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New Service Offers Patients “Comforts of Home”

A comprehensive entertainment, Internet, education and communications service, geared to make a hospital patient’s stay more pleasant, is now available exclusively in the Philadelphia area to patients at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

Known as the Jefferson-GetWellNetwork, patients can access the service through their television screen.

The Jefferson-GetWellNetwork is available at two levels:

• Basic Information/Services provide general health and wellness data as well as personalized health education videos and details about Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. This service is also interactive. For example: patients can type in comments to hospital personnel, request a visit from a hospital chaplain, report that their room is too cold and needs a temperature adjustment, request a change in the food selection they are receiving and more.
• Premium Option includes a library of first-run movies and the ability to log on and use the Internet and e-mail so patients can communicate with friends and loved ones.

The service, which is being rolled out in many patient units at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, has been very well received.

Hector Rivera, a 32-year-old, who recently spent three weeks being monitored in the hospital’s Epilepsy Unit, said: “For someone in my condition, this provides many of the comforts of home.

“I learned to navigate the Internet,” he said. “At home, I always rely on my wife to find things on the computer. Now I am able to look up information on my condition and also look up things about Latin music, which I love. I even found a Website for a potential member of my band. It certainly helps to make the day go more quickly,” he said enthusiastically.

Although he is what is commonly known as a hunt-and-peck typist, Mr. Rivera said that he also likes the GetWellNetwork e-mail feature. “I e-mail my wife, my family and my friends. They were so amazed that I could do all this from my hospital bed.”

Other patients find that they appreciate the opportunity to watch first-run movies with their friends who come to visit.

“Jefferson University Hospital was able to develop the GetWellNetwork service for our patients in part through a generous grant toward technology and infrastructure costs from the Connelly Foundation,” said Thomas J. Lewis, president and chief executive officer, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. “In today’s hospital environment, a patient’s experience is a crucial component of their medical care. At Jefferson, we continually look for ways to improve our patients’ stay.”

The impetus for the GetWellNetwork began when its chief executive officer, Michael O’Neil, who lives in Washington, D.C., was recovering from stomach surgery to remove a malignant tumor at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Following a summer of chemotherapy to treat non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Mr. O’Neil, who missed ready access to friends and business colleagues, concentrated his efforts to create a new concept. He wanted to enable others to have what he missed during his hospital stay.

Patients who choose to access the GetWellNetwork view all of the offerings on their television screen. The Basic Service is offered to patients with television services at no additional cost. The Premium Option—movies, Internet and e-mail capability—is available for $7 each day. Daily gift cards for the GetWellNetwork are also available from the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Gift Shop.