Unity Health Network’s Centralized Contact Center



TriageLogic Helps Unity Health Network Enhance Patient Care and Reduce Costs

In this issue of AnswerStat we’re spotlighting the largest independent physician group in Northeast Ohio: Unity Health Network. With more than one hundred providers in thirty-two locations, Unity cares for hundreds of thousands of patient lives. Unity Health Network is also a leader in the Ohio Independent Collaborative, a statewide organization that unites other large independent physician groups to improve care and lower costs in the modern world of on-demand medicine.

Like most independent practices, Unity Health Network frequently uses telephones to connect patients and providers. Recently Unity recognized these communication channels were due for modernization. As part of its initiative to provide patients with high-quality, improved access to care, the group created a centralized call center, called the Care Coordination Center, with the help of TriageLogic.

“TriageLogic’s call center platform allows us to help guide our patients 24/7, giving them improved access to the correct facility for the care they need,” said Lisa Kilway, manager of care coordination at Unity Health Network. “By using TriageLogic, we can take care of our patients at the best location for the lowest cost, which means we’re not only providing improved care, but we’re also doing it more efficiently.”

By implementing the TriageLogic platform at the Care Coordination Center, Unity Health Network is able to build the foundation for its patient communication strategy. Only one year into the new call center, Kilway said Unity has consistently exceeded its goals month over month. “Previously, patient calls suffered an abandonment rate well over 50 percent, but since we created our Care Coordination Center, that rate has dropped to less than 10 percent.”

In addition to the call center platform, Unity Health Network also implemented TriageLogic’s secure texting feature, which allows for secure texting to a physician – eliminating the need for archaic pager systems. Each text is accessible by the physician for ninety-six hours, so they can review the text and pass it along if necessary. On the back end, the nurse can view when the doctor has received and read the text. “With a page, many times we just sent it and hoped for the best. As a nurse, I really don’t like those loose ends. Secure texting ties them up,” says Kilway.

Unity Health Network developed some key initiatives for 2016. As a starting point, the physician group began providing access and appointments without waiting for a physician’s staff to check voicemails and return calls. “We’ll be moving to do the same with all of our specialties,” says Kilway. “Our goal is to get patients from their primary care physician’s office to the specialists they need to see – sometimes even the same day. We’re able to handle their care much more efficiently and seamlessly.”

According to Kilway, Unity Health Network has even more ambitious plans for the future with technology-driven healthcare. “We’re also piloting a high-risk patient management program, which will include patient advisors who will monitor the patient through telemedicine devices and direct patient care.”

The need for greater, more immediate patient access will continue to grow in the future, and Unity Health Network is committed to being on the forefront. By using the latest technology and efficient communication, Unity will continue to provide modernized, on-demand access to the best healthcare in Ohio.

TriageLogic is a URAC accredited, physician-led provider of high quality telephone nurse triage services, triage education, and software for telephone medicine. Their triage solution includes integrated mobile access and two-way video capability.

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