New Report: Vocera and Definitive Healthcare Examine Symptoms of Cognitive Overload

More than 60% of healthcare leaders said intelligent alarm management is a solution

April 29, 2019 – Vocera Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VCRA), a recognized leader in clinical communication and workflow solutions, will release a research report in conjunction with Definitive Healthcare, about the impact of cognitive overload on care teams and the role technology can play to mitigate cognitive burden. Vocera worked closely with research professionals to design a survey conducted during the 2019 HIMSS Conference and Exhibition and online.

More than 300 clinical and IT leaders from health systems, hospitals and outpatient facilities participated in the study. Findings from the research are available here.

Brendan FitzGerald, Senior Director of Research Services at Definitive Healthcare, will moderate the online discussion and outline the survey results. He will be joined by Rhonda Collins, DNP, RN, Chief Nursing Officer, and Benjamin Kanter, MD, Chief Medical Information Officer, at Vocera, who will examine the signs and symptoms of cognitive overload and discuss strategies for simplifying clinical workflows and improving patient and staff well-being.

In many industries, technology has streamlined processes and minimized cognitive burden on workers. These recent survey findings suggest otherwise in healthcare. Forty-two percent of research participants said technologies currently deployed in the clinical environment contribute considerably or significantly to cognitive overload. Another 44% said they contribute at least moderately.

When asked which technology improvements would make the greatest impact on reducing cognitive overload, 62% of survey participants cited intelligent workflows to route alerts and alarms more efficiently as a top solution. Yet, only 45% said alert and alarm management solutions are on their organizations’ 2019 technology investment plans.

“To minimize cognitive burden, technology must help clinicians zero in on the most important information and provide relevant clinical context, while simultaneously weeding out extraneous data,” said Dr. Collins. “When clinicians receive too many requests or pieces of information at the same time, their attention is split among multiple people, systems, devices and data sources. They can become overloaded and have difficulty focusing on the most critical task at hand, which can lead to mistakes.”

Click here to register for this webinar about cognitive overload and discover how the right technology can ease it. The complete research report is available here.

About Vocera
The mission of Vocera Communications, Inc. is to simplify and improve the lives of healthcare professionals and patients, while enabling hospitals to enhance quality of care and operational efficiency. In 2000, when the company was founded, we began to forever change the way care teams communicate. Today, Vocera offers the leading platform for improving clinical communication and workflow. More than 1,850 facilities worldwide, including nearly 1,600 hospitals and healthcare facilities, have selected our clinical communication and workflow solutions. Care team members use our solutions to communicate and collaborate with co-workers by securely texting or calling, and to be notified of important alerts and alarms. They can choose the right device for their role or task, including smartphones or our hands-free, wearable Vocera Smartbadge and Vocera Badge. Interoperability between the Vocera Platform and more than 140 clinical and operational systems helps reduce alarm fatigue; speed up staff response times; and improve patient care, safety, and experience. In addition to healthcare, Vocera is at home in luxury hotels, aged care facilities, nuclear power facilities, schools, libraries, retail stores, and more. Vocera solutions make a difference in any industry where workers are on the move and need to connect instantly with team members and access resources or information quickly. In 2017, Vocera made the list of Forbes 100 Most Trustworthy Companies in America. Learn more at https://www.vocera.com/ and follow @VoceraComm on Twitter.

About Definitive Healthcare
Definitive Healthcare is the leading provider of data and intelligence on hospitals, physicians, and other healthcare providers. Its product suite provides the most comprehensive and highest quality data available anywhere on 8,800 hospitals and IDNs; 148,000 physician groups; 1.7 million physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals; 11,200 ambulatory surgery centers; 14,600 imaging centers; 91,600 long-term care facilities; 40,000 clinics; 1,400 ACOs and HIEs; more than 4 billion commercial medical and Rx claims; 115,000 clinical trials; and 900 Canadian hospitals. The company’s data provides its 2,200+ clients with the analytics and insight needed to effectively segment and research the healthcare provider market. For more information, or to trial the service, visit https://www.definitivehc.com/.

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