I am thrilled to have joined Voalte as VP of Product and Alliance Management. As the leader of the Product Management team, my primary role is to make sure we build the right product, to be available at the right time, and designed in the right way to deliver a cost-effective, compelling communication solution for caregivers and support staff. Just as mathematicians can’t live without a calculator, we want clinicians to feel the Voalte empowered smartphone is the best tool to help them deliver a high level of patient safety and quality of care. Of course, no one piece of equipment is a silver bullet that solves every problem, but ultimately we want to deliver an increasingly valuable and powerful tool that is reliable, efficient and – most importantly – effective. 

At Voalte, we understand that to be successful at meeting that lofty objective, the product and alliance/partner teams must go out and talk with nurses and physicians inside and outside the hospital. The participation and guidance of actual users is the foundation of everything we do at Voalte. Based on our users’ proactive input and constant feedback, Voalte has built a solid reputation for designing apps with the functionality and usability that has resulted in a quantum leap in solving the communication challenges of today’s healthcare personnel.

We’re also dedicated to building compelling alliances with companies that make related best-in-class healthcare products that are ideally suited to co-reside on the smartphone with Voalte apps. In certain cases, it makes sense for such products to be tightly integrated with Voalte applications, and in other cases to be more loosely coupled, as in basic interoperability. While the majority of such partnerships will be in software applications, we are actively building alliances with hardware vendors to deliver even more effective uses for our compatible and complementary products. 

Done right, the integration of barcode medication administration (BCMA) and radio frequency identification (RFID), integrated with the smartphone hardware and our leading voice, alarms and text messaging capabilities, will demonstrate our commitment to delivering what nurses and doctors need to provide safe, efficient and effective patient care. Naturally, Voalte is fully engaged with the leading EMR vendors to create clinically compelling applications built on the Voalte communication platform … and is open to many more alliances and uses.

Communication is well recognized as a huge challenge for hospitals. The dynamic environment requires the exchange of a plethora of communication types, such as voice, alarms and text, but also is evolving rapidly to include images, video streaming and voice dictation. Add to this the requirement for managing all communication based on work schedules, real-time availability and roles, responsibilities and certification/licensing levels, and before you know it you’re talking about a truly complex communication challenge.  

In my new role at Voalte, I’m looking forward to helping caregivers do what they do best – saving lives and creating positive patient outcomes. At Voalte, we believe that arming hospital staff and caregivers with a single, versatile communication tool is one of the most significant ways to make a positive difference in healthcare for the 21st century.

How long does it take your nurses to respond when a patient pushes the nurse call light? Two minutes? Four minutes? Longer?

If you don’t know the answer, you should, because it influences everything from health outcomes to patient satisfaction to financial results.

Patients use the nurse call light for various reasons, but as you can see in this bar chart from the American Journal of Nursing (AJN), the top three calls are for bathroom assistance, IV problems or alarms, and accidental calls that often involve pushing the call button while turning over in bed or trying to turn the TV channel. While none of these involve life-threatening scenarios, your nurses’ response to them has a major impact.

Consider a call for bathroom assistance. If a nurse doesn’t get to the patient’s room within a couple of minutes, will the patient wait or try to get up from bed on their own? If they get out of bed, in an unfamiliar place and perhaps while taking pain medication, the danger of a fall is significant.  

At one hospital, I heard about a patient breaking her hip in a fall while trying to get to the bathroom. In addition to the suffering of the patient and her negative impression of the care she received, the hospital took a financial loss from the cost of the patient’s resulting surgery and the increased length of her stay.



The AJN study found that each patient averages 4.59 nurse calls per day. It’s simple arithmetic to multiply your number of patients by the number of calls per day to arrive at the potential for such negative consequences.

So what are you doing to make sure your nurses respond to calls in a timely manner? In a typical scenario, when a patient pushes the nurse call light, an alert goes to the unit coordinator, who responds by asking the patient what they need, then tracks down that patient’s nurse to relay the information. Depending on the communication system, that could mean using an overhead paging system, making a phone call that may or may not be answered, or using a one-way communication device. The nurse then needs to respond to the unit coordinator to find out which patient is calling and what their needs are. If the nurse is busy, the unit coordinator needs to locate another nurse or nurse technician using the same process.

