Enhancing Internal Healthcare Comms To Support Frontline Workers

The pandemic coupled with increased burnout and deflating wages has made for a serious cultural shift in healthcare workplaces around the world. These workspaces are now notorious for harbouring conditions that aren’t entirely comfortable. Neither are they streamlined. Healthcare workers are often busy balancing several tasks at once, with the anticipation of tackling on even more. They need easy, efficient communication streams that allow them to focus more on the mental and physical arithmetic of the day. With that in mind, it was worth highlighting the three main reasons internal comms platform are being utilised by healthcare workers. 

 

Death By Data

 

Healthcare workers are constantly drowned under a vast sea of information. And it comes from every direction. Employee benefits, protocols, bleeper alerts, admin… the list goes on. So much information in such little time makes for decision fatigue. It impedes the progression of the day and causes a drop in productivity. No wonder 44% of employees want a wider adoption of internal communication tools.  Data needs to be tailored to the specific group, person or entity it is being delivered to. Healthcare workers should only be met with information that is relevant to them specifically. Streamlining information and segmenting audiences in such a way is a vital cornerstone of the success of internal communication platforms in health workplaces.

 

Lack of Effective Communication

 

When there is a vast network of players trying to attend to a patient, things can often get lost in translation. Multiple decision makers of different ranks can make for an ineffective web of communication that can actually hinder medical treatment. Each decision maker needs access to the right data, opinions and conversations before being able to administer appropriate treatment. It is no wonder that healthcare workers reportedly waste more than 45 minutes per day as a result of inefficient communication systems. In order to solve this, healthcare workers need to be able to communicate in real time using an internal comms platform. No more emails, pagers, pdf’s, etc. They also need active and easy access to Electronic Patient Records (EHR) to access a patients needs, preferences, treatments, etc. Ofcourse, to do this there will also need to be adherence to any local data and health regulation laws. Finally, they need the ability to communicate in a crisis, or crisis comms. This feature of internal comms apps allows for the existence of a ‘release valve’ in the case of the unexpected, something far more common in a healthcare workplace than most others.

 

Worker Burnout

 

Burnout is the number one challenge healthcare workers face. This is not an easy workplace to adapt to. Even before the pandemic, this was an increasing problem. However, now with the introduction of remote work, more healthcare workers are looking to jump ship than ever before. The Great Resignation has massively impacted the healthcare industry. Is there a solution? These are workers who have studied and practiced medicine for years. This is their passion. They want to work here. They just need to feel appreciated and valued. That’s where an internal comms platform can come in. Employee services and benefits such as fun days, mental health services, physical activity initiatives, etc. can all be communicated and broadcasted to healthcare workers. It can take their mind off work, whilst also allowing them to understand how their employer is attempting to care for them.

 

 

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