Strategic Take On Internal Communications Brings Multiple Benefits

In such a fast-moving environment like healthcare, creating an efficient system for Information Technology (IT) communications can be a challenge.

In a large network, such as Main Line Health System (MLH), based in the western suburbs of Philadelphia, the systems and computing infrastructure has a critical need to operate smoothly 24/7. That’s because it supports 10,000+ staff, including 2,000+ physicians, across four acute care hospitals and five health centers.

This created a need for more direct IT communications to improve overall performance and keep staff informed of important IT updates. MLH wanted to go beyond traditional communication channels and implement an advanced messaging system.

For several years, MLH had used overhead paging - though the noise involved had the potential to disturb patients. It was also found to be an inconvenient method for transmitting crucial system support messages to the staff network.

There was concern that employees could miss an important announcement if they were out of earshot. Furthermore, shared workspaces sometimes meant less time available to check emails. A less-than-perfect communication approach meant staff were sometimes out of the loop on critical messages around IT systems and network outages.

The team at MLH identified these issues and sought to find the best solution to achieve effective cut-through of their IT messages. When the network is down, a simple message delivered in the right manner could improve job performance and ensure the Helpdesk resources are better directed to the right tasks.