How QR Codes Made a Healthcare Comeback in 2020

William Gagnon, senior director, digital, Boston Children’s

Last year, when every hospital had to pivot quickly to adapt to the realities of COVID-19, clinicians at Boston Children’s Hospital approached the digital strategy team for help.

They wanted to see if QR codes could be used to facilitate in-hospital teleconferencing for COVID-19 patients. “They needed 500 and something [QR codes] for every room in every area of the hospital,” says Bill Gagnon, head of global digital strategy transformation and customer experience at Boston Children’s.

QR codes, which have been around for more than 25 years, made a big comeback in 2020, driven by the need for “contactless” technologies to limit the spread of the virus. The fact that cameras on iOS and Android devices are now capable of scanning and automatically reading QR codes has expanded their usefulness in multiple contexts — restaurants, banking, and more.

The use case Boston Children’s had in mind was to virtually connect patients, families, and clinicians for virtual consults using Zoom, minimizing potential exposure to the coronavirus. And since visitors to the hospital were limited to one parent or guardian, the solution also gave other family members a way to join consults.

Read the full story and learn how Boston Children’s leveraged old technology in a new, effective way:

Low-Tech Inpatient Telehealth Solution Connects Patients, Families, and Physicians at Boston Children’s Hospital

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