We’re excited to share the topic and questions for this week’s #HITsm chat happening Friday, 5/31 at Noon ET (9 AM PT). This week’s chat will be hosted by Greg Meyer (@Greg_Meyer93) on the topic of “Real-Time Messaging and Collaboration Tools Inside a Care Setting”.
In the beginning, there was ARPANET. Later it became the Internet, and with it a handful of communication tools and protocols such as Sendmail and SMTP (you know, e-mail). As the masses embraced the information superhighway in the mid to late 90s, e-mail fundamentally changed the way we communicate with each other with the ability to transmit information via an almost instantaneous, but passive, electronic modality. Moving forward a blip in the technology timescale, instant messaging services like AOL Instant Messenger and Windows Messenger changed the game again with the ability to communicate in real time (and even in group settings) and added the attribute of presence.
Fast forward to now, real time electronic communication and collaboration is part of our daily lives. Even though e-mail still dominates many our day to day communications, we are increasingly reliant on one-on-one active communication tools via platforms like Facebook, Skype, and Facetime or collaboration-based tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams. However, real time communication tools have yet to hit critical mass in care settings.
Today, tools like TigerConnect are available, but generally are limited to communicating only within a given health care enterprise. In February, Slack announced HIPAA compliance for file uploads and expects to deliver compliance for direct messaging features in the near future (again, limited to within an enterprise). Efforts within other communities like DirectTrust are working on standards based real time communication utilizing published open standards that will cross organizational boundaries effectively doing to instant messaging what the DirectProject did for e-mail. Earlier in May, Slack also announced that it is predicting that it, or similar technologies, will replace email and become a fundamental utility for collaborative communication.
In this week’s HITsm chat, we will discuss how real time communication platforms fit into and can change the health care setting. Check out the list of questions we’ll be discussing in this chat below.
Topics for this week’s #HITsm Chat:
T1: Have you observed real time communication in a care setting? If so, in what workflows? #HITsm
T2: What workflow are prime for change using real time communication tools? #HITsm
T3: How would/could cross enterprise real time communication change the continuum of care? Is health care ready for it? #HITsm
T4: Some tools are more collaboration based (Slack) where as others are more one-on-one based (Facetime). Which paradigm is more appropriate for what care settings? #HITsm
T5: Should patients have real time, on demand access to providers via these tools? How would providers react? #HITsm
Left Field Bonus Question: Colin Hung recently held an #HITMC chat on personal branding. What buzzwords do you attribute to personal branding (excluding the terms SocialMedia, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook). #HITsm
Upcoming #HITsm Chat Schedule
6/7 – #HealthIT Replacement Trends
Hosted by Taylor Madsen (@MTaylorMadsen)
6/14 – Challenges to Physician & Patient Buy-in & How You Can Get from a No to a Yes
Hosted by Shereeese Maynard (@ShereesePubHlth)
6/21 – TBD
Hosted by @FormFast
6/28 – The State of Behavioral Healthcare
Hosted by Dr. Reena Pande (@reena_pande)
We look forward to learning from the #HITsm community! As always, let us know if you’d like to host a future #HITsm chat or if you know someone you think we should invite to host.
If you’re searching for the latest #HITsm chat, you can always find the latest #HITsm chat and schedule of chats here.