With Voalte One, when a patient pushes the nurse call light, an alert goes directly to the nurse, who can proceed to the patient’s room or send a text to a technician asking him or her to go to the room to assist the patient. 

When a nurse responds to a call promptly, the patient not only receives the best possible care but also feels well cared-for.  When delays can have such a high price, a couple minutes makes a difference.


_{Source: Effects of Nursing Rounds on Patients’ Call Light Use, Satisfaction, and Safety, AJN, September 2006, Vol. 106, No. 9. By Christine M. Meade, Ph.D., Amy L. Bursell, Ph.D., Lyn Ketelsen, MBA, R.N.}

“A tipping point is the event of a previously rare phenomenon becoming rapidly and dramatically more common.”

Last year it happened – I can’t put my finger on when it happened – and I am not sure if there was a specific day, week, or month when it occurred, but in 2012, we hit a tipping point.

The tipping point we experienced was the exponential growth of smartphones being used as a communication device at the point-of-care. Nurses, doctors, and hospital administrators have unilaterally proclaimed that legacy VoIP wireless phones, pagers, and voice badges are devices of the past; our caregivers deserve a better communications experience.

We are constantly amazed at what our customers have been able to achieve in the past four years and we are blessed to partner with such an innovative group of healthcare leaders.

So what is in store for 2013– the year past the tipping point? What is the future of smartphones at the point-of-care?

Come check us out at HIMSS13 in New Orleans to see what Voalte has planned for the new year. If you think Voalte was busy last year, just wait and see what we have in store for you in 2013!

Very soon your web browser will become your next telephone!  Surprised.  You should be.  Soon you will be able to make voice and even video calls to anyone running the latest web browser.  No apps to download, no installs and no sign ups.  It’s just you and your web browser.

WebRTC is a free, open project that enables Real-Time Communication (RTC) capabilities to be built right into the web browser without any extra plug-ins or software.  In addition to voice and video calls, it will also be possible to screen share and transfer files. 

What does this mean for you?
Websites will become more interactive “environments” where other users will be able to interact and communicate in real-time, rather than static pages of text and images.  It will also allow for imagine browsing on an online store, being able to chat with other shoppers or even talk with a salesperson or customer support directly and immediately.

What does this mean for healthcare?
This will make telemedicine easier and cheaper to achieve because it won’t require any special hardware or software to setup a videoconference between a patient and a healthcare provider.  It could also change the landscape of medical devices, for example, a nurse could receive a critical alarm that links to the patient monitoring device showing the live waveform or real-time values like heart rate.

What browsers have it? 
WebRTC is not generally available in any web browser yet, but you can try it in early experimental versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Opera.

When will it be generally available? 
I guesstimate that 2013 will be the year of WebRTC and it should be available on all major web browsers.

I am very excited about this new technology because it will take web browsers and communication to the next level.  Telecommunications started with landline telephones that only made voice calls, then wireless smartphones enabled voice, video and data and now the web browser will have the ability to allow easy real-time collaboration between individuals and offer direct access to real-time data.

As a young rep starting off in technology and healthcare, I was thrown into a whole new world that I never expected. Immediately, I was given an overwhelming amount of knowledge, talking to some of the best individuals in healthcare. Eight months later and I love every minute of it. I get to develop relationships with the people that make a difference everyday…. Nurses!!!

Tradeshows are nothing new. Almost every b2b company attends a conference of some sort. For me however, the ANCC National Magnet Conference that took place in Los Angeles, California this past month was my very first tradeshow.

The 2012 ANCC National Magnet Conference is where clinicians go to celebrate nursing, let their hair down, and have a good time!! This is the nursing conference to top all nursing conferences. Hospital organizations send their nurses to ANCC to celebrate being designated (or re-designated) as a Magnet Hospital, the highest clinical honor to be had.

What made ANCC so special was that it was a conference dedicated solely to nurses. As a vendor, we were there to show our Voalte solution but we were also there to celebrate clinical excellence. This conference was all about showing nurses a different way to manage the craziness of their daily work lives through our solution, putting a smile on their faces, and making relationships with those that matter most.

