By replacing old communication systems, Alertive has led to a statistically significant increase in staff satisfaction and well-being by reducing stress associated with ineffective communication. This is incredibly beneficial, considering how crucial effective communication is in the healthcare industry.
Alertive allows hospital staff to securely and directly communicate with their colleagues, making it easier for clinicians to use their time more effectively and make informed decisions promptly. The app has been successfully implemented across several NHS Trusts, with over 2,000,000 messages sent using the application.
Using legacy communication solutions presented several challenges that hindered communication. One of the main challenges was not knowing the appropriate person to contact. Alertive eliminates this hurdle as users can be contacted by their role and name. Previously, once the message was sent out, the sender had no way of knowing whether the message had been received or if and when they would receive a call back from the recipient. Alertive eliminates this hurdle as users can be contacted by their role and name. With Alertive, it is possible to see when the message has been delivered and read. This feature lets the recipient quickly inform the sender whether they can complete the task.
Alertive’s two-way communication application enabled staff to share information and data more efficiently. All data shared in these messages are secure and fully auditable, allowing Trusts to run reports that reconstruct the record of patient care delivered to better understand any particular areas that can be improved upon.
The implementation of Alertive enabled partner Trusts to achieve significant time savings. One Trust reported a reduction in average response times from 4:09 minutes to 2:07 minutes, with 59% of Alertive responses received in less than one minute. A survey conducted by Alertive in 2022 revealed that most Alertive users had saved time by using the application, with 38% reporting savings of over an hour and 8.7% of users reporting savings of more than 3 hours per shift.
Using Alertive for clinical communication has helped streamline communication and has enabled a more effective transfer of information between all hospital staff, as evidenced by the feedback from their users. Alertive has also significantly reduced average response times between colleagues, improving patient flow and giving clinicians more time to deliver quality patient care.
One of the most significant benefits of using Alertive has been in relation to staff well-being. Ineffective communication is often a source of frustration for hospital staff, and reducing the time to communicate between colleagues gives them more time to provide care to their patients. A survey conducted by Alertive in November 2022 found that 70% of responders experienced stress or anxiety if a colleague took a long time to respond to a message or bleep. However, Alertive users reported significantly less stress and burnout at work than non-users.
Staff members who did not use Alertive also reported a significantly higher number of messages received outside of working hours, which can affect their ability to separate work and personal life. Alertive attempts to alleviate this by enabling staff to hand over a role to a colleague at the end of a shift and then log out of the application, minimising the number of messages received outside of working hours and the stress associated with them.
Alertive’s communication application has significantly impacted how hospital staff communicate with each other. By enabling Trusts to streamline their communication processes, it has helped dramatically increase staff satisfaction and well-being by reducing stress associated with ineffective communication. It has also considerably reduced average response times between colleagues, improving patient flow and giving clinicians more time to deliver quality patient care.
