Nurse & Clinical Staff Job Satisfaction up 27 Percent
It’s no secret that hospitals across the country are grappling with severe staffing shortages. Roughly 800,000 nurses with more than 10 years of experience plan to by 2027 — a number so alarming that the American Medical Association recently warned the White House that the practice of boarding patients has become a crisis triggered by an ED nursing shortage.
Understandably, hospitals are giving more serious consideration to adopting new technologies to help, many of which promise — but ultimately fall short on — delivering operational efficiencies and improving both patient and staff experience.
Involving Staff and Measuring Impact
Such was the case for one large midwest hospital system, which gave Vital’s ERAdvisor patient experience platform an opportunity to help ease their busy emergency departments. As part of the rollout, they wanted to objectively prove whether the platform offered value to ED staff while also getting their feedback on the new system.
That’s why — prior to adopting Vital’s ED patient experience platform ERAdvisor in three of their hospital’s EDs — leadership conducted staff surveys to measure ERAdvisor’s impact on both patient and staff experience.
Survey participants used a 5-point Likert scale to indicate whether they agreed or disagreed with statements like, “Patients are very satisfied at the end of their ED visit,” and “I have the right resources to keep my patients informed.”
Patient and Staff Satisfaction Rises
Three months after implementing ERAdvisor, hospital leadership asked their ED employees the same questions. Not only did staff feel their opinions were valued, but in nearly every area surveyed, results indicated significantly increased patient and staff satisfaction. These included:
How excited are you that your patients will be using Vital ERAdvisor to better their patient experience? — a from 2.57 to 3.38. 31.52% increase
What is your overall satisfaction level with your job/ position? — a from 2. 27.31% increase 6 to 3.31.
Patients are informed completely about their care during their ED visit. — a from 2.88 to 3.58.
How ERAdvisor Works
ERAdvisor’s aim is to provide more control, clarity, and predictability to a patient’s emergency department experience. Each feature is built to address the stresses people often feel during an emergency care episode, while reducing inefficiencies that weigh on department staff.
Upon arrival at the ED, patients receive a text message with an invitation to ERAdvisor, which is a personalized, consumer-grade web app driven by EHR data and advanced AI. After confirming their identity by entering their last name and date of birth, the patient has access to all the features of the platform their hospital has active, which can include:
Personalized wait times estimated by artificial intelligence (AI)
Test results and discharge instructions in plain language
Real-time service requests and feedback
Patient education curated by AI Progress/Status sharing (e.g., with loved ones)
Staff performance recognition
Follow-up care scheduling
Prompts to share superior experience on review sites (e.g., Google)
High Adoption Rates
Because ERAdvisor requires no downloads or user passwords, this client saw adoption rates well over the industry average. Within five weeks of launching the platform, 64% of reachable patients (i.e., those with a smartphone and a valid and working number) had used ERAdvisor during their visit. Among them:
23% shared status updates with loved ones
22% clicked on a link to the hospital’s patient portal
16% provided staff with real-time feedback.
How ERAdvisor Works
Because of ERAdvisor’s ability to set better patient expectations through personalized wait times, progress toward discharge, tips for a faster stay, and more, this client also saw a reduction in LWBS (left without being seen) rates. Two of their three hospitals reported improvements during the first five weeks of implementation.
Calmer, More Empowered Patients
“I’ve only been using this an hour. I really like it and it is bringing my kids some peace having info on my care.”
“This app was AMAZING! Easy to use and I loved being able to read information about the tests being done while I was sitting and waiting!”