According to Public Health England’s Annual Flu Report, there have been more than three million deaths in the UK since 2006 from flu. Nick Hawkins, Managing Director atEverbridge EMEA, discusses how mass notification solutions can be used by health care providers to stop the death toll rising.
Recent figures released by the Office for NationalStatistics (ONS) show that last year an ineffective vaccine combined with low
immunisation rates across the UK resulted in the largest percentage increase in
flu deaths since 1968.
Who is most at risk?
Whilst anyone can catch flu, its symptoms have a devastating
effect on certain groups including the over 65’s, pregnant women, young children,
and diabetes sufferers. The latest report from Public Health England shows
vaccination rates within these groups have decreased in the last twelve months.
So what can be done to improve the communication between NHS
organisations and citizens about the flu virus? What tools can medical
professionals use to manage flu vaccination programmes and any severe outbreaks
of the virus?
The power of critical
communications technology
Critical communications platforms are already in use by
several organisations within the NHS. Hospitals use the technology to
co-ordinate with staff and deploy resources in the event of an emergency, and
ambulance services use it to communicate more effectively with first responders
and residents during major incidents. So how can local NHS Trusts and GP
practices use the technology in the fight against flu?
Communication platforms can be used to send targeted
notifications directly to individuals. These critical messages can be sent
quickly and reliably via several different communication channels—including
SMS, email, text-to-speech alerts, social media and push notifications. In
fact, the most effective platforms have the capability to send out
notifications via more than 100 communication paths and devices, enabling
organisations to communicate with residents much more effectively than before.
This would allow health care providers to communicate
directly with vulnerable people during the winter months. During flu season GP
practices could send out messages to diabetes sufferers and the elderly to remind
them to book a flu vaccination.
By moving away from the current blanket-approach to a more
targeted methodology, the technology enables health care providers to directly
reach out to patients— even when they are outside of a medical facility—and
provide them with useful health information tailored to their individual circumstances.
Targeted messaging means patients are aware that their local healthcare provider
has prioritised their health and are therefore more inclined to take action
following a critical notification from their doctor.
Central to the success of critical communications platforms
are two key functions. The first is the
capability to deliver messages using a variety of different methods – known as
multi-modal communications. The second is effective two-way communication,
which is the ability for recipients to respond to notifications quickly and
easily, acknowledge receipt and confirm actions or declare status.
Importance of
multi-modality
No communications channel is 100% reliable 100% of the time,
so multi-modality transforms the speed at which people receive the
message. Multi-modality facilitates
communication via more than 100 different communication devices and contact
paths as diverse as smartphones, tannoy systems and digital signage. Multi-modality enables multiple methods of
delivering vital preventative information during breakouts of flu.
Two-way or no-way
Just as multi-modality ensures it is easier to receive a
message, two way communications makes it simpler to confirm a response. Organisations
can use communications platforms to create and deliver bespoke templates that
require simple one-button press responses. In doing so, the number of responses
increases significantly.
For instance, GP surgeries could send out a critical
notification asking local residents if they are feeling unwell and whether they
need an appointment. Residents can reply instantly, providing health care professionals
with an overview of the scale of the issue and how best to deploy resources.
Combined, these two functions enable organisations to
respond smarter and faster. In situations where multi-modal communications and
response templates are deployed together, response rates to messages increase
from around 20% to more than 90%. This increase means residents are better
informed of the dangers of flu, more aware of what measures to take and able to
inform medical professionals when they need assistance.
Emergency
communications during an outbreak
Whilst most common strains of flu are treatable with modern
medicine, the virus continues to evolve. In 2009, the UK found itself amid a
‘swine flu’ pandemic—the antibiotic resistant H1N1 influenza virus. In recent weeks, scientists have also
discovered a new severe strain of H5N8 avian flu which is spreading across
Eastern and Central Europe.
Critical communications platforms could be used by hospitals
and first response teams to communicate with on-call staff and deploy medical
resources to treat patients and quarantine the virus. Users could also harness
the platform’s geo-location data to assess the most affected areas and
prioritise those patients with the most critical needs.
As a result, pressure on the NHS and local GP’s would be
reduced, and vulnerable patients in need of urgent assistance would receive more
efficient treatment.
Flu remains a killer yet often blunt tools such as national
newspaper and radio advertising are used to advise the public of the need to be
vaccinated. The digital age facilitates
new and more engaging ways to communicate.
Emergency communications platforms deliver a more personalised form of
two-way communication to drive higher response rates and consequently improve public wellbeing, likely at a small proportion of the cost
of traditional communications methods.
