Inova Health System Prevents Alarm Fatigue and Enhances Patient-Centric Care With Spok Clinical Alerting

Inova clinicians receive priority clinical alerts on hospital-issued mobile devices to make informed care decisions

SPRINGFIELD, Va. (October 31, 2018) – Spok, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK) and a global leader in healthcare communications, announced that Inova Health System has chosen Spok Care Connect^® clinical alerting to deliver priority clinical alarms. The solution helps prevent potential alarm fatigue by delivering alarm notifications from nurse call and patient monitoring systems to clinicians’ healthcare-grade mobile devices. Inova is a five-hospital health system serving more than two million people each year from throughout the Washington, D.C. metro area and beyond. Spok clinical alerting is fully deployed at Inova Fairfax Hospital, and is being rolled out systemwide over the next year, encompassing more than 2,500 users.

“We were already using Spok in a variety of ways for clinical communication within Inova, and we knew we had a solid, reliable platform to build on,” said Jill Briggs, RN, CPN, pediatrics project manager, at Inova Fairfax Hospital. “Across multiple critical care units, Spok enables us to take an enterprise approach to alarm management. We are preventing alarm fatigue with technology that adapts to our workflows to eliminate ‘nuisance alarms’ and improve patient safety.”

Spok clinical alerting integrates with Inova nurse call systems, Rauland Responder^® 5 and Hill-Rom NaviCare^®, as well as the patient monitoring network of bedside devices, which are primarily GE Healthcare. Spok enables Inova to have the flexibility to customize alarm management for each clinical unit. Assignment sync, patient identification, workflow rules, keyword logic, and unique tones for different patient events help ensure the right clinicians receive alerts that matter to them on Inova-issued Spectralink clinical smartphones. Automated escalations, audit trails, and analytics support timely response to patients in need.

“Spok works very well with the other systems our care teams use communicate,” said Rebecca Arthur, CPHIMS, ITIL, manager of biomedical information systems at Inova. “That level of interoperability means technology adapts to our workflows, rather than the other way around, and provides timely information to the caregiver in order to make more informed care decisions.”

Spok clinical alerts are received by Inova clinicians on Spectralink PIVOT^® 87-Series clinical smartphones. Inova selected Spectralink, a Spok partner, for the seamless integration with Spok and its EHR system, Epic^®. Deciding factors for choosing PIVOT include its screen size, which is large enough to clearly read complete alert notifications and messages and effectively navigate the EHR, and its rugged durability.

“Inova has worked diligently to develop a unified communication system, and Spok is proud to be the platform that supports their vision,” said Vincent D. Kelly, chief executive officer of Spok, Inc. “Intelligent clinical alerting combats alarm fatigue and reduces clinician burnout, which are two top challenges for healthcare today.”

About Inova Health System 
Inova is a global leader in personalized health, which leverages precision medicine together with more patient-centric services to predict, prevent and treat disease, enabling individuals to live longer, healthier lives. At Inova, we serve more than 2 million people each year from throughout the Washington, DC, metro area and beyond.

We are shaping the future of health through our integrated network of hospitals, primary and specialty care practices, emergency and urgent care centers, outpatient services and destination institutes.  Our commitment to health and wellness is further reflected in our sustainable practices. Inova is home to world-class researchers, expert medical specialists and renowned scientists, who are driving innovation to improve patient care, prevent disease and promote wellness. For more information, visit inova.org, or find Inova on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.