TriageLogic was initially conceived for two reasons: to overcome many of the technological challenges to telephone nurse triage, and to allow triage nurses greater flexibility and support in their roles. But we’re not simply a company that provides nurse staffing solutions. We’re a healthcare partner that provides technology-enabled services, licensed software, and expertise in all areas of telephone (and now telehealth) medicine. Here’s how we’ve evolved, and where we see ourselves moving forward.
Our Beginnings
TriageLogic was founded by our CEO, Dr. Charu Raheja, and CTO, Dr. Ravi Raheja, based on their combined healthcare experience.
For Charu, it was about finding a way for nurses to work remotely. This grew out of the conversations that she had with students and nurses at Vanderbilt University who expressed the desire to set their own working hours. Nurses were often unhappy that their roles required 12-hour shifts that consistently left them tired and kept them from spending time with their families. This prompted many of them to leave the profession, even though they admitted that they missed the purpose behind their work.
For Ravi, it was about improving the technology available to triage nurses in order to make their work easier, more secure, and highly accurate. When he was a resident, Ravi noticed some of the problems that were inherent in recording patient information and following medical protocols. At the hospital where he trained, Ravi and other residents were given the unique responsibility of answering patient phone calls when their doctors’ offices were closed. This was performed in the basement of the hospital overnight, where he would receive faxes from answering services that provided patient names and the reasons for their calls. But it could be cumbersome to switch between different documentation — doctors’ preferences versus the triage software that was available, for instance — and easy for staff to be overwhelmed if too many calls came in at once.
Our First Solutions
To address these two challenges, we developed our own customizable triage software, myTriageChecklist, as well as an outsourced, remote-based Nurse Triage On Call service.
MyTriageChecklist
MyTriageChecklist continues to be the most advanced nurse triage software on the market. It provides a triage protocol checklist for nurses to follow as they’re interacting with patient callers. This allows them to document the severity of each patient’s symptoms, and use Schmitt-Thompson protocols to arrive at the appropriate disposition for care. Its protocol editor also allows doctors to customize patient instructions based on their specific practice.
All information is then shared with the relevant providers to ensure continuity of care. Thanks to Ravi’s close eye on the cybersecurity market, myTriageChecklist adheres to digital best practices and HIPAA compliance with the secure transmission of patient data. This is also why TriageLogic has been pushing heavily to finalize its SOC 2 Type 2 certification.
Initially developed for in-house use, myTriageChecklist is currently available as licensed software for other healthcare call centers that are looking for ways to improve their patient care and lower operational costs.
Nurse Triage On Call
Nurse Triage On Call provides outsourced nurse triage support for doctors’ offices and providers who need additional phone coverage, or who find this service to be cost prohibitive to maintain internally.
We were actually the first system in the country with nurses working remotely to manage patient calls. While we knew this would benefit healthcare, we didn’t realize how much it would come into play during the initial COVID-19 surge. It’s also been a boon to many healthcare organizations that still struggle with sufficient staffing and unanticipated periods of high call volume.
Our registered nurses are able to find flexible working schedules that meet their needs and allow time with their families, while still giving them the sense of value that they wanted from their roles. Plus, this service is available to providers 24/7, and ensures that all patient calls are addressed in the appropriate windows of time. Our nurses even have the ability to schedule telehealth visits, if this service is available from a provider.
New Offerings, Recognition, and Future Growth
As Ravi continues to focus on data integrity, Charu evaluates improvements for analyzing and reporting on that data. This has led to two new offerings for remote patient monitoring (RPM) and medical message intake.
Remote Patient Monitoring
Our RNs now offer data review for RPM devices, and can contact patients when that data indicates a potential medical concern. This is especially relevant for treating the growing percentages of chronically ill patients in the US. We also offer solutions for providers that are experiencing difficulty implementing their own RPM program.
Medical Message Intake
Our artificial intelligence-based tool, MedMessage Assist, helps both Answering Service Operators (ASOs) and other nonclinical operators identify when patient calls are nonurgent, urgent, or emergent, and forward those requests to the correct triage nurses. This has already been shown to dramatically improve the accuracy of these calls, and improve patient care.
TriageLogic is excited for how far we’ve come as an organization, including our recent recognition as a GrowFL Florida Companies to Watch honoree. But we know that there’s still plenty of work to be done, and we’re excited to see what new advancements and growth are in store for our triage nurses.
If your organization is interested in implementing any of these services, please contact us today to get started!
About TriageLogic
TriageLogic is a URAC-accredited, physician-led provider of top-quality nurse telehealth technology, remote patient monitoring, and medical call center solutions. Founded in 2007, the TriageLogic Group now serves more than 12,000 physicians and covers over 25 million lives nationwide.
