President Barack Obama has boiled his healthcare reform down to three objectives:

1. Offering affordable, compre­hensive, and portable coverage.
2. Containing spiraling health care costs and improving quality of care.
3. Promoting and strengthening prevention and pub­lic health.

As Americans it is our personal choice whether or not we agree with President Obama’s US healthcare reform plan.  Yet Americans of all political beliefs are united in the belief that the need for healthcare reform is necessary, due to the fact that America’s healthcare costs are growing faster than inflation and national incomes.  One of the proposed measures to lower healthcare costs (Healthcare Reform Objective #2) across the board is an emphasis on investing in healthcare Information Technology to improve patient care and efficiency.

Various studies show that improving hospital communications through wireless nurse call integration is an effective way to dramatically lower healthcare costs and improve patient care:

• University of Maryland’s Center for Health Information and Decision Systems released a study in 2006 that showed “Use of  [wireless nurse call integration] systems reduced overall mean time for completing a patient request by 51 percent.”  Also William Greskovich, the CIO at the 300 bed hospital where the study was performed, estimates that “the system helped save 1,500 hours of nurse time” over the 53 day period.

• A 2008 study showed that  hospitals with wireless nurse call integration received  “an increase of 10% to 60% excellence” in “promptness in responding to patient call bells.”  The 27 bed pediatric acute care inpatient unit that was the focus of the study initially scored only in the 40%-50% range.

America’s healthcare is extremely expensive relative to other industrialized countries, yet we don’t necessarily have the best healthcare.  With hospital care taking up approximently 31% of the national healthcare budget, any changes that lower hospital costs will dramatically lower our national healthcare costs.  Hospital investment in the nurse call system is certainly one good option to lower our healthcare expenses.

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To learn more about how Dalcon’s healthcare solutions can improve patient care while reducing the cost of healthcare, contact us at (877)WE-UNIFY (938-6439).