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Almost Medicinal: Glassboards are Good for your Health

Clarusis a key component of patient care.

Does a glassboard a day keep the doctor away? Our glassboards are quickly becoming an essential part of patient care around the world.

How important is patient-doctor communication? In an overnight stay or months’ of in-patient care, daily communication facilitates everything from medicinal instructions to treatment approach, timeframes, general reminders… and of course, cheerful motivation – it’s easy to see that the bond between patient and medical professionals is imperative.

How does your communication measure up?

H-C-A-H-P-S.

To some, those letters read like an eye-chart. But to doctors and nurses, this stands for “Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems,” and it’s defined as “a survey instrument and data collection methodology for measuring patients’ perceptions of their hospital experience.”

HCAHPS surveys are delivered to patients upon discharge, and the scores are publicly reported based on four consecutive quarters of data. High scores are important for reimbursement and market share, and hospital administrators must seek effective ways to improve their services. While medical decision making and procedure is the first deliverable for a successful recovery, the experience is a close second.

Becker’s Hospital Review lists strategies to boost HCAHPS scores, and the #1 strategy for improving the score is to “communicate clearly and often.”

And from reading their expert suggestions, it’s clear that Clarus Healthboard makes the perfect solution.

Becker points out that the surveys ask patients if they received information in writing about symptoms. And how well staff described their treatment. Communication is clearly paramount for a great patient experience, not to mention high HCAHPS scores.

Becker’s biggest piece of advice is for nurses and physicians to use multiple modes of communication – whether it’s in the written, spoken, and electronically delivered messages, it’s clean that the more communication, the better. The same sentiment is reinforced in an article by Elizabeth Chabner Thompson, MD, MPH, who said,

“To reinforce important information to patients, staff should both write instructions and repeat them verbally, giving patients time to respond with questions.”

Becker’s points out that patients’ rooms can consider whiteboards a solution, as in South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, New York – of course whiteboards are a staple in hospitals worldwide.

But what about the glassboard?

Given the imperative to communicate well, inspire and heal, and to be absolutely sure patients feel their physicians take an extra effort to communicate with them – glassboards are the best solution for medical facilities.

Clarus’ Healthboard product line has taken the market by storm, instantly improving communication in any facility – and practitioners appreciate them for a few simple, but logical reasons:

  • Glass is non-porous. Cheap, traditional whiteboards lock in bacteria, but glassboards wipe clean year after year of use. Let’s be honest, practitioners don’t always wash their hands before writing on a board, and neither do patients. That’s when glassboards come in – with unprecedented, bacteria-resistant surface, Clarus glass is germ free with one swipe – and because it’s glass, literally any cleaner will do. This is critical for healthcare facilities that have millions of nuanced ways they have to clean and care for products. Our glassboards are the opposite of high maintenance.
  • Glassboards don’t stain or ghost – which means there’s no chance to compromise patient confidentiality with old smudges or leftover marks. Ask any nurse out there – unfortunately, they know the pain of trying to clean a ghosted whiteboard.
  • Our proprietary mounting hardware has been tested – and its adhesion strength withstands upwards of 6500lbs of sheer force. Which means in a busy hospital, you can rest assured they’re at no risk of injuring patients. Can other glassboards say the same?
  • Glassboards last forever. A recent study by MarketScale demonstrated that whiteboards last only 4-6 years in a commercial setting – even less in a busy hospital with daily, sometimes hourly use.
  • Glassboards are inspiring. Clarus’ vibrant paint colors alone bring patients’ cognitive relief! And practitioners can frame their ideas in an artful way, right down to the smiley face or an exclamation mark.

HCAHPS is an important measurement, and the results are clear – good patient experience is critical to overall success during a hospital stay. Informed and inspired patients are motivated patients. And while healing and recovering in a room full of unfamiliar machines, technology, and people, the written cheer on beautiful glass is a reminder that the nurses and physicians truly care.