The challenge

Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) continually goes the extra mile to fulfill their mission to heal, comfort and care for the people of their community. Each one of their more than 17,000 colleagues contributes to this mission and helps make the Lehigh Valley a healthier – and better – place in which to live. Their tagline – A Passion for Better Medicine – reflects a legacy of patient-centered care that began with 13 compassionate, civic-minded women more than a century ago.

LVHN wanted to build a curated, locked-down "kiosk" learning and entertainment experience for in-room patients. It would be deployed on Apple iPads and rolled out to a limited number of random patients. IT would gather analytics on usage through tracking of the patient's Internet access and in-person feedback. The goal was to try a new approach to educating patients about their care team, as well as what to expect when they go home, and a more enjoyable experience while in the hospital.

HIPAA requires that the device be completely cleared of all personal information between patients, and nurses needed a simple way to reset the devices, and keep patients from navigating into device settings, the App Store, and other areas that would create HIPAA and security concerns.

Lehigh Valley Health Network

Industry

  • Health care

Project timeline

  • 4 months to MVP

Blue Sequoyah Technologies services

  • API integrations
  • Github source code repository management
  • Native mobile app development
  • Server security audit
  • Technical research, consulting

The result

The first thing we had to do was ensure that HIPAA compliance was possible. After some research, we discovered that by using iOS "Guided Access Mode", we could keep patients in our app, even if the device was locked. We also discussed being able to write a system which would auto-wipe any browser or other history and input from the device whenever the user was taken to the "Acceptable Use Agreement" screen, asking for consent. We also created a shortcut for hospital staff to get there and a passcode so only hospital staff could initialize the app.

The app had lots of information about a patient's care team, what to expect during their stay, and what to do when they get home. They also had access to specific web resources, including a custom YouTube interface with curated LVHN videos.

During the testing phase, armatures which held the iPads were connected to the hospital beds, making it easier for patients in most any condition to use the device. There were no support calls, LVHN IT was able to get the analytics they needed, and some lucky patients got an even better experience.

Summary

  • Native iOS app for iPad
  • Kiosk experience for patients (stateless)
  • Curated YouTube content in custom interface
  • Easy management; virtually maintenance-free
  • HIPAA-compliant
  • Lucky patients!

Technologies used