Many of our frontline staff, including nurses, clinicians and EVS technicians, make use of mobile devices in their daily workflow. It is an important part of patient care.
But there may be times when patients and visitors – or even fellow team members – notice these caregivers using mobile devices (such as smartphones) during work, and they incorrectly assume the team members are using them for personal, unrelated purposes while on the job.
For this reason, we will be branding Rover-equipped devices to make them more recognizable, promoting their use, helping team members discuss the devices with patients and letting team members know how to recognize official Ballad Health devices.
Our Epic Rover devices
Many Ballad Health-owned devices are equipped with Epic Rover, a software that allows team members to perform a variety of functions quickly and conveniently, without ever having to leave patient rooms.
These devices facilitate instant reports on patient room availability, bedside charting for nurses, barcode verification for medications and more. In addition, some physicians use personal devices equipped with software like Epic Haiku or Epic Canto, allowing them to access patient information easily and securely at any time.
This change will have minimal impact on team member workflows. Nurses using Rover-equipped devices will be asked to briefly discuss the device with their patient when they receive their report, and suggested scripting will be provided to them.
While mobile devices are helping to improve patient care in our facilities, we want to get ahead of any misinformation about these devices and pre-empt any incorrect assumptions that nurses or physicians are using mobile devices for personal, unrelated purposes while working. We are hopeful that awareness and communication will inform both patients and team members of the wonderful ways mobile technology is improving patient care throughout our health system.
