Medical Call Center Industry News

February/March 2008

Sponsorship Update

Last summer, AnswerStat magazine embarked on an ambitious project of providing sponsorship opportunities to our key advertisers.  This was in order to establish a predictable, reoccurring advertising base for the magazine.  As official sponsors of AnswerStat magazine, these industry-leading companies have put their stamp of approval on the mission and work of the magazine.

We are pleased to announce that our sponsors for 2008 are:

• SDC Solutions, Inc.

• LVM Systems, Inc.

• HealthLine Systems Inc.

• 1Call, a Division of Amtelco

We profusely thank these esteemed organizations and invite you to join them.  There are still two sponsorship spots available, one at the gold level and the other at the silver level. 

For more information, contact Valerie at 866-668-6694.  Valerie can also be reached at valerie@answerstat.com or by visiting www.answerstat.com/sponsor.

Area Code Update

In recent years, the spate of area code introductions as slowed greatly.  Even so, the later part of 2007 resulted in activity that call center managers and technicians may need to be aware of.  In many instances, 10-digit dialing of all phone numbers will be required, and phone switches will need new area codes programmed into them.  Implementation on most of these items will occur sometime in 2008.

In many cases, new area codes are being introduced as "overlays," covering the same geography as existing codes.  They are:

• California area code 657 will be added to the 714 area code.

• Illinois will add 331 to the area currently served by the 630 area code.

• Quebec, Canada will add 581 to the 418 area code.

• Alberta, Canada will add 587 to the regions currently served by area codes 403 and 780.

• Also, instead of splitting Utah's 801 area code as previously announced, area code 385 will be added as an overlay instead.

In other instances, area codes are being "split," with some of each region retaining the existing area code and the rest being assigned a new one:

• In Kentucky, area code 270 will be split, with some areas being assigned the new 364 area code.

• In Virginia, the 540 area code will not encounter a three-way spilt as previously announced, but will undergo a two-way split with 276 being assigned to some areas. 

CIGNA to Offer National "Virtual House Calls" through RelayHealth

CIGNA HealthCare will expand its four-state pilot program nationally in 2008 to provide increased access to secure online messaging that enables "virtual house calls" with physicians.  These services include reimbursable webVisit consultations that use an online, structured interview format to communicate member symptoms to the physician, who can respond online, by phone, or if necessary, request an in-office visit.  "Virtual house calls" benefit members by offering a more convenient and affordable way to contact physicians for non-urgent, routine health issues.

CIGNA HealthCare is offering the expanded RelayHealth program to employers with self-insured health plans.  In addition to webVisit consultations, other services will be available, including prescription refills and renewals, results delivery, and requests for appointment scheduling and referrals. 

"Patients are tiring of voicemail, telephone tag, and long waits in the physician's office.  They are finding that online communications can offer a convenient option to address their medical needs in less time," stated Andrew Siskind, M.D., .F.A.C.P., of Irvine Internal Medical Group.  "The RelayHealth online service is having a positive impact, making our medical practice more efficient while augmenting our patients' healthcare experience."

 For more information, call 800-778-6711.

Amcom Software and Xtend Communications Announce Merger

Amcom Software and Xtend Communications have reached an agreement to combine the two companies.  "The combination of Amcom and Xtend will provide the broadest suite of mission critical communications solutions for organizations in healthcare, government, education, hospitality, public safety, and corporate markets," said Chris Heim, Amcom Software CEO. 

The company will offer an expanded product suite to a broader market while focusing on serving the needs of all current customers.  Going forward, Amcom will support and enhance both companies' product lines.

"The merging of our forces will essentially give both product development teams a wider audience from which to draw the challenges, ideas, and direction for the next generation of our business," said Bill Schwartz, founder and CEO of Xtend Communications.  

The combined company will operate under the corporate name of Amcom Software and will maintain the complete Xtend product suite.  Minneapolis will become the headquarters for the combined organization; the former Xtend Communications headquarters in New York will retain a sizeable staff devoted to support, development, implementation, and sales.

