No Magic Bullets - Healthcare Mobility Survey Reveals VAR Opportunities

Healthcare is a notorious industry to sell to. Winning a deal can be incredibly lucrative and foster lengthy relationships, but it also means competition is fierce, budgets are strained, and existing relationships can be challenging to break into. And where do you even start? Mobility and rapid response are mission-critical, but how do you address consumer device usage, connectivity issues, and the increasing utilization of committees to make purchasing decisions?

A new survey of 100 healthcare leaders provides answers, confirms the broad range of industry needs, and presents some opportunities for solution providers. Our healthcare experts, JoAnna Witting and Cindy Loranger, also assessed the results.

Thanks to Zebra for sponsoring! 

Who Did We Talk To?

We hired a third-party agency to gather survey responses. The 100 respondents were recruited through a research panel and invited to complete the survey via email.

Respondent Requirements:

• US-based, working in healthcare
• Senior/Department managers, directors, VP/head, C-Suite
  
  
  

Top Takeaways

Who makes technology buying decisions for your department?

What best defines collaboration between your department and others?

Does your facility have cellular or wireless "dead zones"?

What is your biggest staffing challenge?

What Else Did We Learn?

Consumer Devices Are Abundant,
But Enterprise Isn't Flawless

Smartphones, tablets, and laptops are standard in healthcare, but 72% of respondents still use consumer-grade devices exclusively or at least some of the time.  We suspected that, so we asked them about their top device challenges.

While we may be aware of the apparent benefits of enterprise mobile devices over consumer ones, this suggests that even the best purpose-built hardware requires assistance to be effective for daily use. Better asset tracking, mobile device management, and battery efficiency programs can help VARs tackle these challenges and potentially generate additional recurring revenue.

Organizations Need More Than Just Hardware

Device management is a top priority for healthcare organizations. Most (77%) use mobile device management (MDM) software, while 59% have implemented tracking solutions, such as RFID, barcodes, or BLE. Additionally, 53% have taken steps to secure mobile environments through the use of application management controls.

"Mobility in healthcare is not new. Today, for VARs, it's a comprehensive offering. Not just selling the hardware, but looking at everything that enables that: battery life, device management, networking, cellular connectivity, maintenance, software updates."

- Cindy Loranger, CEO - Health IT Resources

 

Healthcare organizations aren’t just buying devices; they’re building ecosystems. VARs that offer full-stack solutions, including device tracking, smart storage, battery optimization, maintenance, and analytics through monitoring software, will be best positioned to deliver long-term value and repeat business.

Mobility is More Than a Device

Sixty-one percent of respondents reported regular use of mobile workstations. Modern mobile devices can be used with these workstations, supplying the computing power and access to applications, EHR, and other tools from room to room. 43% of respondents said it would be “immensely beneficial” to access all their apps immediately when connecting a mobile device to a workstation. Another 49% said it would be “somewhat beneficial.”

Time savings are also compelling. Two-thirds (67%) of respondents estimate they could save 5–10 minutes every hour by skipping manual workstation logins, and 11% say they’d save even more.

"From a clinician side, mobility isn't necessarily about the technology. 'How am I going to be able to do my job more efficiently on the go?' This is how they do it, with devices that give them access to all of the tools they need in one place."

-- JoAnna Witting, Healthcare Business Development Manager - BlueStar

 

Efficiency sells. VARs can meet demand by offering integrated workstation bundles that support mobile-to-cart docking, proximity-based login tools, and turnkey setups that streamline clinician workflows and reduce wasted time.

Care Teams Want Collaboration & Connectivity

Interdepartmental collaboration in healthcare has considerable room for growth. Only 27% of respondents said their departments communicate frequently to support seamless care coordination. In comparison, a majority (51%) acknowledged that although teams work reasonably well together, communication and workflow integration still need improvement. That can occur with mobility devices, but can also be accomplished through digital signage and interactive touchscreens.

"Collaboration is a not just sending texts, emails, and phone communication. It also includes sharing a patient's status in real-time. Many still do shift change meetings where everything is verbal - if they share patient status with mobile devices and the next shift does not have time to view all the messages and potentially misses something, it could bring harm to patients.  For proper workflows, there has to be more than just mobile communication and verbal shift change meetings. It's data that should be accessed in more than one place--in the patient room, outside the door,  and at the nursing station."

Twenty-eight percent of respondents report having wireless or cellular dead zones in their facilities, which directly impact communication and data access. When working with external care teams, the most urgent challenges identified were fast, reliable communication (27%), patient data security (27%), and EHR connectivity (18%).

Communication bottlenecks and connectivity gaps are hindering care teams. VARs can step in with internal networking solutions and explore reliable cellular connectivity options for external teams and between locations. The inability to reach a provider or team member can be life-threatening in this field.

"If a VAR is selling mobility for internal use, they better also be experts in wi-fi and networking. You really can't sell one without the other. Using mobility within a building requires testing out the current placement of the routers, and using a heat map software to test out the range and look for dead spots.  A VAR is doing a disservice if they are just selling the hardware - saying it's better for collaboration and communication, but have no idea if there are dead spots. BlueStar can help connect them to connectivity experts if it's not one of their strengths."

Additional Findings & Suggestions

• Look to Long-Term Care - LTCs didn't represent a large part of the survey. Still, half reported using consumer devices, which may indicate an underserved part of the industry that's not innovating as quickly as acute care. Cindy notes, "This market is way behind hospitals in mobility." She also points out that smaller LTCs often outsource much of their physical therapy, resulting in communication and data transfer gaps.
• Address Staffing Challenges - The provider-to-patient ratio was the top staffing challenge (26%), followed by shift continuity (19%) and communication between teams (15%). The benefits of mobility, connectivity, and fast, reliable access to data through automation can improve these issues.
• Connectivity = Account Control - If you secure that mobility hardware sale, you must integrate connectivity as part of the solution. A deal can sour quickly if dead zones or slow networks turn your amazing new devices into expensive bricks. Learn about BlueStar Connectivity on a recent episode of the BlueStar Nation Podcast.

• Healthcare Opportunities are a Group Effort - When it comes to technology purchasing decisions, 33% use a committee, and a combined 49% rely on management/leadership. 

  "This has been a change within healthcare that started about 10 years ago. Forming a committee is important as it is typically cross-department/functions and they weigh out how the new technology would benefit their respective departments, the impact, the culture assessment, and adaptability (not just the cost)."

   

   

• The IT Department is NOT Making Those Decisions - A shocking 0% of respondents said that IT alone makes buying decisions about new or upgraded technology.  IT probably should have a seat at the table, but it isn't getting the final say. 

"VARs are not having success with IT. All hospitals are different. There’s not just one person you have to go after. You have to do the digging, you have to ask questions and find out who is making the decisions. It’s not a magic bullet."