For today’s blog post, I wanted to do something a little different. I wanted to highlight Healing HealthCare Systems (HHCS), the company that created the C.A.R.E. Channel, a service that creates relaxing video and audio programming for hospital environments. The C.A.R.E. Channel was founded in 1992 by Susan Mazer and Dallas Smith, and is now used in more than 1,000 healthcare facilities around the world. Its goal is to improve the patient experience by creating healing environments that reduce the harmful effects of overly loud hospital noise.
Noise pollution in hospitals is a growing problem, and one that regularly impacts patients’ recovery experience. Clearly HHCS are solving an important problem in healthcare, but am I right to call the C.A.R.E. Channel a telehealth service?
Certainly it is not a platform for doctors to communicate with their patients, like doxy.me, and it isn’t an educational service, either. However, Healing HealthCare Systems have published many whitepapers, eBooks, and articles about the effect of noise in hospital systems, making them an educational resource, though one aimed more at healthcare professionals than at patients. Furthermore, HHCS has expanded to having at-home programming and even a virtual reality channel. These expansions have moved the C.A.R.E. Channel firmly into the realm of telehealth. They now bring the healing environment directly to the patient’s homes.
A chat with cofounder Susan Mazer, PhD
We were fortunate enough to have Susan Mazer on as a guest for the Telehealth Heroes Podcast. In her episode, to be released in the second season of our podcast, she talked about creating the original music and programming with her husband and fellow musician, Dallas Smith.
The initial idea for HHCS came from a nurse friend who asked Susan, “What can I do for my patients at three in the morning when I’m not there?” Looking around the hospital, they realized there was a television in every patient room. They set about creating a way to bring tranquility to the televisions of hospitals around the world. Thus was born Healing HealthCare Systems.
However, Susan brought up a problem she has with doxy.me during the podcast episode: we don’t have relaxing programming like the C.A.R.E. Channel playing in our virtual waiting rooms. She believed if we did, it would greatly improve the patient’s experience while waiting for a virtual visit.
But here’s the kicker: you actually can set up a peaceful listening environment in your doxy.me waiting room right now.
Bringing peace to your doxy.me waiting room
With the Edit Waiting Room feature—available to all professional-level subscriptions and above—you can bring a peaceful environment to your doxy.me waiting room. You can add video links from YouTube or Vimeo and they will embed directly into your page, giving patients the option to watch and listen while they wait. This can bring relaxation to your patients, as well as give them something to do while they wait. For a guide on the Edit Waiting Room feature, check out our help article.
For the time being, you cannot stream the C.A.R.E. Channel through doxy.me since their videos are not hosted on YouTube or Vimeo. However, there is a great selection of ambient noise, instrumental music, and calming nature sounds available freely on YouTube. Be sure to look around and try out a few videos. You can change your waiting room again whenever you like, and it only takes a few seconds. If you really wanted to go above and beyond, you could even update the videos in your waiting room on a regular basis to keep them fresh for your patients.