Patients at the new C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital will have access to a new patient education, entertainment and interactive patient care tools system that will keep them and their families engaged and informed throughout their stay at the hospital.
The U-M Health System (UMHS) partnered with GetWellNetwork Inc. of Bethesda, Md., to implement the bedside interactive system GetWell Town for use at the new 348-bed children’s hospital. GetWellNetwork also will implement the system at Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital, the premier perinatal and birth center located within Mott. The new hospital complex opens November.
The new interactive systems allows doctors to interact with patients. Photo courtesy GetWellNetwork Inc.
“GetWell Town was chosen for its innovative and effective approach to engaging children and families into the care process,” says Loree Collett, administrative director of Children’s and Women’s Services at UMHS.
The 46-inch flat-panel monitors displaying the GetWellNetwork System in the patient rooms will enable clinicians, Child and Family Life program staff, and other members of the care team to interact and communicate with their patients and families.
“When patients and families are well-informed and engaged in their care, they have less anxiety or fear about their health condition and hospital stay plus they’re better prepared to continue with their care plans after discharge — improving outcomes,” Collett says.
GetWell Town’s communication system allows clinicians and staff to overlay TV or movie programs with patient safety alerts, Child and Family Life Program events, and other hospital information like a “Question of the Day” to help patients become active participants in their care. In addition, patients will have a broad range of entertainment features such as TV, movies, Internet service, gaming and music.
Kelly Parent, mother of a former Mott patient who leads the UMHS Patient and Family Centered Care Program, says the system will provide a necessary and critical distraction for hospitalized children.
“The Internet, on-demand movies, familiar games and music channels will really help to make kids feel a little more normal in a world of hospitals and pokes that is not very normal at all,” she says.
Her daughter Jessica, who has been a patient at Mott, had a chance to test the system before it was purchased. “I love the Internet connection and on-demand movies,” she says. “The Internet is a great way to keep up with what’s going on outside of the hospital and the movies help to pass the time.”
Another unique feature of GetWellTown is the KidsHealth education content that is developed for both younger children and teen patients. Parents will have their own set of tools to learn about their child’s diagnosis, prescribed medicines and upcoming surgeries ensuring that families are well-prepared to support their child’s individualized needs and care plan.
At the Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital women will be able to use the GetWellNetwork from their bedside TV to learn, at their own pace, about after-birthing care for themselves and their newborn. It also gives nurses the ability to reinforce safety education that will reduce the risk of falls and complications post-surgery and birth.
The partnership will be the first to deliver Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) technology with the GetWellNetwork system.
