LVM Systems News

LVM Systems, Inc. develops and markets software and related Internet products exclusively in the healthcare call center industry. Their primary niche is solutions that support nurse triage, disease management, and referral and marketing services. They have proudly served this market for 20 years and have hundreds of healthcare organizations as clients.

The company's cornerstones are comprehensive software (the modular system of E-Centaurus allows clients to purchase what they need and then expand services by upgrading to the next level of functionality), outstanding customer support (when clients call with questions, they reach a seasoned employee who can resolve their issues quickly and professionally), and proven clinical content (their pediatric protocols are provided and supported by Barton D. Schmitt, MD, the renowned expert and pioneer in pediatric telephone triage).

The product team at LVM has more than 25 years experience in software development, the majority of which has been done in close partnership with healthcare call center clients. The LVM team also provides implementation services, on-site training, phone and remote-access support, network consultation, customization of screens and custom reports.

LVM Systems released its Centaurus software on Microsoft�s .Net platform, giving LVM customers a choice on how they want their Centaurus software to function. �We believe Centaurus is already the top healthcare call center software solution in the industry,� said LVM Systems� Vice President of .Net Applications Jake Johnson. �Adding the .Net platform gives LVM Systems and our customers access to the latest technologies.�

The move to the .Net platform was three years in the making. It also represents a significant investment in staffing and resources. �We listened to our customers and other call center managers,� said Les Mortensen, LVM Systems� president and chief information officer. �They said they wanted a .Net option. We made that happen.�

LVM Systems� Centaurus software is a customizable solution for healthcare call centers. Centaurus was first developed in 1988 and has evolved to meet the changing needs of the healthcare call center industry.

Although it is anticipated that the .Net version of Centaurus will become the primary choice among new customers, LVM Systems will continue to provide support to those customers with the original version. Customers have the option of which platform they want Centaurus to run on.

LVM Systems released PhoneLink, a third-generation product for automating communication to and from consumers, patients, or plan members. It integrates touch-tone phone technology with a robust software database to manage two-way communications, such as:

LVM Systems, Inc. announced a change in their pricing model for disease management care plans. Effective February 1, all plans are available at no additional cost to LVM customers. This includes heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and medication compliance plans.

According to Les Mortensen, president of LVM Systems, �The majority of our call center customers have disease and population management projects on their horizon. It�s a must do for successful healthcare reform and medical home initiatives. We want our customers to have the advantage of medically-sound care plans which reference the national guidelines and support medical standards of care.�

Each care plan contains a stratification tool to assist care teams in matching the right intensity and frequency to the needs of each program participant. The plans focus on self-management education and early identification of health status changes, which are key to avoiding unplanned care and emergencies. Customers can use the patient education materials authored by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), which exist in the LVM software, or they can link to their own materials.

LVM Systems� Centaurus software has been chosen by CPM Marketing Group, Inc. to enable its national call center, launched January 6, 2010. CPM, a customer relationship management (CRM) and strategic marketing solutions company, has entered the call center service arena to support inbound and outbound call marketing services for hospitals and health systems.

The LVM/CPM interface, Instant CRM (ICRM), is a behavioral targeting technology that enables hospitals to tailor phone communication to current and prospective patients based on individuals� past and present medical indications or their risk for developing future conditions. Having this ability to communicate at a granular level is invaluable for relationship building and service line promotion. The ICRM interface provides critical information to the call center representative both at the beginning of the call and prior to the end of the call, when cross-selling opportunities are most advantageous.

Since its formation in 1988, LVM Systems has held customer service as one of its cornerstones and a key differentiator in their healthcare call center niche. According to their 2009 client satisfaction survey, LVM is still hitting the mark. More than 125 clients participated in the 13-question survey that gathered feedback on interaction with LVM staff and overall customer service and satisfaction. Key results were:

If you follow the gurus of satisfaction measurement, a single question stands out from the rest. Customers may be happy, but would they act on that confidence in their vendor? To the question, �Would you recommend LVM Systems to other organizations?� 95.9% answered �Yes.� According to Les Mortensen, LVM�s founder and president, �Many of our new clients contacted us as a result of meeting or networking with a satisfied LVM customer.�

LVM Systems invites all healthcare call centers to their 2009 conference, Essential Pieces � Supporting Your Success. It is Wednesday and Thursday, October 21-22 at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort in Arizona and offers an industry-centered agenda with three concurrent tracks:

Headliners include Doctors Barton Schmitt and David Thompson, authors of the telephone triage protocols and self-care guides. They will present �Ten Pediatric Infections Not to Miss� and �Dangerous Pregnancy Symptoms,� as well as be available for clinical networking sessions and an informal Q & A.

