When NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens first began its journey to improve its technology, they were still using satellite feeds distributed through old-fashioned CRT TV sets. Today, 250 high-definition smart TVs from LG Business Solutions USA running TigrPX patient-engagement software, designed and implemented by healthcare TV solutions provider TeleHealth Services, now offer important education while continually enhancing the comfort and overall patient experience across the facility.
Greg Mahabee, Manager of Special Projects, Department of External Affairs, said in a press release, “We knew if we could create a quality platform that’s easy to use and puts patients in control, they’d be more comfortable. And what works here in Queens can eventually be used across our entire hospital system.”
Digital Education
The HDTVs were chosen based on room dimensions to ensure patients could clearly and comfortably see everything on-screen while the team at TeleHealth Services ensured that the devices could receive cable entertainment channels alongside educational and informational channels distributed over the hospital’s network. The intuitive, tiled home screen gives users access to TV content, hospital information—such as pharmacy hours, locations and more—a set of programmable preferences and a catalog of patient education.
“We recommended the LG TVs because they’re designed especially for healthcare and are ideally suited for running our interactive platform without any extra media devices,” said Jim Stratos, TeleHealth Outcomes Manager overseeing the NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens rollout, in a press release. “Our system runs on the hospital’s data backbone then jumps off, if you will, and makes that last stretch to the in-room TVs over coaxial cable. So, we didn’t have to run wires or open ceilings and we could install the system safely, under challenging circumstances, without disrupting patient care.”
The TigrPX System
The TigrPX system interfaces with the hospital’s admission, discharge, and transfer (ADT) system to identify who is in each room, communicating with nurses’ station computers so staff can assign appropriate content for each patient. At launch, TeleHealth had a library of about 250 education videos in English and Spanish where nurses could pull materials. Today, that content library has doubled.
“Previously, there would be lots of information to give patients just as they were leaving the hospital,” Sdrewski said. “Now, with the new interactive TV system, we have a chance to start educating them much earlier. We can schedule videos based on their prognosis, including content that helps reinforce prescribed treatment or medications they should be taking. There are even videos to help them relax.”
Improved Patient Satisfaction
Since the introduction of the new technology, the hospital’s patient satisfaction scores have already improved. Early indications show many use and enjoy the system, and the nurses know people are getting the health education they need.
For nurses, this means they have more of an opportunity to deliver more personalized care. Less time educating patients means more time to treat patients, thanks to the LG/TigrPX solution.
But NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens isn’t planning on stopping with the current set-up. Enhancements for the solution are already underway, with plans to integrate it into the hospital’s medical records systems, enable patients to request services through the TVs and expand the education library to expand to more languages, as well as installing LG TVs in even more care spaces throughout the facility.
“The LG hospital TVs and TeleHealth TigrPX solution give our patients different ways to educate themselves without nurses handing them a whole bunch of information,” said Sdrewski. “Some are visual learners; some are auditory learners. I’m looking forward to after COVID when more patients can sit with family members and watch videos together and ask pointed questions about their care.”
Another version of this article previously appeared on Commercial Integrator.
