While healthcare organizations public and private alike are embracing mobile technologies, and some government agencies are even leading that charge, the healthcare realm in general is new to unified communications (UC), including mobile UC.
Operating under the assertion that now is the time to invest in UC, analyst house IDC Health Insights published a report titled Unified Communications Optimizing Healthcare Operational Performance that, among other things, suggested health entities “take incremental steps to get started on improving communications and overcoming some of the historical impediments to utilizing new technology in healthcare.”
And so IDC Health Insights presented six actions to consider:
1. Identify the communication problem the organization seeks to solve.
2. Identify quick wins to demonstrate value and gain user acceptance.
3. Assess current UC technologies and leverage them when possible.
4. Identify highly inefficient communications processes.
[Related post on MobileHealthWatch: Understanding mhealth in a fragmented market.]
5. Engage physician and nurse champions for clinical communication processes.
6. Look to early adopters both inside and outside the healthcare industry for lessons learned and best practices.
"Although healthcare providers are relatively early in the UC and mobile UC adoption cycle," writes Lynne A. Dunbrack, program director, IDC Health Insights, "a confluence of factors, including an evolving reimbursement model that underscores the need for connectivity, better communication among care teams, and collaborative care, will lead to greater investment in mobile UC technologies by healthcare providers over the next 18 to 24 months."