1Call's Clairvoyant Agent Easily Handles Frequent Callers

The 1Call Division of Amtelco announced an innovative way for healthcare organizations to handle repeat callers, using the Infinity IS Clairvoyant Agent, which keeps track of previous callers.  As soon as an operator answers a call, Clairvoyant instantly displays who is calling and the reasons why they've called before.  Operators simply verify the caller's information and use a drop-down box to select the reason for the call, such as to schedule an appointment, to speak to a nurse, or to refill a prescription.  The reasons for the call are presented in the order of frequency; operators can enter a new reason by simply typing it in.

"Clairvoyant Agent saves time and helps healthcare organizations process more calls quickly and accurately," stated Tom Curtin, president of Amtelco's 1Call healthcare division.  "Clairvoyant is ideal for all types of calls that healthcare organizations receive and makes it easy to handle calls for recurring health issues, disease management, prescription refills, billing questions, and even calls from the nurse's station to the pharmacy."

For more information, call 800-356-9148 or email info@1call.com.

AAACN Highlights Telehealth Content at Annual Conference

Responding to a groundswell of interest in telehealth nursing, the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing (AAACN) is offering a slate of innovative sessions and networking events at its 33^rd Annual Conference, April 17-20, 2008, in Chicago, IL.  The conference, which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Downtown, will feature education sessions tailored specifically to nurses practicing and managing telehealth or telephone triage in clinics, physician offices, emergency rooms, and call centers.

"There's been such a demand for faster and better health care access in the past ten years that facilities had to find a better way to provide quality care," said AAACN President Charlene Williams, MBA, BSN, RNC, BC.  "One such solution was to combine nursing care and telecommunications, thus the evolution - and boom in - telehealth nursing." 

According to Williams, telehealth nursing has rapidly become a sophisticated and respected component of ambulatory care nursing, so AAACN is filling this need through its telehealth publications and telehealth conference program.  AAACN is the only specialty nursing association that sets the national standards for telehealth nursing and educates telehealth nurses.

Cosmopolitan Medical Voted "Best Place to Work"

Cosmopolitan Medical Communications has been voted one of the Best Places to Work in the Valley for 2007 in the small companies category (25-99 employees).  Companies placing this year scored better than 90% on their surveys and were scored in the following categories: team effectiveness, retention risk, alignment with goals, trust with coworkers, individual contribution, manager effectiveness, trust in senior leaders, feeling valued, work engagement, and people practices. 

Cosmopolitan is located in Glendale, Arizona, and features unique perks and practices such as sick child care, employee cafe and patio with ping pong table, air hockey table, satellite TV, and full kitchen, media break room with leather reclining chairs, Xbox 360 and full Internet access, monthly company BBQ's, employee discount club, profit sharing, and attendance bonuses.  This is in addition to basic benefits offered, such as 401(k) with match, tuition, medical, dental, life, 2-5 weeks paid time off, and long and short-term disability.

Startel Announces New Hires

Startel Corporation announced that Elaine McMaster has joined the company as the vice president of research and development, along with Steve Newell as their new eastern area sales manager.

Elaine brings with her a wide range of experience and almost twenty years in telecommunications and other high-tech industries.  During her career, she has managed information technology departments of all sizes and has extensive knowledge of software development, project management, call center design and implementation, strategic development, and database administration.

Steve will be based in Atlanta.  In his new role, he will focus on existing and new customers in the eastern United States.  "Steve has extensive industry experience working for a variety of value-added resellers, and his background aligns very well with Startel's portfolio and strategic direction," said Dan Feis, director of sales.

Steve can be contacted directly at 678-376-1312.

Peter DeHaan Launches Blog

Peter DeHaan, publisher of AnswerStat magazine, Connections Magazine, and the website, ArticleWeekly.com, launched a blog on January 1, simply entitled, "The Musings of Peter DeHaan."

"I had been considering a blog for a couple of years," DeHaan stated.  "The feedback that I receive on my articles and editorials is both affirming and encouraging.  My main concern was wondering if I would have enough worthwhile topics to write about in a blog.  Eventually, I concluded that this was not an issue - and the blog was launched!"

The blog will be similar in scope and tone to Peter's "Vital Signs" column on page 7 of this magazine.  As such, it will serve as a general purpose repository of his thoughts and observations, covering an array of subjects from the personal to the public and everywhere in between.

Read Peter's blog at http://blog.peterdehaan.com/.