7. Name:
GetWellNetwork
Site:
http://www.getwellnetwork.com/
Founded: 1999
Location: Bethesda, MD
Why it matters: Serving up a few content choices on a patient’s in-room TV is one thing…but when you can offer a patient-specific welcome complete with the right clinical questions, display a pain assessment whenever a certain med drawer opens, coach consumers on what meals to order and target them with health education specific to their condition, that’s TV of another kind altogether. This is the kind of service the GetWellNetwork has built, serving 40 live sites and 6,000 beds as of 2006. It makes tremendous sense. GWN has developed its own Java-based workflow engine--connected to in-room TV/monitors--that drives the interaction between patient, television content and clinicians. Clinical events trigger an educational feed, questionnaire or advice to the patient, and patient responses (such as a high rating of pain from a regularly administered on-screen survey) trigger alerts to physicians. We think this model, which puts the patient in the middle of their own care without overwhelming them, offers an extremely powerful and disruptive approach.
What to look for: Over the next year, look for GWN to touch one million patients with its patient-facing system. On the administrative end, GWN plans to integrate clinical pathways for specific diseases, starting with a five-day plan for managing congestive heart failure. GWN also has its sights set on extending its system to other sites, such as homecare and assisted living.
