Mission Hospital and TeleHealth Services Launch Interactive Patient Education System to Increase Patient Satisfaction, Improve Health Outcomes and Reduce Hospital Re

Online, March 14, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Asheville, NC and Raleigh, NC - TeleHealth Services is partnering with Mission Hospital to deploy TeleHealth's TIGR ®Advanced Platform (AP) interactive patient education system on Mission's two adjoining Asheville campuses. Designed to help increase patient satisfaction, improve health outcomes and reduce hospital readmissions, this comprehensive solution is focused on supporting patient care with more active participation of patients and their families in education and recovery. Mission is integrating the system across 750 beds on the Asheville campus, and is the first system in North Carolina to incorporate TIGR AP as part of the System's initiative to ensure their patients receive the finest services across the continuum of care.

The TIGR system offers video-on-demand access to patient education materials across all units in the hospital. As part of the Hospital's focus on reducing readmissions, more than 75 titles can now be recommended by nurses for each patient. Most of the on-demand programming features and titles are available in Spanish as well as English.

Barbara Marsh, RN, BSN, MHS, CPAN, a Mission Hospital Nursing Education Specialist, helped choose and implement the new system in a joint effort with the organization's IT and Facilities departments. She also coordinated nurse training. According to Marsh, the hospital was anxious to enhance their patient education system, but in the midst of an ongoing technological upgrade, needed a solution that would work with both analog and digital technologies until the two campuses were able to complete their digital transformation.

Mission Hospital already offered video education to its patients through an older, looped system, said Marsh, and wanted to find every possible way to help patients understand their conditions and learn what they need to do to help manage their own care. "As we continued working to upgrade our facility technology services, we also wanted to improve the overall patient experience by collaborating with a sophisticated, interactive patient education system provider," she explained. "We chose TeleHealth Services because it offered an enterprise platform that could be deployed immediately across our existing infrastructure, while providing an integrated end-to-end solution for future services and system expansion."

Within a couple of months, according to Marsh, the system will be fully integrated with the hospital's Electronic Medical Records system. "Nurses like the flexibility and ease of use that allows you to integrate patient care and education seamlessly," she added. "The system is simple for patients and families to access and understand. Nobody wants to be in a hospital, but while they're here, there's a lot they can learn about their condition and recovery, and the more they know, the less likely it is that they will be readmitted."

"TIGR enables hospitals to improve the patient experience while increasing the value, quality and service of healthcare delivery," said Dan Nathan, general manager of TeleHealth Services. "TIGR's enterprise system value is to provide a patient-centered technology offering coordinated and consistent care across the whole health system. This helps improve the quality of care and the patient experience. TIGR simplifies education delivery while providing automated service recovery for systems to proactively respond to patient feedback. These process improvements and system engineering principles enhance outcomes, ensure safety and increase patient satisfaction."

"Our interactive suite of products is the only enterprise-class comprehensive solution for hospital systems and their affiliated providers," Nathan added. "Patient engagement is a top priority in healthcare, and TeleHealth continues to lead the way by delivering solutions that can help healthcare providers easily and quickly achieve their goals. TIGR's broad portfolio offers hospitals tools they need to lower costs and provide consistent practices."

About Mission Hospital:
Mission Hospital, the flagship hospital of Mission Health System, is a not-for-profit community hospital that serves as the regional referral center for Western North Carolina and the adjoining region. According to Thomson Reuters, Mission Health System is ranked among the top 15 health care systems in the country, and Mission Hospital is the busiest surgical hospital in North Carolina. Mission Hospital offers physician services in more than 50 specialties, and employs more than 6,000 people, including over 1,800 RNs. Mission Hospital is committed to serving its community and improving the health of the people in Western North Carolina

About TeleHealth Services:
With more than 2,500 healthcare clients across the country, TeleHealth Services is the nation's leading provider of integrated technology and communications solutions for the healthcare market. Combining 50+ years of healthcare expertise and partnerships with industry-leading manufacturers, TeleHealth Services is uniquely positioned to offer a full suite of hospital technology solutions that includes:

•Interactive patient- and staff-education platforms
•Healthcare-grade televisions and accessories
•Patient protection and security systems
•Bedside patient-entertainment solutions
•The latest educational and entertainment content
•Custom-designed communication systems
•Comprehensive design, implementation, and service packages
•Flexible financing solutions

Headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., TeleHealth Services is a division of Telerent Leasing Corporation. Telerent, founded in 1957, operates as a subsidiary of ITOCHU International, Inc. For more information on TeleHealth, call 877-432-9076, or visit http://www.telehealth.com/.

Contact:
Matt Barker
Vice President of Marketing
TeleHealth Services
919-772-8604
[email protected]