How SPARK® Media Will Benefit Your Patients, Staff and Trust
6 minute read | 10/08/2022
How SPARK® Media Benefits Patients
Hospital visits and can be lonely, boring, and stressful enough as it is, let alone without any or limited access to WiFi or entertainment to keep you occupied. There is often a lack of cellular signal in some areas of the hospital, so WiFi is a lifeline to those in need.
If patients become isolated from friends and family for long periods of time, this could also have a huge impact on their mental health and overall healthcare journey. This is why SPARK® Media offers three fundamental pillars for patients, focusing on providing Entertainment and Education to encourage Engagement.
Entertainment
SPARK® Media hosts a range of entertainment features that can be customised by the Trust. The following options are available.
- Watch TV & stream content
- Play games
- Read digital newspapers & magazines
- Stay connected to loved ones with video calling
The SPARK® platform has seen over 5.2 million users to date. These features give patients the overall control of their hospital journey and provides some of the home comforts that they shouldn’t have to go without.
A patient who has a TV show or game to focus on will be less of a distraction to busy ward staff and ultimately, will be far easier to treat.
Education
Patients can access educational resources such as:
- NHS resources
- Healthcare videos
- Information about the Trust itself
Patients can independently get a good understanding of health matters and general concerns during their stay without requiring assistance from staff members, this could instantly make a patient feel more at ease, knowing that information is available on-hand if they feel anxious or unsure about any aspect of their journey.
Engagement
Providing patients with a platform where they can be entertained and learn more about the hospital they're in and their healthcare journey, encourages the patient to be more engaged during their stay. The resources on SPARK® Media keep patients stimulated which makes them more aware of their surrounding and increase their co-operation. This helps improve the overall patient experience.
Capturing patients opinions of their treatment and hospital stay is important. It's the best way to understand a patient's experience and provides another way in which the patient can engage with the Trust and their care.
SPARK® Media can also provide links to surveys, polls and feedback forms so patients can anonymously have a say about their overall hospital experience. Results can then be easily collated by the Trust, enabling them to monitor and improve service levels and standards where necessary.
Dementia patients can also benefit from the platform. In order to help alleviate the confusion and anxiety associated with dementia, SPARK® Media provides access to BBC Archives, a website where elderly dementia patients can visit the past and find comfort in the known rather than the unknown.
Provide Entertainment for Staff
Not only is it important for patients to utilise the SPARK® Media platform, it’s also just as important for staff members too.
Staff can also access the SPARK® Media platform and all the entertainment features available on it. Before starting a shift or during a much-needed lunch break, SPARK® Media provides a comprehensive library full of TV, On Demand streaming, magazines, puzzle games, and video calling to be enjoyed at the user’s fingertips, and the best news is, it’s all free to access.
NHS staff need more support than ever, by funding a platform that not only benefits patients, but staff as well, provides a capture all for improved moral in the hospital.
SPARK® Connect also aids the staff experience through its duel portal functionality. Trusts can have two separate SSIDs, one for the public, and one for staff. By implementing NHS email authentication, the Trust has the capability to boost bandwidth for staff members, providing them with faster internet speeds for seamless entertainment enjoyment and uninterrupted job performance, eliminating any hindrances caused by a sluggish connection.
Benefits Beyond SPARK® Media
SPARK® Media is brilliant for visitors and those patients who are waiting to be seen. However, because it's only available on a web platform and on patients own devices (BYOD), there are certain limitations. Therefore, SPARK® Media isn't the best solution for patients who have been admitted and in a hospital bed.
This is where SPARK Fusion comes in.
This solution is new to the UK but proven in the Netherlands. It's a managed tablet solution, primarily on iPads that can be mounted to the bedside using existing Hospedia infrastructure (wall mounts and arms), or as a tablet leant out to patients. With this technology and HL7 integration, SPARK Fusion brings Smart Nurse Call, Meal Ordering, Translation Services and E-Prescribing to name a few. All available to the patient's fingers.
SPARK Fusion can also be optimised for staff, providing them with iPads or iPhones where Doctors and Nurses can instantly retrieve patient records, documents and data instantly. Lessening the need to hunt through filing cabinets and piles of paperwork when time is of the essence. This enables the medical staff to provide more efficient services, enhances patient care and improves productivity.
Administrators can also use the platform to purchase, track and monitor key resources such as medical equipment, and can easily see and log where equipment is being used throughout the hospital.
Knowing where equipment is being used provides useful analytics about how the hospital functions – a cost effective benefit whereby you can monitor where and how money is being spent.
Benefits to The Trust
Our latest generation of Digital Platform provides the patient and staff with access to an easy-to-use, intuitive system with a range of communication, connectivity, education, operational efficiencies, and entertainment at the bedside.
In addition to the services provided by the SPARK® Media Platform, we provide a unique opportunity to the NHS to integrate their existing solutions with SPARK Fusion. This solution streamlines existing healthcare platforms and services rather than introducing something new.
The physical hardware of SPARK Fusion, iPads, will be fully managed so you don't need to worry about tablets going missing or being misused. This provision will deliver digital equality across the NHS and allow access to all patients.
SPARK TSL provide bespoke solutions. Whatever the needs of your Trust, we will work with you to customise SPARK Fusion to suit the specific needs of your hospitals, even down to ward level.
Discover all SPARK TSL has to offer by downloading our SPARK® Media brochure.
About the author
Ria Stevens
From helpful strategies to benefits of WiFi and patient engagement solutions, check out articles written by our Brand & Communications Specialist, Ria Stevens, for all the latest industry and SPARK TSL news.
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