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Studies have shown that as many as 20% of patients experience adverseevents upon release from the hospital. One third of these adverse events leadto at least temporary disability and three percent lead to death. One third ofadverse events are preventable and healthcare facilities can play a role inthis prevention with comprehensive patient follow-up.
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CallAssure has recently completed clinical trials in North Americanhospital environments with favourable results. The results of the most recenttrials were released today in Ottawa as part of the Halifax 7, CanadianHealthcare Symposium, with Dr. Alan Forster of the Ottawa Health ResearchInstitute presenting his findings.
Dr. Forster's study, conducted in Edmonton, Alberta through CapitalHealth, concluded that by using CallAssure, 88 per cent of the post-dischargework related to telephone monitoring of patients was eliminated, with nurseshaving to contact only those few patients who required their intervention.
"Patients were keen to participate in the study and were advised inadvance of what to expect," says Rinda LaBranche, Clinical Quality Consultantfrom Capital Health in Edmonton, where Dr. Forster's research took place."Several carefully designed questions determined if they were having anyadverse events and if so, the patient could transfer directly to a nurse atHealthLink Alberta or request a callback. If the patient's verbal responsehighlighted a significant issue, the system advised them to seek immediatemedical attention."
Patients' responses revealed an extremely high acceptance of the automatedfollow-up system and independent research further revealed that, when asked,two-thirds of patients actually preferred the system over speaking with anurse. This high level of patient acceptance facilitated effective follow-upby nurses when required.
"If there are requirements to contact patients post-operatively to assesstheir condition then an IVRS-based solution such as CallAssure is a feasibleand practical solution," says Dr. Forster.
Often, due to lack of resources, appropriate follow-up by healthcareprofessionals is not being conducted with recently discharged patients. Newaccountability regulations across North America will hold medicalestablishments accountable for post-discharge adverse patient events, and themarket is seeking solutions that will reduce nurse workload, costs andpotential liability while ensuring that patients are receiving the necessaryfollow-up. CallAssure responds to this market need with a cost-effective,plug-and-play solution.
The fully customizable IVRS eliminates the up to five manual dialsrequired to reach patients, removing a large amount of unproductive workflowfor already busy nurses. Vocantas designed CallAssure based on real calls withnurses so that the resultant data correspond directly with the informationthat would have been gathered had a nurse conducted the call. As a result, thesystem asks the right questions, based on the needs of the particularhealthcare facility. Vocantas works with hospital administrators to determinethe best script for the calls and also determines the appropriate businessrules based on patient responses. The course of action during and after thecall is up to the facility. Nurses can be contacted with call data viatelephone or email and so conduct the necessary follow-up only with thosepatients who require post-discharge at
