It’s More Than Just a Television

Imagine having the Internet, video games, information about prescriptions and medical procedures, movies, your favorite TV show, and music to relax to, all right at your fingertips – right at your hospital bed.

Infotainment (Information-Entertainment Systems) will be offered to patients when the new 108-bed Northwest Pavilion at Jersey Shore University Medical Center opens in July.All patient rooms in the new pavilion are equipped with flat screen televisions, but patients will have access to much more than the usual television shows, according to Bob Adams, vice president of operations.

Using the Infotainment network, patients can:

• Order a video about the medical procedure they are about to undergo
• Log into the Internet to further research their medical condition, check their e-mail or surf the Web
• Play video games
• Listen to music
• Use the network to order meals from the hospital menu

Adams compared the network to the concierge service on a hotel television.“We’re adding the hotel touch to the patient experience,” Adams said.

Patients will be able to use a wireless keyboard to choose programming, order an educational video or access the Internet.

“People today need access to information, they want to be informed about their health care, and we’re putting it at their fingertips,” said Jersey Shore president Steven G. Littleson.

“If someone is having a gall bladder operation, they can dial up on their TV information about the operation, and they can watch an operation like the one they’re going to have performed,” Littleson said.“Then they can go on their bedside keyboard and go on the Internet to research more on gall bladders, all from their hospital bed.”

After debuting in the new wing, the network will be added to the rest of the hospital.