TechSectors (Software): NextMail/SkyMail

Today’s healthcare organizations face many issues and bottlenecks, including the impact of severe workforce shortages, longer and more detailed reporting requirements, and constrained financial resources. These issues could have a negative impact on the quality of care that a patient receives. That’s why some progressive healthcare organizations have started to utilize workforce technology solutions, like Pacific DataVision’s NextMail and SkyMail solutions, as a way to realize even greater operational efficiencies and to improve patient care.

NextMail and SkyMail are mobile dictation and documentation solutions available nationwide. Both allow healthcare professionals to record, document, and share critical information from the field with their office via e-mail by simply using their voices. NextMail is available to Nextel Walkie-Talkie subscribers only from Sprint Nextel, Inc. For customers who do not have Nextel Walkie-Talkie service, PDV developed SkyMail, which works across all major US cellular carriers. Both services operate in a similar way.

Here’s how the technology works (we’ll use SkyMail in our example): A healthcare professional meets with a patient. Once the visit is completed, the professional dials a pre-programmed number on his or her phone and records the patient’s charting information. This voice recording (yes, the treating physician’s actual voice) is sent directly to the e-mail inbox of the recipient as a hyperlink within an e-mail, along with a text reply box that enables the recipient to type and send an immediate text message back to the sender’s phone. The SkyMail is time/date-stamped and contains a customized e-mail “subject line” to provide more detail about the message before it is opened.

By using SkyMail, healthcare organizations can more easily meet reporting requirements, while at the same time reduce paperwork and improve work processes, which can typically translate into hours of added administrative time. These solutions allow healthcare professionals to immediately dictate necessary information, rather than filling out forms by hand, enabling them to see more patients each day.

With SkyMail and NextMail, there’s no software to download and no capital investment. Using the technology is simple: SkyMail is just another phone call, and NextMail is just another walkie-talkie call. Just scroll down the phone’s contact list, select a contact, press the button, speak your message, and hang up. The voice documentation is automatically sent.

For more information about NextMail and SkyMail, and for a free 30-day trial, visit www.pacificdatavision.com. Resources are available to help the individual physician, the physician’s office, or a home healthcare agency become acquainted with these solutions.