According to a small study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, the use of “microblog” conversations - short, quick texts, images and files - can be an effective way to manage teams.
The research took place in a medical intensive care unit and two noncritical care units at a large academic medical center in Boston as part of its quality improvement efforts.
The upside of microblog technologies is providing a single place where all the conversations about a specific patient’s care live indefinitely on a virtual “wall” There’s no need to forward messages to new providers when a patient is transferred elsewhere. However, the challenge is doing so in a way that protects the patient’s privacy.
The key is having a HIPAA-compliant, web-based and mobile messaging application for these conversations.
Klara brings secure, encrypted cloud-based messaging to your practice.
The researchers used team-mapping functionality to help ensure messages were being sent to the right person; it routed messages to different people when there was a shift change, for instance.
With Klara, users can triage messages with regards to new staff, shift changes or a change in the needs of the conversation.
The study found that the system was typically used for patients admitted twice or more and with longer lengths of stay, and it was most often used for care coordination, clinical summarization and care team collaboration. Seventy-six percent of participants viewed all the messages.
Users liked the transparency and persistence of the conversations, according to the study.
Likewise, Klara users report high levels of satisfaction when able to be involved in their own health conversations.
The researchers found that there would be high value in using collaboration with external providers.
Klara allows you to coordinate with external providers and healthcare staff to ensure continuity of care. Klara is on the cusp of revolutionizing the healthcare industry as we know it.