Through 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, TriageLogic has been assessing data. This data included patient symptoms, attitudes, and outcomes both in general as well as specific to COVID-19. Our goal was to share what we observed with the healthcare industry. We observed how patient behavior was impacted by breaking news and the media, and how education changed caller behavior.
In the United States, 6 in 10 adults in the United States suffer from some form of a chronic disease, such as obesity, diabetes, or heart disease. Chronic diseases are responsible for 75% of the 3.5 trillion dollars spent on healthcare each year. RPM can help alleviate that.
People are starting to make travel plans for the holidays coming up. While holiday season always mean longer work hours and less exercising for busy health care professional because of winter sickness and family gatherings, the COVID-19 pandemic has added an extra lawyer of worry and work.
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased telemedicine visits as patients and doctors try to stop the spread of infection. The CDC reports that telemedicine visits increased by more than 50% during the first months of the pandemic. Triage nurses can work closely with doctors to provide a safe and effective way to direct patients to the appropriate level of care and help save lives.
TriageLogic has collected data from nurse triage call centers and studied how patient behavior and use of telephone nurse triage services may have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nurse triage can save money by reducing the need for unnecessary ER visits, which are costly in terms of resources and money. Each ER visit costs about $2000. Unnecessary ER visits also increase strain on healthcare systems, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when hospitals are already overburdened.
Nurse triage has the potential to save patient lives. Patients often don’t know what symptoms may be signs of serious medical problems. Using a set of standardized protocols, telephone triage nurses assess patient symptoms and determine which ones are most serious and may need immediate medical attention.
People are starting to make travel plans for the holidays coming up. While holiday season always mean longer work hours and less exercising for busy health care professional because of winter sickness and family gatherings, the COVID-19 pandemic has added an extra lawyer of worry and work.
Triage Logic has a new triage nurse learning center course available on remote patient monitoring (RPM). The course explores the following: a. What is RPM; b. the benefits of an RPM system to both the patient and the provider; and c. how can doctor offices implement a program with minimum staff time by using both clinical and non-clinical contact centers.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to underscore the need for telephone medicine, medical call centers can play a crucial role in improving the patient experience and quality of care while containing costs.
