MediShout

Context 

In secondary care, issues such as broken equipment can cause frustration among staff members and lower individual and organisational performance, leading to a potential decrease in the quality of patient care (Tucker, 2004; Tucker et al., 2008; Tucker & Spear, 2006). 

MediShout is an application that aims to streamline the reporting of operational issues in care settings by placing QR codes in areas where issues are likely to be identified. Issues can be reported by either the public or staff members, with no requirement to download an app (Figure 1). Unity Insights were commissioned by Health Innovation East (formerly Eastern Academic Health Science Network) to conduct an evaluation into the impact of MediShout at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. 

Results 

A time-in-motion study was completed on one floor of Addenbrooke’s Hospital to understand the time taken to report instances of broken equipment with and without MediShout, for members of staff and the public: 

• 7 minutes and 16 seconds saved on average per issue when using MediShout compared to the previous pathway 
• 4 minutes and 2 seconds of staff time saved per issue when using MediShout 
• 3 minutes and 19 seconds of public time saved per issue when using MediShout 

An in-year benefit model was developed to identify the non-cash releasing time saving for staff and the time saving for the public when using MediShout instead of the previous pathway at Addenbrooke’s Hospital: 

• £3,676 saved in 2023 due to staff time savings when reporting issues currently reportable by MediShout and £14,816 could be saved if all issues could be reported using MediShout 
• 4.7 days of public time saved in 2023 when reporting issues currently reportable by MediShout and 25.4 days could be saved if all issues could be reported using MediShout.

Recommendations  

The following recommendations were suggested: 

Conclusion 

Overall, MediShout can provide benefits to staff, the public, and the wider system, which could lead to non-cash releasing staff time savings of £14,816 per year and 25.4 days of public time saved per year. Greater benefits are anticipated as users grow accustomed to MediShout and more types of issues can be reported through MediShout. 

The assessment carried out by Unity Insights enabled the MediShout team to gain valuable insights into optimising support for new sites adopting MediShout. By pinpointing issues with the highest frequency of reports, MediShout were able to prioritise and strategically deploy QR codes in key areas of Addenbrooke’s Hospital, streamlining the reporting process and maximizing time savings. Additionally, the evaluation empowered the MediShout team to showcase the advantages of incorporating MediShout in hospital settings, effectively communicating these benefits to potential commissioners. 

References 

TechCrunch. (2023). MediShout wants to bring Amazon-like efficiency to hospital operations. https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/11/how-medishout-plans-to-bring-amazon-like-efficiency-to-hospital-operations/?guccounter=1 

Tucker, A. (2004). The Impact of Operational Failures on Hospital Nurses and Their Patients. Journal of Operations Management, 22, 151–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jom.2003.12.006 

Tucker, A. L., Singer, S. J., Hayes, J. E., & Falwell, A. (2008). Front-line staff perspectives on opportunities for improving the safety and efficiency of hospital work systems. Health Services Research, 43(5 Pt 2), 1807–1829. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6773.2008.00868.x 

Tucker, A. L., & Spear, S. J. (2006). Operational Failures and Interruptions in Hospital Nursing. Health Services Research, 41(3 Pt 1), 643–662. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6773.2006.00502.x