The Problem
Patient caregivers often have to wait hours in the waiting rooms of Duke Endoscopy units and operating rooms without information on the progress of their loved ones through the surgical process. Existing technology uses restaurant pagers or status boards to notify caregivers when they are required to return to the waiting room, and this waiting period can be very stressful to caregivers.
Our Solution
The GI Endoscopy Virtual Concierge leverages the patient flow tracking capability of the electronic health record to enable automated status notifications to patient caregivers. The tool pulls status updates from the Duke Epic platform to a secure server. From that server, the tool automatically and securely sends text messages to authorized caregiver phones. The clinical staff workflow is unchanged.
The goal of the DIHI funded project was to demonstrate the feasibility of automating messages to caregivers with each status change in GI endoscopy.
Impact
Concierge was implemented at Duke GI of Raleigh Endoscopy Unit March 2017. User engagement increased from 29% in April to 60% of patients in May.
Patient Satisfaction was highly favorable in a survey of users (N=46). 90% were satisfied with the information they received and 91% felt that the service was valuable.
98% would recommend the service again for their next procedure at Duke
Patient testimonials
- “Awesome Service”
- “Works well for if you want to leave the waiting room for anything”
- “It was great to be alerted and be a part of the process knowing exactly where the patient is.”
Staff satisfaction was universally positive. Benefits of this service to staff included:
- Decreased clinical staff times to contact family / drivers
- Improved communication of delays to patients
- Decreased the need for additional equipment (beepers / pagers)