The amount of sweat and stress that goes into making this conference happen becomes worth it when you get the chance to speak face-to-face with the nurses. These nurses come from all different backgrounds and environments; each one having a different perspective, but all having the same caring heart that makes them so special. Seeing the a-ha moment after demoing our solution was just icing on the cake.

The take away… The solutions you sell are one thing, but the people you meet and the relationships you make are what really count. ANCC opened my eyes as to why we work hard at doing what we do. It’s a shout out to nurses because they are the ones that matter most!

You may have heard about cloud computing, but what is it and where did it come from? If you’re a Voalte user, you are already using the cloud. Congratulations, you’re on the cutting edge of technology! 

Cloud computing got its name from engineers' practice of drawing networks as clouds on whiteboards. Drawing a cloud is easier than drawing a bunch boxes and lines for the connections between the client and server. Over time it also became an easier way to talk about server computers too.

The term is used to describe various ways of sending data across a network from one computer (like your iPhone) to another (like the Voalte server). The server then processes your data for you. In this case, it’s the Voalte cloud! Think of it as an assistant doing your bidding. Or think about it like an iceberg. The software running on the iPhone or on the desktop is the tip, but underneath there’s big chunk of software in the network doing its job. That software is running on the server computer.

When you send a message on your Voalte phone, despite what you might think, you’re not sending it directly to your co-worker. Your message goes through the hospital’s WiFi network to a computer called a server. This is a computer in an equipment rack somewhere in your hospital’s IT department. The software on that computer then looks at your text, figures out if your co-worker is logged in and can be reached on WiFi, then relays that text. Otherwise it waits until it can reach your co-worker and sends that message later.

As a Voalte engineer, my co-workers and I create features by writing code on the server, on the iPhone, and on the desktop clients. That software has to communicate across the network. We also define the network protocol that our software uses to talk across that network.

When we find problems, we have to figure out if the problem is on the iPhone, desktop, or the server. Or, maybe there’s a network communication problem in the middle? We don’t like WiFi problems any more than you do!

Writing networked software can be challenging, but it’s also rewarding. I enjoy writing our Voalte software and seeing it used for an important purpose: taking care of patients.

A lot of people talk about what they want to do or who they want to be. Companies do it too. They talk about their vision or their purpose, but what does it all really mean? To believe in what you are doing, is that vision? What is the purpose of the work I am doing?

These were the types of questions I asked myself when I was sitting in a chair at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. My wife was recovering from complications with her Diabetes, so I had a lot of time to sit, stare blankly at my laptop screen, and ponder the impact our solution has on healthcare and even further, on my life directly, in this moment. I had the same reoccurring thoughts, as I watched nurses come in every thirty to sixty minutes to test her blood sugar levels. This isn’t just marketing; they are really using the product to help my wife recover. This is real.

I did not understand the true importance of the Voalte solution until I saw it in action. I watched as someone triple checked the basal rate of insulin my wife received every hour. The nurse used the product we sold, making sure not to double up on the dosage. It really hit home at that moment, how lucky we were to be in one of the best hospitals in the world, a hospital, which is running Voalte.

You hear sales pitch after sales pitch, involving the vision or purpose of a company, but you don't really understand the reality until you experience it first hand. I understand, now more then ever, what it means to have purpose in my work. It’s not about hitting a sales goal. It's about building something that is capable of impacting the quality of care your child, parent, or spouse receives. I love being a part of something like that... I was sitting in the hospital room while my wife recovered when purpose slapped me in the face.

On Tuesday, October 23, 2012, at 10:00AM PST, Apple released the iPad Mini.

On Tuesday, October 23, 2012, at approximately 10:05AM PST, physicians, nurses, and other caregivers began asking IT when the iPad Mini would be supported by the organization.

Below are three things to consider regarding the iPad Mini’s immediate impact on healthcare:

1. Ease of use. The iPad Mini has the same intuitive user interface and application standards that the iPad and iPhone feature. Users will have no problem picking up the device and using it with little-to-no training. Standardized products and ubiquitous experiences have their advantages.

