Novant Health and Nucleus Medical Media have signed a two-year collaborative agreement to study the effectiveness of using medical animation for patient education. In October 2015, Novant Health began integrating medical animations, created by Nucleus, into a new health literacy program. The program will serve patients with heart failure and pneumonia in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia.
"Raising health literacy is a top priority at Novant Health," says Tom Bauer, director of patient education, Novant Health. "We want to give our clinical staff effective tools to educate patients about their health in order to provide care that is safe, affordable and convenient for our patients. We believe Nucleus animations will be of tremendous value at the point of care, and when patients view the animations at home."
Health literacy is the ability to read, understand, and act upon health information. According to a 2006 study, over 75 million adults have only a basic or below basic understanding of health information. Adults with low levels of health literacy may have trouble understanding the directions on a prescription label, for example. This can make it difficult for them to take care of themselves after being discharged from the hospital.
As part of the study, Novant Health will determine whether animation use has a measurable positive impact on patient satisfaction scores, compliance, and readmission rates. It will also assess the effect animation use has on staff productivity, anticipating improvements in the quality of patient conversations and a reduction in the number of patient call-ins following discharge. Marginal improvements in these areas could reduce healthcare costs by hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Data proving the effectiveness of animation would also challenge an often slow-moving industry to finally adopt new technologies and practices.
"Nucleus has heard numerous testimonials from clients about the positive effects our animations have on patients," explains Nucleus' Marketing Manager Katie Jackson, "and we are excited to have an opportunity to measure the impact using real-world data."
About Novant Health
Novant Health is a four-state integrated network of physician clinics, outpatient centers and hospitals that delivers a seamless and convenient healthcare experience to our communities. The Novant Health network consists of more than 1,200 physicians and 25,000 team members who make healthcare remarkable at nearly 500 locations, including 13 medical centers and hundreds of outpatient facilities and physician clinics. Headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Novant Health is committed to making healthcare remarkable for patients and communities, serving more than 4 million patients annually. In 2014, Novant Health provided more than $639 million in community benefit, including charity care and services. Novant Health is ranked as one of the nation's top 20 integrated delivery networks by IMS Health.
For more information, please visit our website at NovantHealth.org. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
About Nucleus Medical Media
Founded in 1997, Nucleus Medical Media, Inc. is an award-winning creator and licensor of medical illustrations, medical animations, and interactive multimedia for the publishing, legal, healthcare, entertainment, pharmaceutical, medical device, and academic markets. Nucleus's clients and partners include WebMD, McGraw-Hill, Dr. Oz, EBSCO Publishing, and thousands of other businesses in new and traditional media. Additional information can be found at www.nucleusmedicalmedia.com.
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