Clovis Community Medical Center Increases HCAHPS Scores with EXTENSION’s EHR-Extender (EHR-e)

EXTENSION’s critical communication and alerting solutions reduce response times, improve patient satisfaction, and help satisfy core Meaningful Use measures

FORT WAYNE, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--EXTENSION, INC. today announced its solutions are facilitating increased patient satisfaction for Clovis Community Medical Center in California. Clovis Community’s HCAHPS scores have significantly increased since opening the doors to its new 5-story bed tower just two months ago.

“Patient safety and satisfaction are a big source of pride for us.”

Clovis Community chose EXTENSION to integrate its Cisco 7925 handsets with its Hill-Rom NaviCare nurse call system for its advanced capabilities as an EHR-Extender (EHR-e) and its ability to help satisfy core Meaningful Use measures. The most advanced EHR-e solution in the marketplace, EXTENSION expands the use and value of the EHR and other clinical systems by mobilizing static data. EXTENSION delivers critical event alerts with relevant patient information to clinicians on their mobile phones, which enable staff to easily communicate with each other, interact with a patient, and make informed care decisions from any location.

"Our focus at EXTENSION is to empower the multi-disciplinary care team to be more efficient and provide safer patient care resulting in increased patient and family experience,” said Tom Berger, CNO at EXTENSION.

Clovis Community deployed EXTENSION to 5 units: ICU, MedSurg, CPCU, Perinatal, and Newborn. Nurses receive detailed nurse call alerts on their mobile phones that indicate the type of patient need; for example, Bath Assist, Code Blue, Cord Out, and more. Nurses have the dual benefit of determining the priority of a notification, which allows them to take the appropriate action, and to quickly communicate their intentions to a patient. As a result, patients report higher satisfaction to call light response times.

“Prior to moving into the new bed tower, one Unit Clerk managed a single nursing station in a confined space, but now manages 3 stations in a larger building with bigger units,” said Jeff Zweifel, RN Unit Manager for MedSurg. “Despite having fewer staff resources and more physical space to cover – response times have declined and patients report higher satisfaction as a result of automated notifications via EXTENSION.”

Clovis Community also integrated its EPIC system with EXTENSION for Critical Lab Result and STAT/NOW Order notifications to improve response times. Physicians are capable of inputting a secure order from home, but the nurse staff may not login to a computer to retrieve the order for a period of time, which delays caregiver action. As an EHR-e, EXTENSION captures the order when it appears in the EHR and immediately notifies the relevant staff nurse to take action. As with all EXTENSION solutions, care team communication is secure and patient confidentially is protected.

“We have a large and growing list of clients that have observed significant increases in HCAHPS scores after installing EXTENSION,” said Berger. “Patient safety and satisfaction are a big source of pride for us."

Phase 2 of Clovis Community’s deployment will integrate smartphones with the EXTENSION Mobile application to enable the delivery of order results to physicians, as well as the expanded functionality that allows them to quickly communicate with other staff members. Per the hospital’s request, EXTENSION will add acknowledgements back to the EPIC system that timestamps the acceptance of a notification and enables Clovis Community to track response times, as well as satisfy Joint Commission requirements to record the receipt of lab values.

Further, Clovis Community plans to deploy a combined EXTENSION-GetWellNetwork integration that would enable them to satisfy core Meaningful Use measures by delivering reminders to a responsible nurse that a patient still needs to receive a required procedure before discharge, such as patient education.

EXTENSION, INC. (www.OpenTheRedBox.com)

EXTENSION® offers award-winning solutions that facilitate instant communication between patients and clinicians. Our solutions enhance common communication devices (wireless phones, smartphones, and communication badges) used as clinical workflow tools by aggregating data from various clinical/IT systems and delivering time-critical alerts to the devices. By establishing repeatable and reliable processes with EXTENSION's workflow software, healthcare systems improve patient safety, patient and staff satisfaction, and efficiency.

Clovis Community Medical Center

Clovis Community Medical Center is one of Community Medical Centers’ three acute care hospitals – and part of the largest healthcare system in central California. The hospital is nearing the end of a $300 million, five-year expansion that will make it the only comprehensive hospital in the area with all private rooms. Clovis Community is often Valley residents’ first choice for women’s services, advanced surgeries and comprehensive care.