Interactive patient care

Interactive patient care (IPC) refers to an approach in health care that places the emphasis on providing entertainment and educational resources to the patient bedside via the in-room TV. However, momentum is growing for IPC to include more patient-facing interfaces such as mobile, Smart TV, and social applications as well as the self-service patient portal. This evolution of IPC expands the engagement footprint beyond the bedside to include the entire continuum of a patient's care - primarily adding the home. These technologies can provide interactive services that are personalized to the patient's condition and provide healthcare workers with patient education, pain assessment and medication teaching. IPC solutions can also integrate with traditional EMR and hospital IT systems such as Cerner, McKesson, and GE Healthcare, for example, but are more directly patient-centric applications, whose delivery helps hospitals meet service and quality requirements. In light of meaningful use, it is also speculated that providing IPC through multiple technology modes will help US hospitals reach their 5% patient-utilization requirement expected in 2014.