Boosting Staff Happiness with Automated Patient Education Packets
Shawn Phillips 
October 8th, 2024
On a typical day in a busy hospital—medical staff work relentlessly, focused on helping patients recover. Yet, nurses are constantly sidetracked by the tedious task of assembling patient education packets, pulling them away from their core duties.
The Hidden Burden of Manual Packet Assembly
Patient education packets play a vital role in guiding patients through their post-discharge care. Yet, creating these packets by hand is time-consuming and inefficient, involving several manual steps:
Gathering Materials
Sifting through many brochures and pamphlets to choose the right content for each patient.
Collating Documents
Carefully organizing packages by numbering pages, making a table of contents, and checking that everything is in order.
Managing Version Control
Ensuring printed materials are the latest version and the information in each packet is up to date.
On average, assembling a single packet takes about 15 minutes. For a hospital that discharges 50 patients per week, that’s an additional 12 hours spent on administrative tasks! Nurses would prefer to spend those hours caring for patients.
A Solution Through Automation
Sarah, a seasoned nurse, used to spend countless hours every week on this very task. Each packet she assembled by hand meant less time spent with her patients. That all changed when her hospital started using MHC’s NorthStar CCM to automate the creation of patient education packets.
Suddenly, hours of manual assembly were exchanged for more time delivering direct care to patients. Now with MHC, documents are always up-to-date, personalized, and ready in seconds—no manual effort required.
How MHC NorthStar CCM Works
MHC’s CCM solution streamlines the process of creating patient education packets, making it easier for staff to provide patients with the post-discharge information they need.
Automated Assembly
MHC draws from a digital library of educational documents, automatically generating customized patient packets in seconds.
Easy Distribution
Hospitals can send materials digitally through email or print, as needed. This removes the need to manage physical stock.
Seamless Integration
MHC works with Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems like EPIC, separating data to create customized packets for each patient.
The Impact on Staff and Patient Care
Automating patient education not only lightens the workload but also changes the work experience for nurses like Sarah. Now, she can focus on what she loves most—caring for patients. The quality of patient education improves as well, with personalized, up-to-date information readily available for every patient.
For hospitals, the benefits go beyond staff morale. Streamlining administrative tasks like patient education packet assembly improves operational efficiency, reduces errors, and enhances the overall patient experience.
Imagine the Possibilities
By using solutions like MHC NorthStar CCM, hospitals can boost productivity and create a better work environment. Most importantly, nurses can dedicate their time to what truly matters—providing exceptional care and helping patients on their path to recovery.
Shawn Phillips
Shawn brings over 25 years of tech and customer experience expertise to his role as Product Manager for MHC NorthStar CCM. He is driven by a simple philosophy: great technology should make everyone’s day better—customers and employees alike. His practical, hands-on approach helps companies streamline how they talk to their clients, making every message count. Before joining MHC, Shawn was employed at Heart of the Customer, where he worked with Fortune 100 companies to improve how they connect with customers—everything from reducing pain points to enhancing key moments in the customer journey.
