Healthcare During Crisis: Top Five Ways Mass Notifications Can Help
Everything we’ve learned from the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that this is an ever-changing landscape, with different rules for different institutions. Depending on our clients’ locations, as well as their own safety protocols, healthcare institutions are changing their approaches in accordance to what they think is best.
A state or county mandate may be in order. An administration might decide to proceed in an even more cautious manner in order to keep vulnerable patients and front-line workers healthy. With thousands of healthcare workers, staff, patients and their loved ones waiting to hear about the changing rules, mass notification platforms can help keep everyone informed and on the same page.
Regroup serves many healthcare organizations, large and small, as well as groups of healthcare providers who can work in homes, assisted living facilities and more. Here are five helpful things we’ve learned about using mass notifications to support healthcare organizations large and small, as society starts to reopen and rules change.
1. Safety is key.
Communicate with doctors, nurses, staff and every other stakeholder through SMS/text messages, voice and emails about safety precautions. If a floor or location on campus is changing to respond to case loads, administrators can message everyone involved within seconds. Communicate with patients or their guardians or caregivers practices for distancing, wearing masks, and where the entrances are. Continue to share the latest information from municipalities and health departments.
2. Audience matters.
There’s a lot to stay updated on these days. Make sure notifications are hitting the right group of people at the right time to avoid message fatigue. An emergency that will impact a healthcare unit, such as a mass trauma event, has a specific audience. A change in visitation rules for loved ones or other caregivers is a separate audience. With a platform like Regroup’s, admins can tailor groups to ensure the messages reach the right people in a time-efficient way.
3. Continuity requires employee communication — now.
Doctors, nurses and staff are under considerable and remarkable stress. The industry can help ensure institutional continuity by clear and concise communication. Letting people know about changing shifts, changes in floor operations, or changes in rules from the government are not only the right thing to do, they are necessary for the industry to show that it values and cares for its staff.
4. End-of-life rules need to be shared, quickly.
Certainly the most fraught part about the healthcare industry is that it deals with end-of-life situations with frequency. From working with our clients, Regroup has learned anecdotally that end-of-life rules are different than regular visitation rules in many cases. Whether it’s one loved one who wants to visit, or a very small number of family members, many hospitals are allowing visitors in at that critical stage. That is where quick and timely messages are most important, so that people who choose to do so can be with their loved ones when possible.
5. Building trust is critical.
Health care institutions are rightfully seen as an integral part of their communities. Even families who aren’t using a facility right now know they may have to, eventually. That valuable trust between a community and health facilities can be enhanced with effective communication tools that keeps stakeholders informed and connected.
We’re all in this together. Trusted partnerships are more important than ever as we all navigate a new normal. Regroup works with healthcare organizations as well as businesses, community groups, schools and institutions in a wide variety of spaces to improve operational continuity, increase safety, and make them more resilient to crises like COVID-19. If you’d like to hear more, schedule a customized demo today.