As physicians and hospitals move toward a more consumer-focused care model, experts say successful integration with mobile health faces challenges — not just with technology, but also with processes.

"We needed to do a lot of work and determine what mobile meant from a patient perspective," said Rosemary Ventura, director of nursing informatics at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. "This project is one of those examples of patient safety, where you match patients to an action to provide safe care.

"Nothing is bulletproof," she said. "But you have to be careful in how you present that to a nurse, in terms of the messaging and addressing the culture change."

Ventura will discuss smartphone technology in the hospital arena and these ideas at HIMSS16.

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During her talk, "Empowering Clinicians with Smartphone Technology," Ventura will discuss lessons learned from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital's successful interoperability and strategic implementation of smart mobile point-of-care devices, through an enterprise-wide collaboration of administrators and clinician buy-ins.

"What we really did was start to think strategically about where wanted our nursing team, in terms of practices and what tools were needed to promote efficiency," Ventura said.

Transitioning technology

The hospital knew its current platform wasn't intended to be its long-term system, and felt mobile IT and smartphones would be the next step to improve workflows.

Ventura said the hospital wanted to transition into mobile health years ago, but they had to wait for the technology to catch up.

"Technology has become a way of life, and the healthcare industry has really caught on," she said.

[Also: 8 out of 10 mobile health apps open to HIPAA violations]

"Our workforce is really becoming more mobile," she said, noting newer technology has made it possible to implement different strategies, now that the technology is better equipped to provide patient-driven care.

Her presentation will highlight the strategies used during New York Presbyterian's implementation, providing insight for attendees to model when approaching a project of this scope.

"It's important to look at this globally versus just saying it can be done everywhere. It's not one size fits all," Ventura said. "You see that in our specific case because we're a large academic campus, plus smaller hospitals can't be implemented the same way.

"There are a lot of challenges; it's easier said than done," she said. "It's really about efficiency and providing that information in a method reflective to physicians."

“Empowering Clinicians with Smartphone Technology” is slated for March 1 from 4 to 5 p.m. in Marcello 4404 at HIMSS16 in the Sands Expo Convention Center in Las Vegas.

Twitter: @JessiefDavis