The marketing and strategy keynote is Travis Froehlich, vice president of planning for the Seton Family of Hospitals in Austin, Texas. Froehlich has expanded Seton's triage call center to an enterprise-wide hub for patient navigation, including disease management, transfers, and referral services. �Moving the Call Center to an Enterprise Role� is an essential session for vice presidents and managers with a grander vision for access management and optimizing patient connections. More than 20 additional presentations will be made by call center managers and industry leaders.

LVM Systems, a longtime provider of installed call center software, now offers a fully hosted solution, Virtual Call Center. Their E-Centaurus software is available for use via the Internet. President Les Mortensen comments, "We've had this option in use by our own remote staff for nearly seven years. The challenges of today's healthcare environment create the perfect opportunity to offer it externally as well."

LVM's sales directors are frequently hearing hospital managers say, "Our IT folks are so focused on the enterprise EMR launch, it is difficult to get their attention and support for other information systems." The Virtual Call Center is accessed via an Internet connection through Windows Terminal Server, bypassing the need for onsite server purchase and set-up.

The other benefit is economical. Many health systems have a freeze on capital expenditures, eliminating new licenses, and hardware purchases, which would normally be capitalized. LVM Systems offers an option to license the Virtual Call Center on a monthly payment plan, if needed, to avoid requesting capital dollars. Therefore, software fees can be covered through the call center's operational budget.

Marlene Grasser, RN, has recently joined LVM Systems as their Regional Sales Director for the West. Ms. Grasser was previously the manager of Evergreen HealthLine, the medical call center sponsored by Evergreen Healthcare in Kirkland, Washington. Her experience with the HealthLine began in 1993 as a telephone triage nurse. Convinced of the tremendous benefit the 24/7 triage service offered her community, Grasser remained at Evergreen for the next 14 years. During her tenure, she helped shape the quality and strength of the triage service and in 2001 took over the reins as manager.

In 2004, after a thorough vendor evaluation, her team implemented LVM's E-Centaurus software with Weblink. With the improved technology and support, the call center expanded from 90,000 calls per year to upwards of 150,000 by the end of 2006. "We had so many opportunities open up to us once we had software that could handle anything we threw at it," she said. "LVM's character and commitment attracted me." She adds, "When I decided to look for a career that provided more regular hours, LVM was a very natural fit."

LVM Systems released a contact management solution, MPR: Managing Physician Relations. MPR allows physician liaisons to plan, execute, and track efforts to grow physician referrals while retaining existing relationships. MPR operates as a stand-alone product, but MPR also fully integrates with LVM's E-Centaurus call center software. The call center-physician relations synergy leverages a powerful enterprise CRM solution and targets it specifically to the physician audience.

Physician liaisons can view or print reports on the number of patients directed by the call center to a particular physician. Conversely, the MPR software can also import and track the volume of patients referred by that physician to the hospital.

Many university and tertiary care hospitals find themselves in the transfer business. To address this, LVM Systems partnered with several call centers (both clients and non-clients) to develop a Hospital Transfer module to support this time-sensitive process. The call-taker captures the sending party's information and logistics, and then conducts a brief interview regarding the patient's condition and needs. If the receiving hospital has additional requirements associated with the service requested (such as orthopedics, burn unit, NICU), staff receive a visual cue so no items are missed.

Each unique communication within the transfer (often 8 to 10 calls) is tracked within the software's Contact module, with the series of interactions sharing a single Case ID. The transfer status screen displays each milestone in the transfer process, including what has been completed and by whom. Then the post-acceptance tracking accounts for all the details of the completed process, including the disposition, transport service, and times of patient departure from the sending hospital and arrival at the receiving hospital.

The Hospital Transfer module is an addition to LVM's E-Centaurus software and is now available.

Efficiency, productivity, and utilization are common call center terms for measuring performance and capacity. But for call center staff, there are many other tasks that fill the day which may go unaccounted. LVM has recently added a Time Ticket module to its E-Centaurus software to help staff and call center managers understand where the time goes - and account for it correctly.

The time ticket function allows the user to end the call (recording an accurate call length), then add time to the transaction, either immediately following, or later on when time permits. In this scenario, the time ticket documents additional time spent in fulfillment and categorizes the nature of the additional time for reporting purposes.

