Medical Call Center News

June/July 2009

Medical Call Center Newsletter Launched

The premier issue of Medical Call Center News was recently published and emailed to subscribers of AnswerStat magazine.  The contents included:

• Is Your Medical Call Center A Strategic Weapon?

• Increase Employee Retention By Giving Them a Dose of Nurses' Medicine

• The Real Question About the Economic Crisis

• SDC Solutions Acquired by Amcom Software

• Telehealth Webinar to be Presented by CosmoCom

• Rein In Runaway Health Care Costs

• DIA Launches Online Career Center

• New Service Launched to Pharmaceutical Industry

The e-newsletter is scheduled to be produced six times a year, between the months that AnswerStat magazine is published.  "This will provide another communication vehicle to offer valuable and timely information to those in medical call centers and the telehealth industry," said publisher Peter DeHaan.

Medical Call Center News is available at no cost to anyone in the medical call center and telehealth industry.  It can also be viewed online.  Interested individuals may subscribe to receive future issues and view the premier issue at www.medicalcallcenternews.com.

Medical Call Center News is published by Peter DeHaan Publishing Inc, in conjunction with AnswerStat magazine.  Medical Call Center News is sponsored by Amcom Software.

OnviSource Announces Explora Speech Analytics for Call Centers

OnviSource announced the availability of their affordable Explora Speech Analytics solution for call centers and enterprises.  Explora Speech Analytics is integrated with the OnviCenter 6 workforce optimization (WFO) software suite that includes call recording, quality assurance, screen capture, coaching, workforce management, and agent transaction automation.  Explora audio mining delivers value for customer experience requirements, sales, marketing, and business intelligence, gathering across the enterprise.

The Explora speech technology is a phonetic engine that provides a fast and accurate search, permitting analysis of 100% of recordings in near-real time with industry standard servers.  With Explora Speech Analytics, call centers can perform analysis of recording for clients or permit Web access to clients so they can conduct their own search and analysis of recordings pertaining to their business only.  Clients can analyze and identify "hot topics" and areas of interest without complete reliance on the call center itself.  Intelligence gleaned from recordings allows call centers and clients alike to instantly uncover actionable knowledge that can be used to both their advantages.  Explora's low price makes it economical for call centers to offer this value-added service to their clients.

For more info, contact Deborah Cromwell at 800-311-3025 or deborah.cromwell@onvisource.com.

Amtelco Welcomes Black Box into New Dealer/Distribution Program

Amtelco announced a new dealer/distribution program that allows partners to offer various Amtelco telecommunications products to their customers.  Amtelco is pleased to announce that Black Box Corporation has become a member of this program.

"Amtelco is happy to be partnering with Black Box as their breadth is so wide across all industries and the products they will sell-- including Amtelco's Soft Agent, ‘Just Say It,' Pro Show, eCreator, and Red Alert systems-- compliment communications systems and provide a superior customer service experience," stated Amtelco President Tom Curtin.

The regional manager from Black Box in Arlington, Texas, Jeff Jamison, had this to say about the new partnership: "In today's economy, we strive to offer our customers strategies and designs utilizing today's cutting-edge technology.  Applications that can actually save a company valuable employee time equates into hard dollars.  We are excited to add the Amtelco product line to our portfolio, enriching our offerings and providing forward-looking solutions."

For more information on Amtelco's dealer program, contact Amtelco at 800-356-9148.  

2009 National Telehealth Conference Agenda Announced

Speakers, topics, and objectives have been announced for the 2009 National Telehealth Conference.  The medical education conference will be held from the afternoon of Thursday, September 24 through the morning of Saturday, September 26. 

The conference is for nurses and physicians; it is focused on emergent, urgent, and telephone care.  Additionally, the presentations will be of value to office and call center triage nurses, physicians, and administrators. 

Presenters will include Dr. Barton Schmitt, Dr. David Thompson, Dr. Dale Alverson, Dr. Andrew Hertz, and Carol Stock, JD.  A total of 13 CMEs and 15.6 contact hours are offered. 

Fees will remain as they were for 2008; there is no increase in conference fees.  The conference will again be held at the Hilton Hotel MSP Airport/Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.  The hotel is conveniently located a short walk away from the Mall of America and within an approximate five minute drive to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. 

Email cpn@childrensmn.org to request an e-brochure and registration form. 

RelayHealth Tools Offer Value During H1N1 Flu Outbreak

RelayHealth is helping healthcare providers cope with the recent outbreak of  H1N1 flu and is aiding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), monitoring of influenza antiviral prescribing activity nationwide via an authorized prescription data feed.  "Our hope is that the H1N1 threat continues to moderate," said Jim Bodenbender, RelayHealth's senior vice president and general manager.  "But whatever the threat level, our secure online interactive tools are available to assist physicians enrolled on the RelayHealth network to keep their patients informed of the latest credible health information at any time."

