Lessons learned
VNAHHS recognized early on that its unique needs required a proprietary mobile field service application for the handhelds as well as a back-end system that could support the many transmissions, queries and reports required by VNAHHS staff. Now that the hardware has been deployed, the company can expand the use of the handhelds over time as new ideas are suggested, adding value to their initial investment.

Rather than doing everything at once, the company adds a new form to the system every two weeks to allow the clinicians time to incorporate each one into their daily routine. The team meets regularly and offers feedback and suggestions for refining forms and processes. This goes a long way toward ensuring that the new system is widely accepted as a way of simplifying the clinicians' work lives rather than complicating them.

VNAHHS also knows that good training is the key to success for their handheld program. They quickly learned to tell clinicians everything they needed to know about the handheld program first, and then to issue the handhelds. Otherwise, the students became excited with the units and missed important instructions.

And training isn't rushed. VNAHHS allows clinicians to play with the handhelds for two weeks after they are issued. Then the use of forms is introduced. Clinicians are given two weeks to practice on the forms, and two more weeks to actually use the forms on the Palm handhelds. After the six weeks have passed, the clinicians are no longer allowed to use paper forms if electronic forms are available. Most clinicians find that by the end of the six-week period they wouldn't consider going back to paper forms.

Conclusion
In its effort to reduce paperwork for its clinicians through the use of Palm Powered handhelds, VNA Home Health Systems has found a way to attract applicants, improve documentation accuracy and reporting turnaround time, cut costs, boost clinician satisfaction, and enhance point-of-service decision support. It now has a system in place that can support further advancements in home health care while measurably improving the quality of work life for its employees.

Christine Harland Williams is President of Harland Communications and tracks handheld solutions used in the enterprise. She can be reached at gomobile@harlandwebs.com.