Recently the MyCareText team had the opportunity to attend The 5^th International Conference on Patient- and Family-Centered Care in Washington, D.C.  Over 900 attendees gathered at the Omni Shoreham Hotel to discuss innovative strategies for improving the overall quality and safety of healthcare worldwide.

This was our first time exhibiting MyCareText to a large audience, and we couldn’t have asked for a more positive experience.  Of the thirty-two exhibitors present at the conference, we were surprised to find that our booth was the only one that focused on the relationship between healthcare IT and improving patient care.  Needless to say, MyCareText definitely stood out!

Many attendees were surprised themselves to find that MyCareText is not yet a staple in hospitals because of its usefulness in decreasing wait time and increasing hospital efficiency.  While we received no negative feedback about the product, we did get a number of suggestions for features that could be added on.  This feedback has not only helped to validate the MyCareText concept, but has also helped to build a road map for future development of the product.

The conference was also very helpful in determining our priorities.  The abundance of research presented allowed us to really get a first-person look at the challenges in patient care that hospitals, healthcare providers, patients, and their families face on a daily basis.  With over a 100 different presenters, we learned everything from the impact that behavioral nuances have on patient satisfaction to process improvement by making patients the center of their own care.  Even though we were exhibitors at the conference, we found it very important to participate as attendees.  The sessions we attended allowed us to connect with healthcare providers and their efforts to improve patient and family care in hospitals.

Dr. Don Berwick of the Picker Institute made a stunning speech promoting the use of technology to better patient and family care.  He expressed hope that hospitals could overcome the friction, bureaucracy, and dated technology by leveraging the passion of individual healthcare givers towards providing patient-centered care.  We are proud to have been a part of this conference and look forward to helping all attendees and presenters improve patient care at their institutions.