GetWellNetwork offers hospital patients interactive care

Does having educated and entertained hospital patients improve the odds of good health-care outcomes? Bethesda-based GetWellNetwork thinks so and is making that pitch with an interactive service designed to make hospital stays seem less isolating and confusing.

GetWellNet sells a service that delivers health information and other programming to patients through televisions in their hospital rooms. Patients use a wireless keyboard or handheld device to call up, for example, videos to learn more about their condition. By clicking another button, they can request that the bathroom be cleaned. Patients can watch a movie, play a game or even log on to the Web and check out their Facebook account.

"The big idea here is that patients have always been on the outside looking in at their health care," said the company's founder, Michael O'Neil Jr. "The idea is to put the patient smack in the middle."

A more informed patient is a more engaged patient, the pitch goes. And if patients fully understand their condition, the company says, odds are that they'll take better care of themselves -- and lower the chances that they'll wind up back in the hospital.

Founded 10 years ago, GetWellNetwork was a pioneer in the market, although there are about a half dozen competitors offering similar products. Typically, such companies come from the hospitality sector, such as LodgeNet Interactive, based in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Ted Smith, executive vice president of research at Arlington-based HealthCentral, a media company that runs a portfolio of health-related Web sites, said it's too soon to know which company will grab the dominant place in the market, but that there is growing interest from hospitals for such services.

"Most forward-looking hospitals have figured out that you need to deliver more than a few minutes of bedside from the doctor and a pamphlet," he said.

GetWellNet was launched from a hospital room when O'Neil was battling non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and feeling isolated from his caregivers. He thought there could be a market for an interactive service aimed at keeping patients in the loop about their care.

One of GetWellNetwork's early customers was Children's National Medical Center in the District. Linda Talley, vice president of nursing systems and neonatal services, said the service has proved its worth to her team.

"We were all a little nervous at first; we didn't know how patients and families were going to react to it," she said. Since then, the staff has found that the hospital's young patients grasp the service quickly and it allows a quick means of communication.

GetWellNet says it serves 1.2 million patients per year in about 70 hospitals across the United States. The privately held firm employs about 110 people.

LodgeNet claims a presence on 60 properties. Gary Colbeck, general manger, said that while the two companies' major features are similar, his company is more of a television service and GetWellNetwork seems to be more of a nursing-oriented tool. "We are basically the support network for a television system," he said.

Marla Silliman, administrator of Walt Disney Pavilion at Florida Hospital for Children in Orlando, said that she has looked at various offerings but chose GetWellNetwork.

Before the hospital used the service, she said, her team would send home questionnaires with patients only to find out weeks later that someone had, for example, hated the food. With this service, she said, her team gets "real-time" responses. "We've seen our customer satisfaction scores go way up," she added.