Vocera Communications, Inc. announced that Vancouver Island Health Authority (Island Health) selected the Vocera Communication Platform for secure text messaging, voice communication and alerts. Island Health chose the Vocera smartphone solution after collaborative research conducted by the Pharmacy Department and the Information Technology Department showed the mobile application reduced interruptions to patient care and significantly improved clinical communication, workflow and physician response time. The three month study involved 161 hospitalists, obstetricians, intensivists, pharmacists and switchboard operators from three Canadian hospitals in Victoria and Campbell River in British Columbia. Participants sent and received messages and alerts using the Vocera secure app on their smartphone, instead of sending and receiving information through traditional paging. Intensive care unit (ICU) nurses and ICU clerks used the application via a web console on their computer. During the pilot, 3,808 alerts and 5,691 secure text messages were sent and received with the Vocera solution.