Monroe Hospital Goes Mobile with Smartphone App
Bloomington, IN and Denver, CO (PRWEB) February 15, 2012: Monroe Hospital announced today that they are reaching out to the growing number of smartphone users through a partnership with iTriage® – a one-stop health care app that lets users quickly and easily look up medical symptoms, causes and treatment options. According to a recent report by comScore, the number of people using their mobile devices to look for health information has doubled in the past year.
Schumacher Group, the nation’s third largest emergency and hospital medicine management firm, has brought iTriage to Monroe Hospital. This mobile technology gives residents and visitors in Bloomington the resources to learn more about a specific medical condition and make the most informed decision about where to seek treatment. iTriage lets users:
- Research medical symptoms and conditions
- Learn about possible causes and treatment options
- Obtain medication information for treatment of a specific condition
- Find Monroe Hospital information like services provided, hours and directions
“At Monroe Hospital, we’re proud to offer the latest technology to our community, which reinforces our commitment to enhancing the patient experience,” said Fred Price, President and CEO of Monroe Hospital. “iTriage allows us to provide patients with more information about the services we offer and helps them make informed healthcare decisions when they have an immediate medical need.”
iTriage is available as a free download from app stores for iPhone® and Android™ mobile devices, and from any Internet-enabled device at http://www.iTriageHealth.com.
About Monroe Hospital
Monroe Hospital is committed to providing Bloomington and surrounding communities a choice for superior healthcare, ever mindful of each patient’s individuality and unique needs. On the leading edge of technology, the facility provides our highly-skilled physicians, and their patients, with a host of amenities all aimed at providing optimum outcomes. For more information, please visit http://www.monroehospital.com.
About iTriage, LLC
Headquartered in Denver, CO, iTriage LLC is a global healthcare technology company founded in 2008 by two emergency medicine physicians. The company’s mobile platform and application, iTriage, offers a proprietary Symptom-to-Provider™ pathway that empowers patients to make better healthcare decisions. iTriage helps people answer the two most common medical questions: “What could be wrong?” and “Where should I go for treatment?” Millions of consumers around the globe have downloaded the free iTriage mobile app on their iPhone and Android devices, and thousands of healthcare providers use iTriage to reach and communicate critical facility and service information to patients. For more information, please visit http://about.iTriageHealth.com.
Monroe Hospital and St. Vincent Dunn Hospital ranked particularly high in the “patient satisfaction” category of an interactive website created and regularly updated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The site — www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/ — also contains information in 44 “quality of care” categories that permit comparisons of more than 4,700 hospitals across the country with one another and with state and national averages in the treatment of such things as heart attacks, asthma and pneumonia. Hospitals voluntarily submit data from medical records about the treatments their patients receive for these conditions.
When Monroe Hospital’s patients were asked if they would definitely recommend the hospital to their friends and family, 79 percent said they would — compared with an average of 70 percent for all reporting hospitals in the U.S. and 73 percent for all reporting hospitals in Indiana.
Monroe Hospital was followed by St. Vincent Dunn Hospital (77 percent), IU Health Bloomington Hospital (72 percent), IU Health Bedford Hospital (formerly Bedford Regional Medical Center) 68 percent, and IU Health Morgan Hospital (56 percent). Greene County General Hospital did not have survey results for the reporting period.
“I feel really proud of our staff and physicians,” said Fred Price, Monroe Hospital’s president and CEO, adding that beginning in 2013 part of hospital reimbursements will be based on patient satisfaction scores. “Everyone who seeks medical services in a hospital expects superior care, but no one says you have to be nice about it. Our staff and physicians take a lot of pride in doing both.”
St. Vincent Dunn Hospital
When asked to give an overall 0-to-10 rating of the hospital, with 0 being worst and 10 being best, 79 percent of the patients at St. Vincent Dunn Hospital gave the hospital a 9 or 10 rating — compared with an average of 68 percent for all reporting hospitals in the U.S. and an average of 73 percent for all reporting hospitals in Indiana.
“We are thrilled the data show what we know to be happening internally here,” said Debbie Bruner, St. Vincent Dunn Hospital’s president and CEO. “Our associates (staff) and management team work incredibly hard on ensuring that the patients and families that come through our door have a positive patient experience.”
Jeni Embree, Dunn Hospital’s chief clinical officer, said patient comments — good and bad — are shared during every staff meeting, enabling the hospital to make any changes that might be needed.
In earning a 9 or 10 overall rating, St. Vincent Dunn Hospital was followed by Monroe Hospital (77 percent), IU Health Bedford Hospital (69 percent), IU Health Bloomington Hospital (67 percent), and Indiana University Health Morgan Hospital (61 percent). Greene County General Hospital did not have survey results for the reporting period.
