Patients who are actively involved in their care and treatment have better outcomes than those who are not involved, said Michael O’Neil, founder and CEO of The GetWellNetwork, a provider of interactive patient solutions for hospitals and medical facilities.

“We help hospitals and healthcare providers offer interactive patient care,” O’Neil said. “A more actively involved patient is a better patient, with better outcomes.”

The GetWellNetwork’s interactive care solutions come in the form of the PatientLife System, an interactive monitor that patients can use to learn more about their conditions, correspond with family and friends, and much more.

The systems we have in place do everything from educate a patient on medication to helping them around discharge time, O’Neil said.

Now, in a new merger with the Paquin Group, a specialist in healthcare retail, the PatientLife System will feature an online retail store where patients can buy products to aid in the recovery process.

“We partnered with Paquin to drive a bedside retail store,” he said.

There are over 250,000 products that will be available through the retail stores, O’Neil said.

“There is everything from band-aids and medications to crutches,” O’Neil said. “A patient will find anything they will need for after they are discharged. The opportunity to help a patient find the product and things they need upon leaving is pretty powerful.”

The online store will come as an addition to the systems that are already in place at around 50 facilities across the country, and O’Neil has been receiving plenty of positive feedback from nurses and other healthcare professionals who use the systems.

“Nurses, nurse leaders and nurse managers are our most important part in delivering interactive patient care,” O’Neil said. “To be honest, they are the ones making the care better. The GetWellNetwork isn’t the magic bullet, it’s the nursing staff.”

The Medical University of South Carolina has currently been using the PatientLife Systems for two years, and will soon add the online retail store to their repertoire.

“At the Medical University of South Carolina, patient satisfaction is a top priority,” said David Bennett, director of web resource services at MUSC in a press statement. “Giving access to the online store from the patient bedside is a wonderful convenience for patients, allowing us to deliver a better hospital experience – one that is becoming increasingly expected by patients.”

The systems have been key in involving patients in the care and recovery process throughout the hospital stay.

A unique feature of the PatientLife System is used for the administration of medication. The system has the ability to prompt a patient to answer questions about their medication doses at any time the facility desires.

A question will appear on the screen and the patient will be asked if they have received their daily does of antibiotics or other medication. The answer is then transmitted to the nurse’s digital pager, alerting them of their patient’s up-to-date medication status.

O’Neil notes that the system is not changing the workflow for nurses, only making things easier in terms of their everyday tasks.