Case Study: Phoenix Children's Hospital improves patient, family, and clinician experience with Stryker's Vocera communication platform

Phoenix Children’s Hospital Improves Patient, Family, and Clinician Experience — One Nudge and Text at a Time

Phoenix Children’s Hospital, a leading pediatric and neonatal care provider with nearly 1,000 specialists, faced growing communication challenges as its campus and staff expanded. Leaders needed a single, wireless platform that would integrate with clinical systems and patient monitors to reduce interruptions, speed coordination, and support safe, patient-centered workflows—especially in high-acuity areas like the NICU.

The hospital deployed a unified communication platform (wearable hands‑free badges, a secure smartphone app, and web console) to deliver nudges, alerts, secure texting, calls, consults, and EHR-integrated actions. Within months the team rolled out more than 10 targeted nudge notifications (e.g., pharmacy updates, surgery changes, home medication and breast‑milk reminders, and automated pain‑score documentation) that cut calls and pages, reduced cognitive load, improved discharge reliability, and gave clinicians a faster, more contextual way to coordinate care across departments.

Phoenix Children's Hospital

David Higginson

Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, Chief Information Officer