Data were collected for the website from Jan. 1, 2010, to Dec. 31, 2010. The patient satisfaction portion of the survey asked patients questions about how well hospitals made them feel comfortable, controlled their pain and attended to their needs.
St. Vincent Dunn Hospital’s patients rated it above national averages in 8 of 8 specific patient satisfaction categories. Its largest margins above national averages were in the percentage of patients who said they always received help as soon as they wanted it (77 percent compared with the national average of 64 percent), percentage of patients who said the area around their room was always quite at night (68 to 58 percent), and percentage of patients who said staff explained what a medicine was for and its possible side effects before giving it to them (70 to 61 percent).
Monroe Hospital
Monroe Hospital’s patients rated it above state and national averages in 6 of 8 specific patient satisfaction categories. Its largest margins above national averages were in the percentage of patients who said their room and bathroom were always kept clean (86 percent compared with the national average of 72 percent) and the percentage of patients who said the area around their room was always quiet at night (72 to 58 percent).
“We work very hard to create an ambiance of quiet and calm, particularly at night,” Price said. “We do not do overhead paging through a PA system and don’t do broadcast paging through patient rooms. Our carts have special wheels that don’t produce that incessant rattle, and our staff dims the lights in the evening to help create that sense of calm.”
Price said the high rating for room and bathroom cleanliness stems from the dedication of Andy Stancombe, director of facilities and support services, and his staff.
IU Health Bloomington Hospital
IU Health Bloomington Hospital’s patients rated it below state averages in 7 of the 8 specific categories, and below national averages in 6 of 8 specific categories. But in the two general patient satisfaction categories, 72 percent of its patients said they would recommend Bloomington Hospital to family and friends (better than the 70 percent national average), and 67 percent of its patients gave Bloomington Hospital an overall rating of 9 or 10 (close to the 68 percent national average).
“We are not satisfied with our patient satisfaction scores, and we will continue to work on improving them,” said Holly Vonderheit, vice president of marketing and community relations at IU Health Bloomington.
The category in which Bloomington Hospital fared the worst was the percentage of patients who said the area around their room was always quiet at night (45 compared with the national average of 58 percent). Other specific categories in which they were behind the national average were the percentage of patients who said their room was always clean, the percentage of patients who said the staff always explained what a medicine was for and its possible side effects, and the percentage of patients who said their room was always clean.
Ruth Ann Morris, Bloomington Hospital’s vice president for patient care services, said the fact that 26 percent of the hospital’s 264 beds are semi-private makes maintaining a quiet environment particularly challenging.
“For the past few years we’ve used opportunities to create more private rooms as that became possible, and I imagine that trend will continue,” she said. “But I don’t know if we’ll ever have 100 percent private rooms in the near future.”
Morris said Bloomington Hospital has been trying to dampen overall noise levels by either buying new linen and food carts or replacing their wheels with quieter ones; not scheduling the use of noisy floor cleaning equipment during the evening; offering ear buds to patients; and finding the optimum locations for its Yakker Tracker — a device resembling a traffic stop light that flashes a red light when the noise level becomes too high.
To address the room and bathroom cleanliness issue, Morris said housekeeping staff are instructed to ask patients if they have any additional cleaning requests.
“If the patient is not in the room at the time, the housecleaning staff is to leave a card with their phone number on it so the patient can call them about any cleaning needs the patient might have,” she said.
Monroe Hospital Expands Hours for MRI Procedures
Monroe Hospital increases availability for MRI imaging procedures
Bloomington, IN, January 14, 2012: Monroe Hospital is pleased to announce increased hours available for MRI procedures. Beginning January 14, Saturday appointments are now available from 8:00am – 12:00pm, in addition to regularly scheduled hours Monday-Friday from 8:00am – 7:00pm. Patients or physicians can schedule an MRI by calling (812) 825-0818. A physician’s order is required prior to testing.
Monroe Hospital Acquires New Practice
Monroe Primary Care Network expands with additional practice in Lyons, Greene County
Lyons, IN, September 26, 2011: Monroe Hospital is pleased to announce the acquisition of Dr. William Powers’ practice in Lyons and the opportunity to continue service with our sister clinic in Bloomfield. Dr. Bill Powers announced his retirement this month and Monroe Healthcare is proud to be trusted to continue his legacy with his son, Dr. Pete Powers. Dr. Pete Powers has been a part of Monroe Healthcare since June 2008 and will be seeing patients in both our Bloomfield and Lyons locations. Cindy Douthitt, FNP, has also joined the Lyons practice. Cindy is a family practice nurse practitioner who also specializes in Women’s Health. Cindy previously worked with Dr. Bill Powers and is excited to be working in Greene County again.
Monroe Healthcare is pleased to offer the residents of Greene County additional choices for their healthcare. We encourage you to call 812-384-3558 to schedule your appointment with Dr. Powers or Cindy today.