NEW ORLEANS - Alocal hospital is the first in the area to use new technology to make your stay easier and more enjoyable, but the goal of this new technology is to keep you out of the hospital in the future.
Cheryl Morrow has been in her hospital room for four days. It can be boring and she's getting behind on some things. But yesterday that all changed.
"I was watching a movie this morning, in fact, because lots of times there's just nothing on TV and you get bored just sitting here. I've been able to check my e-mail and keep up with it so that's good," said Morrow, a patient at West Jefferson Medical Center.
West Jefferson Medical Center is installing a new system called " GetWellNetwork."There are movies,video games and internet access,so Cheryl could keep up with her e-mail and book airline tickets. But entertainment is not the main reason West Jeff is the first in the state to get this system. The real reason is improving your health.
"It had shown in other hospitals an increase in patient satisfaction and increase in the patient understanding of their disease process. And then they were able to actually do some things like decrease readmissions," saidAngela Greener, chief administrative officer of West Jefferson Medical Center.
A video playing in the room explains: "A sudden weight gain is the most important sign to look for. It could mean fluid is building up."
GetWellNetwork has a library of 350 medical videos about specific illnesses, medications for it and prevention,keeping you in better health once you leave, helping to keep you out of the hospital.
"We found that no matter how much you would educate a patient, when they were here and a health care professional would tell them about their disease we can only process so much information at one time. And you're not feeling well, so it was much more beneficial to that patient to be able to learn at their own pace," added Greener.
"So it was informative and helped me understand more of what was going on with me. I think it's a great learning tool for people," said Morrow.
And staying at home saves you and the hospital money.
"There are many times," Greener explains, "that the cost of caring for the patient is much higher than the reimbursement might be for that patient. And ultimately no body wants to be in the hospital if they don't have to."
And there are other benefits. Visitors can find out where the closest hotel or even vending machine is.You can call a chaplain, find out how to check on your bill, and you can send an instant message to different departments without taking a nurse away from medical duties. One click and workers in dietary were alerted food had not been delivered to a room.
They calledthen came to fix the problem within their 15 minute time limit, comparable to hotel room service, not a hospital stay.
The 'GetWellNetwork' will be free to patients.
