is at the core with many nurses feeling overworked and underappreciated. This has led to large numbers retiring, transitioning to new roles in healthcare, or taking up new professions. Healthcare organizations feel the pressure, too, with the end of the Public Health Emergency funds and the need to accomplish more with less resources.
Interlace Health’s post provides examples of how technology and automation can reduce nursing workload, and they asked Forward Advantage to participate in the conversation. I’ve devoted the majority of my career to healthcare IT, and my wife is a day surgery nurse at a children’s hospital, so this is a topic near and dear to my heart. “People over paperwork” is Interlace Health’s motto and it’s one our company stands by too. In response, we’re shining the spotlight on biometric patient identification and single sign-on for clinical mobile devices. From the moment a patient steps into the hospital, to any point of care, these solutions put time back into a nurse’s day so that it can be spent where it belongs – with the patient.
Advanced Biometrics for Patient Identification
Duplicate records, identity theft, and changing regulations can make quick and accurate identification of patients a real headache for many organizations and their nurses. Biometric patient identification promotes safe, quick, and accurate patient care by eliminating the need for manual lookups, while also decreasing duplicate records and the potential for identity fraud. The technology uses advanced palm-vein pattern scanning to identify patients at any point of care directly from the registration screen. Not only is biometric patient identification more efficient with less potential for error, but it also allows for expedited care in emergency scenarios where a patient might not be able to identify themselves. This is a true example of people over paperwork.
Single Sign-On for Clinical Mobile Devices
Single sign-on (SSO) is broadly deployed in today’s hospitals and healthcare organizations because of its time-saving potential. The technology uses either fingerprint readers or proximity badges to quickly sign clinical staff in and out of workstations with the touch of a fingerprint or tap of a badge. By eliminating the need to remember multiple, complex passwords, SSO reduces provider frustration to expedite care. It also enhances security as staff are more likely to log out of workstations and less likely to write passwords down. If your nurses currently log on and off shared workstations using proximity badges, consider extending this convenience to your clinical mobile devices. SSO can be integrated with leading mobile devices like Honeywell, Zebra, and others so these devices are easily unlocked and locked with a simple badge tap. This eliminates the tedious entry of usernames and passwords at each device, which encourages user adoption and improves productivity for more in-person patient care.
For a real-life example of SSO for mobile device access, read this customer success story featuring Interlace Health and Forward Advantage customer King’s Daughters Medical Center. The hospital uses MEDITECH Expanse POC with Zebra clinical mobile devices to essentially consolidate the EMR and scanner into one, hand-held device. “It’s patient-facing, so I can walk into a room and scan the patient, scan the med, administer the med, and document it all on one device,” shares Joe Farr, RN and clinical applications coordinator at King’s Daughters.
The Takeaway
Forward Advantage provides a wide range of solutions that improve efficiency, access to clinical information, and the patient’s overall experience. As an authorized reseller and implementer for Imprivata, we offer Imprivata PatientSecure and Imprivata Mobile Device Access. Eliminating duplicate patient records, along with too many passwords and log-on prompts, are two attainable ways that hospitals and healthcare organizations can alleviate the strain on today’s nurses and allow more time for in-patient care. We hope to keep the conversation going with more vendors contributing their ideas on how healthcare can do more with less – without sacrificing quality or security. Click here to read MEDITECH’s recent white paper on the evolution and implications of healthcare workforce challenges.
If you are interested in learning more about Forward Advantage’s identity and security solutions please visit forwardadvantage.com or email them at info@forwardadvantage.com.
About the Author: Mike Knebel, CEO at Forward Advantage
Mike Knebel is Chief Executive Officer for Forward Advantage. With over 30 years in healthcare, he has experience in organizations including payors, MSOs, IDNs, consulting, and as a vendor. He’s passionate about improving the delivery of care through better communication, information exchange, data security and building strong customer relationships and business partnerships.
