ER Express Announces Beta Release of New Feedback Express Module

By Carolyn J Dawson

TMCnet Contributor

 

ER Express recently announced the release of ER Express version 4.0, which adds the ability for ER patients to send their feedback via SMS text messaging. 

ER Express is currently focusing on equipping patients with non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries, a simple user-friendly and Web-based tool for reserving a time slot in the ER. 

During the early part of 2012, the platform added a library of Web-based aftercare instructions, called "Aftercare Express." Now, as part of version 4.0 of the platform, the "Feedback Express" module enables patients to share feedback on their experience in real time via SMS text, and hospital personnel can monitor and respond to the feedback immediately. 

"We have a major opportunity to positively impact the patients' experience while they are still here. Feedback Express gives us important information in real time - that is the game-changer," said Dr. Boykin Robinson, M.D., emergency department medical director at WellStar Cobb Hospital. "During the last 10 years, the number of visits to emergency departments has increased by 32% and is expected to double over the next ten years. Similarly, the number of Emergency Departments has decreased by 4.6 percent, leading to average wait times of nearly four hours."

"If we know in real time that something isn't going well, we can fix it right then. This kind of system is more like the 'Andon board' that other industries, such as auto manufacturing, have used very successfully to spot and fix production issues," added Robinson. "Additionally, some patients are reluctant to speak up - the beauty of SMS texting is that it makes it easy for the patient."

"Feedback Express" serves as a complement to existing patient satisfaction programs, and does not replace or substitute for gathering a representative patient sample that measures and scores patient satisfaction. 

Instead, it is an early-warning system that is more likely to quickly identify disenchanted patients and allow hospital personnel to address matters before they escalate. 

ER Express gives patients the option to compare nearby hospitals and bypass a hospital's ER waiting room by going through an online reservation system.