There are documented interrelations between patient boredom and their recovery and mental health during an in-patient experience.

Boredom in any setting can be a catalyst to depression, but in a clinical setting, it can be even more detrimental, ultimately leading to increased recovery times and an overall poor patient experience. Rehabilitation and patient recovery significantly improve when a patient is mentally stimulated to reduce the onset of boredom during their recovery period.

When stimulated, any interaction with the patient can help to reinforce their feelings of competency and capacity, which in turn gives motivation for timely recovery and successful rehabilitation. Dedicating periods of time for nurse-patient interactions is an obvious solution; however, the time pressure on nursing staff does not always allow for frequent interactions of this type, and therefore other complementary solutions must be identified for use during the recovery process.

About Otrum

The Norwegian company Otrum believes that they have a cost-effective solution to this problem, which is already gaining significant traction in the Nordic healthcare market. Following a government tender that closed early in 2021, Otrum was selected to deliver their solution to the new Norwegian Stavanger University Hospital (SUS), which is a flagship healthcare project with a total construction budget of 11.3bn Norwegian Kroner ($11bn). The new Stavanger University Hospital is a revolutionary public healthcare project, covering 120,000m2 of floor space with individual on-suite patient rooms for the 640 in-patients.

Improving patient experience with Otrum Mirage

Otrum has created a platform centered around the in-room TV display, which offers a comprehensive portal to enhance the in-patient experience for the duration of their stay. This patient portal has been created and designed to be easy to use for the patient, taking into consideration the varied age range, cognitive skills, and capabilities of the end-users.

The focus of the platform is to provide interaction, information, education, and patient entertainment through an intuitive and easy-to-use TV interface that the patient finds easy to navigate. The platform, called Otrum Mirage, was first launched in November 2020 following a long period of research, development, and end-user field tests. Mirage is the result of 36 years of industry experience from Otrum, which was founded in 1985 in the town of Arendal, Norway.

During the platform development, Otrum was able to gain the support of ‘Innovasjon Norway’, a state-owned company and a development catalyst, with programs and services intended to stimulate entrepreneurship in Norway. Additionally, The Research Council of Norway (Forskningsrådet) awarded Otrum a SkatteFUNN R&D tax incentive. This scheme is a government program designed to stimulate research and development in Norwegian trade and industry.

Håkon Granvik, the Otrum Product Manager, said: “We are very excited to further discover the opportunities presented in the healthcare sector. With our deep history and foundation in hospitality, we are continuing the development of our state-of-the-art cloud-based platform to serve new demands and address challenges that face society at large. In this, Mirage will be a game-changer for us, allowing for rapid testing and implementation of features and functionality alleviating healthcare professionals in their daily tasks and improving the patient experience.”

The three pillars of the patient experience

Otrum Mirage was created to solve the needs of the in-patient while also pre-empting their requests for information and guidance during their stay. The Otrum Mirage portal offers multiple solutions for the in-patient experience; however, these needs can be grouped into three primary applications: patient orientation, patient communication, and patient entertainment.

Patient Orientation

Simple guidance for the in-patient is often not clearly informed by the staff during induction, as these facts are overlooked as essential elements for the in-patient experience:

  • Staff overview, uniform guides, senior staff, the hierarchy of personnel
  • Facility information, wayfinding, ‘good to know
  • Daily routines for patients and staff
  • Menu options and cafeteria information
  • Important phone numbers
  • Emergency procedures, such as fire and evacuation
  • Education on medical procedures and recovery, video guides, and walkthroughs
  • Personal diary, treatment plans, registered allergies, etc. via API integration

Otrum solutions can also be installed in the public areas, waiting rooms, corridors, and recreation rooms as a digital signage platform. The solution can offer a powerful tool for general visitor and patient communication, facility wayfinding, news, and live information.

Patient Communication

Simple patient communication across a large facility can be complex in terms of the distances, departments, and logistics involved. Otrum Mirage facilitates an efficient and effective direct communication platform, allowing staff to send clear and simple messages directly to the in-patient via their bedside TV.

Staff can also use the Otrum Mirage platform to facilitate global messages to all resident patients. This solution is very practical for facility-wide communication of important information – including everything from testing the fire alarm to window cleaning, updated COVID guidelines, staff changes etc.

Patient Entertainment

The primary solution to alleviate in-patient boredom is to provide an entertainment solution to meet the patient’s expectation for programmatic content and viewing options. Otrum Mirage offers the patient the broadest range of options to address this problem:

  • Linear TV channels delivered via cable, satellite, terrestrial or OTT
  • OTT ‘Over the Top’ TV catchup applications for on-demand consumption
  • Premium ‘Video on Demand’ application for new release movies
  • YouTube access
  • Bluetooth TV speaker
  • Chromecast for a managed casting experience (OtrumCast)

OtrumCast, as a part of Otrum Mirage, is a managed application for the secure casting of the patients’ own audio and video content from their tablet or smartphone. This allows the patient to access their own subscriptions to pre-paid applications such as Netflix, Disney+, and HBO and cast this content to the large Otrum Mirage display.

The patient is then able to bring their own content with them, increasing their enjoyment of their stay while reducing the need for the facility to pay for expensive linear TV channel licenses. OtrumCast facilitates the casting experience – which would be impossible for the patient to manage with their own equipment due to network security.

For more information about Otrum products in Malta, check out the Smart Technologies Limited website.

 

Adapted from an article which first appeared in Healtheuropa.eu