Value of Integrating and Automating In-Hospital Room Technology

Ken Kleinberg, POCP Innovation lead and host for this episode kicked off the episode by welcoming guest, Scott King, Chief Technology Officer at Vibe Health, by eVideon and co-host,Pooja Babbrah, POCP’s Pharmacy & PBM Lead.Ken set up the episode topic explaining this episode will explore use cases and technology like hospital in-room technology integrated with the EHR and other systems that can keep the patient and their families informed as well as support provider staff. Ken explained that so often we talk about patient engagement and data access through the lens of patient-facing apps or ambulatory doctor visits but what about during hospital stays? The discussion will cover the use cases Vibe Health works to solve, the role of APIs, FHIR or not, and the interoperability landscape from policy to standards. Ken then asked Pooja to briefly introduce herself and for her to explain what she’s looking forward to exploring and learning today. Pooja explained that because a lot of her work in interoperability deals with client-facing data, she is really excited to learn more about the technology that is being used in-hospital rooms because that isn’t an environment normally discussed when thinking about patient-facing data.Scott King then introduced himself as the CTO of Vibe Health by eVideon. He went on to describe the Vibe Health platform as an interactive patient experience platform that is generally in and around the hospital room. He explained that over the last several years it’s also become a staff experience platform. Scott described that platform as running on multiple devices in the room like the smart television, digital whiteboards, companion bedside tablets, and digital signage outside the room. The idea is to put the right information and controls in the right place at the right time.Scott delved into the staff experience component of the platform by giving an example of the whiteboard in most patient rooms. Many times, the nurses are expected to keep the information on the whiteboard up to date, but when it’s digitized and the information can be taken directly from the patient record and displayed, the nurse’s time is freed up to focus on more important duties. Ken thanked Scott for providing the introduction and background information. Ken went on to set the stage a little more for the rest of the discussion by saying that, we so often think of patient access to their data, patient engagement, and education as happening between doctor visits or during a doctor visit but a patient’s experience during a hospital stay is also really critical. Ken went on to ask Scott to describe the unique challenges a patient might face in their hospital room and how smart-room technology including access to their data and customized education might help. Scott responded by saying that in the past the television and other tools in the hospital rooms were simply one-way mediums. The television was there to provide entertainment, and the whiteboard was there for the nurse to capture important information for the patient and other staff on duty but as technology has advanced, there are more opportunities to digitize these tools and make them interactive tools that can be more useful. Scott went on to compare hospital rooms equipped with interactive, smart TVs to hotel rooms where the patient can be greeted by name with personalized information on the screen. With smart TVs, the patient can use it to access relaxation content, set white noise to drown out beeps and buzzes common in the hospital setting. Additionally, it can be used as a tool to get the patient ready for discharge by using the smart TV for educational videos and content that will h