Josh Jordan

Wow! Was 2020 a doozie or what? COVID-19 took a toll on our healthcare system, resources, economy, and the way we do business. We survived rolling epicenters of virus surge on a national scale. Needless to say, it’s been a chaotic year. 

Have you ever had to coordinate care for a really sick patient that needed an immediate transfer or consult, and had to divert your attention away from the patient in order to get in touch with all the necessary team members? Have you ever been frustrated by just how much time and runaround it takes to get everyone on the same page? 

Physical distance is part of the package when you’re trying to coordinate care for patients. Whether you’re down the hallway or miles apart, getting the right information to the right people at the right time can be a challenge. That’s why having clear, established lines of communication is vital to successfully coordinating patient care.

These days, many of our most basic tasks and functions happen using the smart device in our pocket. 

“I need a pizza!” 

There is an app for that. 

“I need a new car.” 

There’s an app for that, too. 

In this digital age, we consume vastly increasing amounts of data. If you think about it, we will never again use as little data as we do today. Every day, all around us, we figure out there is an app for pretty close to everything, from scheduling appointments to checking our banking statement to getting a ride across town. While the phrase “there is an app for that” has become something of a cliché, there’s some truth to it.

Often times, I hear hospitals, coordinators, and providers say that one of their main goals is to improve treatment times for X condition, or Y service line. My next questions are almost always about their current processes. It never fails that during this conversation, we discover numerous “barriers” or “hurdles” the teams have when it comes to optimizing their processes. 

What would your life be like if one day someone came and took your smartphone away from you, never to be used again? I can tell you without a doubt, I would feel totally lost. In fact, I'd be pretty useless -- I remember very few phone numbers and even fewer email addresses! Plus, I can't even remember how we found our way to new restaurants or friend's houses in other cities before our map apps! 

As Americans, we all rely very heavily on our phones, tablets, and other devices (in fact, a recent survey found that 1 in 10 millennials would rather lose a finger than never use a smartphone again). I would also be embarrassed to admit how far I have driven to retrieve my device when left somewhere. I am willing to bet you're either laughing at me or with me at this point because you have done the same! The truth of the matter is that if our mobile technology is so prevalent in our everyday lives, then why shouldn’t we leverage mobile technology to make our jobs easier too?

There has long been a debate over how many words a video is worth.

If “a picture is worth a 1,000 words,” then if we strung 10 pictures together would that technically be a video's worth? It's not that simple to quantify, because video capabilities are priceless. When I look back at home videos of my children, for example, I realize they are literally priceless to me and my family. Using video to capture a moment lets the viewers transport themselves into that moment, whether in the past, or in real time. 

But beyond capturing these treasured family moments, video is also instrumental in healthcare, particularly in training new clinicians or in learning from others. This is not a new concept.

For being a society that wants everything instantly, medicine is taking its time. Think about it … while we have made leaps and bounds in medical best practices and procedures over the last 3 decades, communication around time sensitive emergencies is still stuck in the 1970s. Need to relay a message to 10 members of the care team? Better make 10 separate phone calls.