Study: Inefficient communication costs U.S. hospitals $11 billion a year

In U.S. hospitals, a significant amount of time is wasted due to inefficient communication technology, resulting in a loss of billions of dollars every year, according to a recent study from the Ponemon Institute.
 

In a survey of more than 400 healthcare providers examining communication processes with colleagues, respondents reported time wasted during patient admissions, emergency responses, and patient transfers primarily due to the inefficiency of pagers and lack of secure text messaging. The Ponemon Institute estimated that the labor costs associated with the wasted time is $1.75 million per hospital, which translates to about $11 billion industry-wide.

Respondents also stated that the unavailability of Wi-Fi service, the inefficiencies of email and fax, and a lack of a policy allowing staff to use their own mobile devices as factors contributing to time wasted.