Looking Forward to Communication Director 4: The Valley Hospital Grows with Forward Advantage

There are 10 different SmartRoutes in place at the hospital, each configured to do different things. “If a doctor orders a test from our lab, the SmartRoute tells Communication Director how and when the results should be received,” says Laidlaw. “If we want to schedule certain reports to come in only during off-hours, the system allows that kind of flexibility.” Since implementing Communication Director, the hospital‘s database has grown to more than 20,000 fax numbers. Managing such a large number may seem like a daunting task; however, Laidlaw points out that it is all done behind the scenes. “The system is integrated with MEDITECH’s Provider Dictionary. We have an automated process that adds or removes physicians based on the information in the Dictionary.”

The System Activity Monitor tracks whether or not a report was successfully delivered or received, which provides an additional level of accountability. It gives a timeline of the delivery attempts and stores the reports so that they can be accessed or resent at a later time. “This feature provides help when troubleshooting a missing report,” continues Laidlaw.