With their park views, spacious layouts, expansive beds, and comfortable sofas, it’s easy to confuse the patient rooms at our brand-new Temple Women & Families Hospital with hotel suites. And the enormous flat-screen TVs look like the perfect way to watch your favorite show—but there’s also much more to them than meets the eye.
“Patients can use their televisions to meet with specialists, hold video calls with friends and family, receive bedside language translation services, watch prescribed educational videos, and order meals,” explains John Kissko III, MD, Medical Director of Temple Women & Families Hospital. “We’re using the latest technology to empower patients and make their experience as seamless as possible.”
Increased Visibility—and Trust
At the new hospital, Uniguest’s pCare software powers our televisions and is fully integrated with our electronic medical record (EMR) system, so nurses and other care team members can pull up a patient’s chart on the TV in their room.
“This is the first hospital in the Philadelphia area to have an EMR-based interactive TV system, says Monica Olaff, pCare’s Vice President of Client Services. “The days of using a dry erase board and hunting for a marker are over. The TV automatically populates with the patient’s specific information, like their vital signs and daily goals. Having that information immediately accessible enhances care.”
Each TV also lists the members of a patient’s care team, so patients can see who’s involved in their stay. “Having that kind of information visible is really important,” Dr. Kissko says. “It helps patients feel more comfortable communicating with their doctors and nurses, and builds relationships—and trust—between patients and their care teams.”
Instantly-Accessible Services
Thanks to the cameras on each TV, our exceptional on-site physicians can collaborate with specialists from other Temple Health campuses, if necessary.
“Specialists can call in any time, at the patient’s convenience,” Dr. Kissko explains. “The cameras can move around the room and zoom in as much as the physician needs. It’s such a convenient and high-tech way to be able to see patients in real time.”
And while Temple Women & Families Hospital offers comprehensive on-site translation services, a translator can also have a live video call with a patient and their care team via the in-room TV.
“We serve a large Spanish-speaking population, so this is absolutely essential,” Dr. Kissko says. “I’m very excited that we’re able to offer these features to our patients.”
A Top-of-the-Line Experience
A patient’s physician can also assign educational videos on topics like breastfeeding and car safety to make the transition to parenthood easier. And, of course, patients and their loved ones can order meals from the bedside, via their TVs—a little luxury that goes a long way.
“We want every part of the delivery experience at Temple Women & Families Hospital to feel easy and comfortable,” Dr. Kissko says. “Our goal was to give them a big upgrade from what they might get anywhere else, because our patients deserve that. I’m so proud that we have the opportunity to provide it to them.”