Clinical Communication Platforms 2023
A Closer Look at Customer Adoption

PerfectServe Telmediq & Stryker Vocera Closest to Providing Comprehensive Deployments That Fit Customer Strategies; TigerConnect Customer Strategies Enabled Due to Ease of Use

Customers who deploy more interfaces and workflows from their vendor need additional guidance and customization to have successful installations. PerfectServe Telmediq and Stryker Vocera Platform have made the most progress in consistently bringing customers live with multiple interfaces and workflows and in meeting their customers’ communication needs. PerfectServe Telmediq customers highlight the vendor’s efforts to understand their current workflows and then build interfaces and functionality that closely align. Stryker Vocera Platform’s broad capabilities can address customers’ specific communication challenges, and some customers highlight close involvement from the vendor to align the technology with their communication strategy. TigerConnect respondents say the easy-to-deploy, HIPAA-compliant messaging solution meets their needs; they have deployed the fewest interfaces and workflows. Those who implement more workflows note the vendor’s willingness to deploy additional interfaces and their versatility in helping organizations with different communication goals and use cases. symplr respondents also report less-comprehensive deployments and say the vendor is willing to collaborate. Customers sometimes cite cost as a reason they haven’t deployed additional interfaces or workflows. Interviewed customers of Oracle Health (Cerner) and Baxter (Voalte) have deployed the most interfaces and workflows. Though the limited number of interviewed Baxter (Voalte) customers appreciate the robust technology, they report a rocky relationship—a change from past experience. Respondents feel the road map hasn’t always been clearly communicated following the vendor’s multiple acquisitions, resulting in doubts about Baxter’s ability to enable communication strategies. The remaining vendors in this report often balance broad deployments with highly versatile communication strategies.

PerfectServe, Stryker Edge & Baxter (Limited Data) Help Drive Deep Adoption; Epic Is Most Broadly Adopted while Adoption Depth Varies

Because organizations have varying goals when rolling out a communication platform—e.g., enabling communication for nurses or physicians versus enabling communication for all types of employees—there is variation in how many of their hospitals they roll it out to (defined here as “breadth”) or how many of their employees they roll it out to (defined as “depth”). PerfectServe respondents (limited data for both platforms) report the deepest adoption, saying the vendor has driven adoption by offering enterprise licenses and developing workflows for ORs, patient registration, scheduling, and call centers. Stryker Edge respondents (limited data) report the highest average number of exchanged messages, with one respondent sending about 30 million per month. The solution exchanges data bidirectionally with EMRs, and respondents say the comprehensive rollout facilitates easy adoption and cross-departmental communication. Baxter (Voalte) respondents (limited data) are often large organizations and report adoption across several departments, along with a high number of exchanged messages per month. Baxter collaborates with customers to help drive deep adoption among nurses, and the out-of-the-box solution makes it easy for organizations to quickly deploy additional functionality without needing to work with third parties. TigerConnect likewise has several large customers and is highlighted for their solution’s easy messaging, even in non-clinical environments.

Epic respondents, who are mostly large health systems, report deploying the solution to the highest percentage of hospitals. Because the product is built into the EMR, many customers have rolled out the solution enterprise wide, especially to leverage its EMR integration and telehealth workflows. Epic has enabled communication-only access to non-clinicians and external providers, though customers must set up this access. Additionally, customers must integrate with third-party solutions for functionality that Epic doesn’t provide (e.g., nurse call, alert manager). These limitations keep many Epic customers from rolling out the solution to a higher percentage of employees. Oracle Health (Cerner) respondents (limited data) continue to say the product’s unwieldiness makes it difficult to broadly adopt. CareAware Connect is separate from Oracle Health’s EMR and often deployed departmentally. There are reports of downtime, and some wish the vendor would address various workflow concerns (e.g., lack of role-based messaging).

Vendor Bottom Lines: How & Where Each Solution Is Deployed

Vendors ordered alphabetically

Baxter Voalte Platform
The percentage of Baxter respondents reporting adoption is above average across almost every department. Baxter’s innovations around their phone system have helped drive smartphone adoption. Many customers adopt the platform so deeply that when they come across any communication challenge, they first try to address it via Voalte Platform. Baxter’s adoption is lowest for telehealth, as they don’t offer a solution specific to this area.


Epic Secure Chat
Because Secure Chat is part of the EMR, it can be rolled out for clinicians anywhere the EMR is used. However, for the reasons cited above, many customers choose not to roll the solution out to non-clinical departments; to help increase adoption in these areas, Epic enables organizations to create access rules and permissions for non-clinical users. The Epic enterprise platform includes access to other tools as well, like telehealth and patient portal functionality. Highly advanced adopters must use third parties for key capabilities (e.g., nurse call system, middleware, enterprise scheduling).

Mobile Heartbeat MH-CURE
Several very large customers say Mobile Heartbeat has focused on collaborating with them to streamline nurse workflows. This has led to a high percentage of respondents using the solution for nursing, and organizations have rolled out workflows for the nurse call system, alarms, and phone systems. Respondents generally report high satisfaction with the solution, noting the vendor’s focus on and strategy around nursing.

Oracle Health (Cerner) CareAware Connect
Respondents often use the solution only in certain departments. As a result, adoption in non-clinical areas like IT and administration is lower. There is 100% adoption among nurses, who frequently use the native alarm middleware and the integration with the nurse call system. The solution also allows users to scan information into the EMR.

PerfectServe
The vendor offers a wide range of communication solutions, driving adoption among various departments. Physician adoption is strong. The solution is deployed less frequently among those in security, and no respondents report adoption in environmental services. Though respondents use various workflows, they most commonly report using physician scheduling functionality.

PerfectServe Telmediq
Respondents highlight the vendor’s partnership and executive-level collaboration and say these things—along with PerfectServe’s mix of inpatient and outpatient customers—have helped form a product that meets a range of needs. The vendor maintains a strong performance while balancing customer needs, though they typically don’t deploy the solution to large IDNs. PerfectServe helps enable strong role-based messaging. Scheduling functionality is a priority for respondents.

Stryker Edge
The solution was originally built in tandem with nurse workflow tools and a scanner; thus, EMR integration was a focus. Now, EMR integration is used by all customer respondents, enabling nurses to use unique workflows on their mobile devices. The integration capabilities with other solutions have led to above-average adoption in non-clinical areas, like environmental services and the dietary department. Respondents report lower adoption of physician workflows, like scheduling and call center functionality.

Stryker Vocera Platform
Most respondents leverage the broad platform for hands-free badge communication and are satisfied with the robust technology. Though the badges are intended for all types of users, nursing is the only department where 100% of respondents report adoption. Additionally, the nurse call system is the most commonly adopted functionality among respondents. The patient and family communication functionality helps drive higher adoption for some organizations, especially since not all competitors have this offering.

About This Report

This report is designed to help readers understand customer respondents’ breadth and depth of adoption, their deployment complexity, and how well vendors enable adoption and drive communication strategies. To gather these perspectives, KLAS asked respondents (1) how many hospitals/employees are using the solution, (2) how many messages are sent per month, (3) which departments/users are leveraging the technology, (4) which integrations and/or native functionalities their vendor deploys at the organization, and (5) how well their vendor partners with them to enable their communication strategy. Insights from KLAS performance data are also referenced.

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