Healthcare communications company Mobile Heartbeat® has announced a collaborative partnership with Magnet Recognized Eisenhower Health of Rancho Mirage, California. The aim of the partnership has been to develop a more comprehensive communication network, specifically tailored to emergency and disaster response situations. The collaboration comes following an active shooter incident on the Eisenhower Health campus back in March of 2019.
After the incident, Mobile Heartbeat’s Clinical Optimization Team compiled a report containing communication data analytics from the units that were affected. Working with Eisenhower’s Annette Brown, Chief Nursing Informatics Officer, and Tim Beringer, Director, Employee Health and Safety, Security and Emergency Management, the Mobile Heartbeat team provided recommendations for improving the existing processes and communication structure.
Suggested improvements included an enterprise-scale rollout of MH-CURE, which will allow Eisenhower’s security team to send more timely hospital-wide updates instantaneously; ad-hoc contact groups and dynamical roles that will allow for quicker and easier deployment of the incident command center; and a stronger emphasis on bi-directional communication across the entire continuum, which will allow staff at the point of care to communicate critically important information with leadership.
“Hospitals need to understand that communication is critical to inform all employees, all patients, everyone about what is happening during a critical situation,” said Ann Mostofi, Vice President, Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer, Eisenhower Health. “We have found that Mobile Heartbeat can be that source of inside ‘truth,’ with almost instantaneous communication about what is really happening.”
As these recommendations are implemented across Eisenhower’s campus, the Emergency Management Team is optimistic that MH-CURE will help them support the safety and security of staff, patients and visitors in the event of an emergency or disaster.
“It’s been really great working with the Mobile Heartbeat team,” Beringer said. “I have a lot more confidence that our leaders are comfortable in the role of incident commander, and they would be able to initiate our hospital incident command and communicate with our staff appropriately.”
About Eisenhower Health
Eisenhower Health is a not-for-profit, comprehensive health care institution that includes the 463-bed Eisenhower Hospital, the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center at Eisenhower and the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower. The Betty Ford Center is also located on the Eisenhower campus. Eisenhower is renowned for its Centers of Excellence in Orthopedics, Cardiovascular, Neuroscience and Oncology. Situated on 130 acres in Rancho Mirage, and with outpatient clinics across the valley, Eisenhower Health has provided a full range of quality medical and educational services for more than 45 years for residents and visitors to the greater Coachella Valley. Eisenhower has earned ANCC Magnet Recognition® for professionalism in nursing and excellence in patient care. The first accredited teaching hospital in the valley, Eisenhower trains physician residents in both Internal Medicine and Family Medicine. For more information, visit EisenhowerHealth.org
