Understanding Notification Hierarchy Part 1

March 24, 2017 Tech Bulletins
3-24-17-Understanding-Notification-Hierarchy-AutoRecovered.pdf (12 downloads)
ABSTRACT:
Recently we’ve seen an increased number of calls regarding proper configuration of the notification chain recently, particularly when it comes to RCare Mobile.  This week’s tech bulletins will explain the general structure of how a system gets from a device transmission to the caregivers as well as notification hierarchy in a simplified way.  This will be a multiple part bulletin due to its complexity.
TECH SUMMARY:
These are the terms you need to know:
  • A Device gets assigned to an Account.
  • An Account gets assigned to a Group.
  • A Group(s) get assigned to a View.
  • Message Receivers (pagers, email, text) get assigned the Group Notification Chain.
  • Users (RCM Phones, Caregiver Consoles, and Computers) get assigned to Views.
Key Points:
  • By default, everything is set to “default” group and “default” view.  This means everybody receives everything.
  • The Notification Chain is king, even for Users who use views to get their alerts, they rely on the notification chain to stay active.  If the Notification chain ends, the incident ends.
  • As a caveat, the repeat alert durations in the notification chain only applies to message receivers in that link.  RCM phones have their own repeat timers on the individual phones.  They still require the Notification chain to be active.  See chart below.
 
CONCLUSION:
The purpose of customizing a notification chain is to limit burnout by having all devices constantly going off.  This drains people, and batteries and narrowing responsibilities leads to quicker response times.  By specializing who responds to what incidents, there is also greater accountability for resident care.  If you mess this up, it can make caregivers lose faith in the system.  The system only does what you tell it to do.  Next week we’ll discuss how to navigate through the web interface to ensure you have to correct Account->Group->View configuration for your facility.