Physicians are using RelayHealth's HIPAA-compliant interactive service to broadcast messages securely over the Internet to their patients about the symptoms of H1N1 influenza and what to do if they think they have the disease.  RelayHealth has also made available H1N1 flu educational content on its network, which doctors can transmit to their patients.  In addition, a new webVisit® questionnaire is available for patients to complete online, enabling their doctors to conduct quick assessments of flu-like symptoms.

For more information, call 800-778-6711.

Swine Flu Update For Call Centers and Triage Nurses

In April and early May 2009, Drs. Barton Schmitt and David Thompson released interim protocols regarding exposure to the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, known more commonly as swine flu.  "The clinical presentation and what we know about this virus continues to evolve," states Dr. Thompson.  "Dr. Schmitt and I have worked together to create both an adult and pediatric telephone triage guideline, ‘Swine Flu Exposure - Interim,' for use in medical call centers.  We have updated the information once already, recognizing that as the CDC's recommendations evolve, we may have to modify the exposure protocols again in the upcoming weeks."

The new guidelines have been released to Schmitt-Thompson software partners for distribution to their medical call center clients.  Additional resources are also available on the industry resources page of the Schmitt-Thompson Clinical Content website and include:

• Clinical update for telephone triage nurses (May 2009 newsletter), and

• AAP telephone lines (April 2009- special edition) released by Drs. Barton Schmitt and Andrew Hertz to assist telephone triage nurses with swine flu-related pediatric calls. 

OnviSource Announces Expansion for BPO Services Division

OnviSource announced the expansion and acquisition of new contracts for its business process outsourcing services, OnviServ.  As a result, efforts to rapidly recruit and hire call center customer service and sales representatives to fulfill the required positions are under way in OnviSource's Plano, Texas, and Enid, Oklahoma, facilities.

OnviSource estimates that forty-one new full-time and part-time call center positions will be added between the two locations over the next few months.  To accommodate the requirements, OnviSource is extending business hours to include nights and weekends.

OnviSource offers a professional environment to energetic individuals with a strong work ethic who would like to be part of a team committed to excellence in both internal and external customer relations.  Business process outsourcing services are supported by OnviSource's own workforce optimization and automation products, training, and competency management programs, effective business process management, and a variety of employee recognition and career development programs.

For more info, contact Deborah Cromwell at 580-249-5722 or deborah.cromwell@onvisource.com.

1Call Introduces Dashboard Monitoring and Mobile Applications

1Call announced the stand-alone Infinity IS Dashboard real-time monitoring application and a new suite of enterprise-wide and mobile applications.  The dashboard gives managers a visual snapshot of current system traffic, call types, average time to answer, operators, and waits.  The dashboard can be run on a desktop PC and displayed on large monitors.  The information displayed on the dashboard can be customized to show multiple types of charts and gauges, with the exact information needed to effectively run the call center.

The dashboard can also be Web-enabled, allowing managers to view information from a home PC or mobile phone browser.  Managers, physicians, and staff can also access Infinity IS directories, on-call schedules, messages, and reports from PCs and mobile phone browsers, keeping them up-to-date from virtually anywhere.

Amtelco President Tom Curtin stated, "We are really excited about having such a large, visual, real-time ‘dashboard' for improving the decision-making process.  Now, at a glance, managers see detailed system information.  Using mobile Web access, managers can view the real-time dashboard on their Blackberry or iPhone.  This provides incredible freedom and decision-making abilities to staff."

For more information, contact 1Call at 800-356-9148 or info@1call.com.

Self Care Decisions Releases Pediatric SymptomMD

Self Care Decisions released Pediatric SymptomMD, an iPhone/iPod touch application, designed to answer parent's questions regarding children's symptoms.  The pediatric care guides are developed by Barton Schmitt, MD, FAAP, a practicing pediatrician and professor of Pediatrics at Denver Children's Hospital.  Schmitt is the author of the clinical protocols published and distributed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and used by 10,000 physician practices and 400 nurse call lines, used on 150 million symptom calls.

"Pediatricians and parents alike want to provide a speedy recovery, whether that means home remedies or a trip to their doctor's office," Dr. Schmitt explained.

Parents can navigate three quick steps to:

• Identify their child's symptoms

• Decide if they need to call 911, go to the emergency department, contact their doctor, or manage the symptoms at home

• Access self-care instructions for symptom relief, if appropriate

With the iPhone application, parents can immediately connect with 911, call their child's physician, or locate the closest emergency or urgent care facility.  Pediatric SymptomMD is available through iTunes App Store for $1.99.  The full-range product, SymptomMD, is $2.99.