A Future Look at Triage Call Centers

LVM

A reliable healthcare model for value and outcomes versus volume and revenues

By Mark Dwyer

Imagine the year is 2030. The Cubs have finally won a second World Series. Private companies are shuttling people to the moon. And Garth Brooks has launched yet another comeback tour.

Voice controlled computers, self-driving cars, and nanotechnology are no longer just theory. Finally, technology has done what it promised so many years ago. No more tedious typing and key-boarding classes, paying exorbitant car insurance fees, or washing windows every spring.

Amidst all the change, one thing remains constant – the triage call center. Sure the technology has changed. Newer phones and telephony interfaces exist. Video conferencing and chat windows are now the rage. But despite these changes, the heart and soul of the triage call center remains the same. And it lives within the person of the highly-skilled triage call center nurse.

To the stressed-out mom whose crying newborn cannot be consoled or the scared elderly man alone at home experiencing gut-wrenching abdominal pain, the call center nurse will continue to provide the same heartfelt care she has for the better part of the last forty years. Her calming voice, empathic concern, and level of knowledge will be what the caller really needs. The cold touch of a lifeless computer screen, even if artistically designed, will never replace human interaction.

Technology is critical to our daily lives. Without it, the world as we know it would cease to exist, but too often the warmth and support provided by the triage call center nurse is overlooked by the bean counters who seek discernable ROI. If ever healthcare had a model for value and outcomes versus volume and revenues, the triage call center is it – both now and in the future.

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Mark Dwyer is chief operations officer at LVM Systems, providers of healthcare call center software.