By giving paramedics these tools, King’s Daughters has improved the safety and efficiency of patient transfers, made necessary interventions available sooner, and enhanced patient outcomes.

Secure and efficient communication between facilities
Ringgold County Hospital in Iowa uses secure communication tools to share patient information internally, as well as with other facilities. For example, an ER patient was diagnosed with a broken hip after technicians took several x-rays. The images were placed on a CD and sent with the patient upon transfer to another hospital for surgery. Unfortunately, the surgical hospital could not read the images. Using Ringgold’s secure platform, ER staff sent the x-ray images via text, eliminating the need for costly duplicate scans, saving the patient from additional radiation exposure, and improving time to treatment.
Better care team collaboration
A high-risk patient with one or more chronic conditions sees an average of seven doctors across four practices, while a surgery patient typically receives treatment from 27 different healthcare providers. Health records, including plans of care, are often stored in siloed systems and not easily shared between providers, making care team collaboration difficult and increasing the risk of medical errors.

For patients receiving care from multiple providers, care team members can establish secure communication using patient-centered chat tools. These tools make it easy for care team members to share care plans, consult with one another via text, and alert others to critical updates like changes in a patient’s status or a medication change.

A hospice organization in Texas recently experienced the benefits of group chats to address the needs of a high-risk patient quickly. After meeting with a client experiencing depression, one of the group’s certified nursing assistants alerted her fellow care team members using the hospice’s secure texting application. When the assigned social worker saw the message, she was able to quickly make an unscheduled same day visit to check on the patient.

Connecting with patients and families
With HIPAA compliant and secure communication tools, healthcare providers can stay connected with patients and their families, too. At East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, nurses in the neo-natal ICU text daily messages and photos to babies’ parents, as well as receive messages from families seeking additional updates. The solution allows family members to stay engaged in their baby’s care and have peace of mind; it’s also reduced the number of incoming phone calls to the NICU, boosting nurse productivity, and allowing nurses to focus attention on their infant patients.

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