Using the Time Ticket function helps staff log additional time associated with fulfillment activities or special projects. Also, it helps managers understand where time is spent when the software and phone switch reports offer different views of efficiency.

LVM Systems recently developed an Absence Management module in their E-Centaurus software to support clients who either sell attendance management services to employers or support their own health system's employee health program. LVM clients can monitor, advise, and report on employee absence. The absence management program improves tracking, but more importantly, analyzes trends to assist leadership in managing absences proactively.

Employees are instructed to call the Absence Line to report absences, such as sickness, traffic delays, injury, bereavement, doctors' appointments, and so forth. Call center staff locates the employee record and using the new module, records the employee's answers to a short series of questions, identifying the absence specifics. If the employee is ill, he or she discusses symptoms with a triage nurse who provides direction and/or symptom management. An estimated return-to-work date is established and the employee is instructed to either call back each day of the absence or upon his/her return to work. The return date is recorded to close the episode of absence. The software segments data by employer and allows managers to access absence reports online by employee, department, division, or corporation.

For healthcare call centers, maintaining accurate physician profile information is paramount. For call center managers and staff, two data elements seem to cause the greatest frustration:

Bad data means unhappy patients, callers, and physicians...and disgruntled call center staff. Call center managers dream of a Web interface that would allow physicians (well, their office staff, anyway) to update their profiles and on-call schedules, shifting the onus to the practices themselves. However, with this vision comes an aftermath of IS concern, Web security, and firewall protection issues. Plus, on the physician practice side, would they be able to access the Internet application? Also, how much training would be required?

LVM Systems has a solution with their E-Centaurus software; it produces a simple Excel form that clearly displays the insurance data or on-call schedule for each physician. For participating practices, the export process is fully automated and can be scheduled to go out via email in a batch routine.

accept_ins	insurance_name	inid	phys_name	poid
Y	Aetna	AETNA	Applegate, Diane	96
Y	Blue Cross/Blue Shield	BC/BS	Applegate, Diane	96
Y	Cigna Healthplan of Arizona	CIGNA	Applegate, Diane	96
Y	Intergroup Healthcare Corporation	IHC	Applegate, Diane	96
	J & J Health Insurance of America	JJ	Applegate, Diane	96
	Kaiser Insurance	KI	Applegate, Diane	96
	Samaritan Group, Inc.	SAM	Applegate, Diane	96

The practice simply opens the Excel file, reviews the information, edits it as necessary, saves the changes, and sends it back to the call center. The Excel spreadsheet can be reviewed first by staff, or saved directly into the data directory. The E-Centaurus software then automatically updates the on-call schedule or insurance information for each physician.

For many years, physicians and their staff have relied on reference books for supporting office-hours and after-hours telephone care. The long time standard, "Pediatric Telephone Protocols," authored by Barton Schmitt, MD is used by more than 10,000 practices. "Adult Telephone Protocols," authored by David Thompson, MD is the companion reference used by many family practitioners. In recent years, requests have grown for an electronic version of these mainstays which would automate protocol selection and provide for quick documentation.

Through an exclusive agreement with LVM Systems, Schmitt's and Thompson's office protocols are now automated by an Internet-based product referred to as D.O.C., or Doctor's Office Calls. It's priced from $500 to $750 per year, per user (based upon the number of users). The product can be interfaced with LVM's Medical Call Center software, E-Centaurus. LVM software clients will be able to exchange triage documentation with the physician practices they serve after-hours.

The 1Call Division of Amtelco announced the integration of their Infinity system to the LVM eCentaurus� nurse triage software package. With the Infinity and eCentaurus integration, operators answer calls, gather information from callers, and screen them for nurses. If the caller needs a callback from a nurse, the operator saves the message in a special Infinity account. The message is then automatically dispatched to eCentaurus, which presents calls to nurses in the queue, based on priority.

When the call is delivered, information about the call, including the callback number, is displayed. The nurse uses the eCentaurus screen, with the Infinity Operator Interface Engine, to dial, connect, place calls on hold, page, and patch calls to doctors.

To complete the call, the nurse presses a button on the eCentaurus screen. Infinity then stores all of the information about the call, including the callout history, which can be archived and reviewed at any time for quality assurance and billing purposes. If desired, calls can also be automatically recorded using the 1Call Voice Logger module.

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LVM Systems News