SAN DIEGO, Sept. 6, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BroadBlast Managed Communications, an authorized reseller of industry-leading incident management, mass notification and emergency alert systems, today announced that it has worked with Crouse Hospital, a not-for-profit, acute care facility located in Syracuse, N.Y., to implement automated alerting software from MIR3, Inc., the innovator of real-time Intelligent Notification (IN®), to solve the common and persistent problem of staff coverage in healthcare facilities.
Before adopting the notification system, when Crouse Hospital staff called in sick, a nurse manager would step away from the floor and call a list of substitutes to find a replacement for the absent worker. It normally took at least 45 minutes—and often as long as two hours—to find a nurse with the required skills. This same scenario happened on many days on multiple floors throughout the hospital.
By using Intelligent Notification, nurse managers can now send a prepared, automated call out when additional nurses are needed. The system allows them to target specific groups, such as contracted per diem RNs, to avoid excessive overtime for full-time nurses. As a result, the hospital can call hundreds of nurses in minutes, reducing its dependence on time-intensive call lists and keeping trained healthcare professionals focused on patient care.
Noting that ease of use is one of its best features, Christopher Hines, supervisor of telecommunications for Crouse Hospital, says, "I showed one nurse how to dispatch a prepared notification, and in less than a minute she had delivered her first message. She already feels confident that she can send alerts whenever she needs to."
Using the product's self-registration portal module, nurses can update their contact information at any time, increasing the chance that all data is the most current and that staffing substitutions can take place that much faster. The system has also made the hospital's on-call nurses happier because they all get the message at the same time, giving everyone an equal opportunity to pick up extra time. This is not only a more equitable way of calling for additional help; it also satisfies union requirements.
According to Kathy Lanni, senior vice president of BroadBlast, Inc. and a former nurse herself, the tool immediately simplified the staffing process at Crouse. "A nurse manager can now just take a moment, record a message in her own voice and send it to all possible substitutes," said Lanni. "The same nurse who previously spent as much as two hours per day on the phone is now free to focus on patient care."
"BroadBlast clearly understands how automated notification can benefit their healthcare customers, and Crouse was quick to recognize how its operations could be streamlined to bring significant changes to the staffing process," said René Grossrieder, executive vice president, worldwide sales at MIR3. "It's great having such innovative partners and dedicated Intelligent Notification customers."
Crouse Hospital plans to extend the use of Intelligent Notification throughout the organization to further streamline operations. That expansion might include reminders of CPR recertification for staff, alerts about localized power outages or repairs that might interfere with patient care and appointment reminders. For more about how Crouse Hospital uses Intelligent Notification, read the case study.
ABOUT BROADBLAST MANAGED COMMUNICATIONS
BroadBlast is a privately held, nationally certified, woman owned, small business based in New York. BroadBlast, Inc. has national relationships with Tier One technology providers to provide responsive, integrated best-in-breed technology services that focus on mass communication, emergency alerting, notification and time-sensitive communication. Customer service and satisfaction are BroadBlast's main focus, ensuring each entity that it works with has a technology system designed to meet its specific needs. BroadBlast assists Tier One technology companies in developing and enhancing features that meet these specific needs. Its expertise is in the sales and marketing of the specific systems and customizations to meet clients' unique needs. For more information, visit www.broadblastonline.com.
ABOUT MIR3
MIR3, Inc. is the leading developer of Intelligent Notification and response software, which helps organizations enhance communication abilities, protect assets, and increase operational efficiency. MIR3 technology enables advanced rapid, two-way communication for IT, business continuity, and enterprise operations for many of the Global FORTUNE 100 companies, as well as government entities, universities, and companies of all sizes in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit www.mir3.com. Follow MIR3 on Twitter: @MIR3. Visit the MIR3 blog: www.mir3.com/blog.