2. No form factor. The iPad Mini is a dream device for physicians and nurses who are looking for a lightweight, mobile platform that can fit in their lab coat pocket. It’s big enough to enable both reading and writing information in an EHR, yet small enough to easily carry around throughout a shift. When it comes to the deployment of the iPad Mini, the real question will be, how quickly EHR vendors can optimize their applications for the iPad Mini’s new form factor? Epic’s Cantu and Cerner’s PowerChartTouch were both designed for a regular sized iPad. Not all features and functions that have been built into their iPad app will be suitable for a smaller screen size, so expect customization to occur.

3. Enterprise readiness. Right out of the gate, the iPad Mini runs Apple’s iOS, which is accepted by almost all IT organizations in one fashion or another. With the plethora of mobile device management solutions (such as Voalte Connect, powered by Airwatch), the iPad Mini will have no problem receiving the go-ahead from IT in terms of enterprise readiness. (This, of course, is a 180-degree change from the launch of the iPhone in 2008!)

Wondering how the iPad Mini will play into your organization’s mobility strategy? Feel free to give us a call here at Voalte and we will be happy to help guide the way.

As a young, fast growing company, trade shows can provide a wealth of knowledge, and lead to an overwhelming amount of success. Two weeks ago, Voalte had the chance to participate in the Cerner Health Conference out in Kansas City, Missouri. We had a booth setup, ready to demonstrate our Voalte One Nursing Communication Solution where we were able to speak face-to-face with current customers in addition to potential customers. Our booth screamed pink and green and our “pink pants crew” triggered lots of attention across the show floor driving more traffic towards our location.   

What made CHC different from other shows I had attended in the past is that it was a user conference. In other words, only Cerner customers were able to attend. In addition, Voalte and Cerner were able to join forces to enhance communication at the point-of-care, by integrating with Cerner on a few different levels at the conference. We showed Voalte One integration at the CareAware Connect station as well as the Alert Link Alarm Management Station. Cerner showcased these products and others in their Solutions Gallery. This Solutions Gallery was an amazing resource of EMR knowledge. We were able to learn as much as possible about their EMR and Middleware platforms, iBus and Alert Link, as well as new up-and-coming Cerner products!   

Looking back, I can’t help but think of CHC’s tagline, “Because it’s personal”. At the end of the conference, I was able to meet face-to-face with hundreds of potential customers, some of which I had been speaking with for seven months or more. Which goes to show you, building relationships before hand is key, but being able to interact face-to-face can make all the difference. And when you stop and think about it, the same is true in healthcare.

Healthcare is personal, shouldn’t clinical communication be personal too? 

Recently I was given the opportunity to travel to California and engage in an onsite meeting. We met with an organization that was seeking out a communications platform to accommodate their new medical campus. Aside from the traditional pink pants buzz, our presence created an overwhelming sense of optimism. After years of handling unintelligent legacy devices, a brief exposure to innovation opened their eyes and left them with a trending notion: change is coming.

The 3 most talked about features included:

1. Texting – Blown away by the increased functionality and customization, nurses immediately gravitated to the personalized texting feature. They understood what texting provided and how it could help improve workflow efficiency. 

2. No Alarm Fatigue – Due to the immense call volume per shift, nurses were cringing at the sound of their phone. A phone call for something as simple as ice-chips? Not anymore. Voalte eliminates 80% of ringing phones, decreases alarm fatigue, and helps streamline communication. Consequently, we have happy nurses and an overall positive end-user experience.

3. One Device – With a legacy phone dangling from her neck, and a “Batman Utility Belt” full of pagers, we bumped into a nurse that set a new Voalte record for devices carried (6). With Voalte, caregivers can shed some device weight with a solution that eliminates excess pagers and phones.

Not only did caregivers embrace the functionality, they also understood the BIG picture. Healthcare is a constantly evolving, ever-changing field. By integrating with Voalte, hospitals are provided with a communication platform that can expand to meet their needs. Overall, our visit opened their eyes to innovation, making a lasting impression upon their staff members with thoughts of pink on their mind...