(Durham, N.C.) Responding to the urgent need among U.S. healthcare organizations to avoid wasteful spending due to inadequate communication and caregivers’ growing use of smartphones for on-the-go communication, Clairvia today announces the introduction of three advanced mobile technology offerings for the hospital enterprise and physician marketplace.

The mobile technology offerings, which extend proven, Web-based Clairvia software functionality to the market’s leading smartphones through a software-as-a-service (SAAS) model, include:

* ShiftAlert Mobile – Delivers mobile alerts to physicians and hospital employees on open shifts that have come available, and need to be filled immediately. Staffing managers avoid the time-consuming hassles of phone calls. Caregivers can respond to alerts, sign up to work specific open shifts, and receive real-time confirmation of shift assignment.
* Physician Scheduler® MobileConnect – Extends the self-service functionality of Clairvia’s Physician Scheduler software. Enables physicians to constantly stay informed of scheduling issues affecting their work and free time, receive and respond to alerts, take steps to adjust their schedule, and interact with colleagues. Advanced interface enables physicians to view their individual schedule, enter vacation requests and schedule changes, and swap shifts.
* Care Value Management™ (CVM) MobileConnect – Provides hospital enterprise employees with the same, interactive scheduling functionality offered through Physician Scheduler Mobile Connect. At any place and time, staff members can view current and future schedules, stay up to date on evolving scheduling issues and needs, submit requests, and exchange shifts and collaborate with co-workers.

“We are very pleased to introduce these mobile capabilities to our hospital and physician customers as they add significant value in a very busy, fast-moving healthcare delivery environment,” says Beth Pickard, president and chief executive officer at Durham, N.C.-based Clairvia. “Providing them as services will facilitate easier implementations and provide faster, more scalable usage.”

Expanding innovative software technology to smartphones, Pickard says, “offers the real potential to improve healthcare efficiency and operational results.

“Healthcare providers need immediate and reliable access to information to improve point-of-care decision-making and optimize every healthcare moment,” she emphasizes.

Pickard cites a recent study conducted by the Center for Health Information and Decision Systems (CHIDS) that estimates U.S. hospitals waste $12 billion annually due to the effects of inadequate or delayed communication. The study projects that a typical, 500-bed, acute-care hospital could be losing $4 million annually as a result of faulty communication.

Since today’s smartphones, such as iPhone and BlackBerry® devices, provide a single interface to make calls, send texts, manage schedules, organize tasks, view documents and receive alerts, and provide feature-rich, PC-like functionality, they are the devices of choice among today’s healthcare professionals. According to the recent CHIDS study, 94 percent of U.S. physicians are using smartphones to communicate, manage their personal and business time, and access medical information.

“Our entry in mobile technology was initially prompted by interest among our physician customers,” Pickard reports. “Physicians have long adopted use of smartphones to manage their workflow, stay informed at the point of care, and improve productivity given their active, on-the-go schedules. We’re confident that the same functionality valued by physicians will be highly beneficial to all healthcare providers.”

In fact, today’s multiple hospital communications systems —- from paging systems to voice badges —– can cause confusion and frustration among nurses and other hospital employees since information access is often fragmented and inconsistent. Smartphones provide a single, always-accessible communications tool that helps healthcare employees put aside the sometimes confusing clutter of too many other devices.

Healthcare experts have long emphasized that improved communications through the use of information technology is essential to improving healthcare efficiencies - efficiencies that will be passed along to consumers in the form of better patient quality of care and access.

“The introduction of our mobile technologies is another way we’re helping our hospital and physician customers better utilize our Clairvia solutions, and improve their clinical and financial outcomes,” Pickard adds.

Clairvia, headquartered in Durham, N.C., serves more than 1,200 healthcare organizations, medical facilities, nursing departments, and group practices with advanced software solutions for patient and staff management.