Technology Improvement Award Improves Patient Care

By Rachel Sindelar Health Sciences Librarian Broadlawns Medical Center Library, Des Moines, IA I manage the library at a county medical center serving 70% or more low income patients, many with low literacy levels and do not speak English. Wait times for overextended hospital translators is a challenge and so is the lack of mobile technology, plus many hospital rooms do not have computers. The hospital’s Clinical Educator had recognized a disconnect between a patient’s bedside need and access to quality health education materials appropriate for patient reading abilities and native language so I was determined to help. I began promoting library subscription and free foreign language and low literacy level patient education materials to the clinical staff. My efforts were bolstered when our institution became a lucky recipient of a 2014/2015 GMR Technology Improvement Award. The funding of the award allowed Broadlawn’s Medical Center to purchase 12 ChromeBooks to be used hospital wide to provide patient education resources for improved teaching moments at the point-of-care. The ChromeBooks were formatted for easy access to quality instructional materials including resources written at appropriate reading levels, foreign languages and audio/video/interactive tutorials. It was decided the ChromeBooks would be placed in the ICU, Medical/Surgical Floor, Pre-Op & Post-Op, Orthopedics/Podiatry Clinic, Family Health Center, Primary Care Center and the Women’s Health Clin...
Source: The Cornflower - Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Tags: Funding General Technology Source Type: news