JERICHO, NY, April 12, 2010 – Optimum Lightpath®, a market leader in Ethernet-based communication solutions for New York metropolitan area businesses, today announced that through its exclusive relationship with GetWellNetwork, Inc, the leader in interactive patient care, it will supply Interactive Patient Care (IPC) to The Children’s Hospital At Montefiore (CHAM).
CHAM will implement Interactive Patient Care in all 130 beds throughout the hospital at no cost to patients. The advanced patient care service, which will be deployed for the first time in the New York Metropolitan area, will empower the renowned children’s hospital to improve entertainment, education, patient safety, clinical care outcomes, and bed turnover rates while creating new workflow efficiencies for hospital staff.
CHAM will roll out GetWell Town™, an innovative, pediatric version of GetWellNetwork’s flagship Interactive Patient Care solution. GetWell Town will be powered by Optimum Lightpath’s 100% fiber optic network and transform the hospital’s in-room televisions into valuable tools for clinical teaching and entertainment. Using GetWell Town, patients and families will be able to learn more about their diagnosis, connect with friends using email and IM, and find out more about their caregivers. GetWell Town, which is uniquely designed for children, delivers exclusive health education content from KidsHealth® using interactive videos to improve patient education and engagement.
“CHAM currently delivers the most advanced medical care to its pediatric patients in metro New York. Interactive Patient Care will further distinguish Montefiore by dramatically enhancing the child’s and family’s experience of entertainment, education and clinical engagement,” said Jack Wolf, Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Montefiore. “Optimum Lightpath has always offered Montefiore tremendous value and the most advanced technology. This is yet another example of how this long-standing relationship helps us keep our network and services on the cutting edge, delivering a significant positive impact on our ability to administer premium patient care.”
Automated patient education is an integral component of the new service, and nurses will be able to order education programs specific to each patient and track its completion all from their current Electronic Health Record system. The deal expands Montefiore Medical Center’s deep existing relationship with Optimum Lightpath, which has provided its communication services since 2001. Interactive Patient Care will be deployed throughout CHAM over a six-month period, which will see the patient care process transform as a result.
“Today, Optimum Lightpath works with more than 70% of hospitals in the New York metropolitan area, helping them to transform patient care,” said Dave Pistacchio, President of Optimum Lightpath. “We are in tune with the unique needs of healthcare providers in our service area and our exclusive relationship with GetWellNetwork to deliver Interactive Patient Care represents our ability to provide significant value to our customers beyond traditional communication services. We are eager to begin working with CHAM to deliver a premium healthcare experience throughout the hospital. Further, as more of our healthcare customers move to deploy Interactive Patient Care, we are prepared to help them every step of the way.”
The IPC solution, GetWell Town, goes beyond entertainment to empower patients and their families to be more actively engaged in their care with interactive care plans exclusive to GetWellNetwork. Flexible and scalable, updates and new releases can be downloaded remotely to ensure fresh and current content and capabilities that meet the constantly evolving needs of the hospital.
In addition to providing significantly enhanced care opportunities, GetWell Town also provides patients with a variety of amenities, including Hollywood movies, games, Internet surfing and instant messaging. Parents are also given the option to exercise control of the entertainment content based on their preferences. In May 2009, Optimum Lightpath and GetWellNetwork signed an exclusive agreement to package Interactive Patient Care with its advanced business communications solutions, which run over the area’s largest all-fiber metro Ethernet network.
“Hospitals are moving away from simple entertainment solutions on television and embracing the opportunity to provide patients with interactive learning tools that influence positive health outcomes while improving patient satisfaction,” said Michael O’Neil, Jr., founder and Chief Executive Officer of GetWellNetwork, Inc. “As a result of our relationship with Optimum Lightpath, Montefiore has a powerful solution to help clinicians, the Child Life Department, educators and staff deliver a superior level of care.”
