Since the beginning of the pandemic and the push for social distancing, telehealth triage and outsourced nurse call centers have become invaluable components for evaluating callers’ symptoms and guiding them to the appropriate levels of care. It is important that your triage nurses have software with standardized, guided protocols to ensure patient safety and allow for continuity of care. Having software that can customize to the needs of different practices can also help ensure that their patients and doctors feel comfortable with outsourced nurses. With that mind, we’d like to share with you how one hospital system leveraged these services successfully through a partnership with TriageLogic.
MyTriageChecklist
Our client came to us because they wanted to have their own nurse triage call center. They were looking for a software that could be used in the daytime and software for night and weekends. They wanted their remote triage system to standardize their calls and share that data with their providers. That all changed when they became aware of MyTriageChecklist.
This triage software was quickly embraced by their nurses for two reasons. First, they had already voiced interest in working from home. Second, they wanted a system that would make it convenient to document all patient interactions and share that information with providers in order to maintain continuity of care. TriageLogic was also able to provide them with two different versions of the software: one with simpler daytime protocols, and one with more comprehensive night and weekend protocols.
Implementation of our triage software was so successful that all twenty-one offices of this health system adopted it for their daytime hours. The practices especially appreciated that they could customize the care instructions based on provider preference.
Benefits
Nurses were grateful to work remotely and the hospital was able to save money and physical space. They also appreciated how triage software reduced their liability by thoroughly documenting both patient outcomes and patient follow-ups from providers.
Office managers were excited by the reporting they could access. This included statistics on daily and hourly call volumes, times that nurses spent on those calls, the triage protocols they used, and whether enough team members were scheduled during peak hours to ensure patients were assisted in a timely manner.
Doctors were thrilled by the ability to customize nurse triage protocols to reflect their individual practices and patient instructions — all information that could then be shared seamlessly with triage nurses to use with patient callers.
Nurse Triage Cell Center
In 2018, our client decided to implement TriageLogic’s Nurse Triage on Call to replace their internal call center for nights and weekends. There were three primary reasons for this. First, the client’s hospital structure made it too expensive for them to maintain a call center internally. Second, they felt they were would be able to improve patient care and reduce patient cost over the phone because TriageLogic’s system is efficient in hiring, training, and scheduling nurses as needed. Finally, the TriageLogic team made transitioning easy because their team worked quickly with different doctor groups to customize their orders.
Benefits
TriageLogic was able to become an extension of the client’s practice, utilizing customized notes and protocols to ensure that patients had an after-hours resource they could depend on. We also provided a medical director who was in charge of coordinating efforts between our nurses and the client to ensure seamless patient care.
Meeting Today’s Challenges
Both of these services have been particularly relevant to our client over the past couple of years due to the evolving challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, TriageLogic was able to provide overflow coverage during the daytime when our client was experiencing overwhelming call volume coupled with a nursing shortage. And, with more patients opting for remote-based care, it’s become even more important for triage nurses to verify telehealth eligibility and schedule appointments when able.
The Future of Triage
Our client is excited about the opportunities in development for nurse triage as much as we are. First, remote patient monitoring (RPM) is proving to be a valuable tool as an early warning system for detecting potential health concerns in patients with chronic disease, and our client is looking into a program with TriageLogic. Second, TriageLogic has been investing in technology to improve patient care and efficiency in the call system, increasing the benefits to its clients: see our articles on answering service operators with more advanced, integrated triage support, and a secure chat for doctors to quickly and securely coordinate with triage nurses.
Solutions for Your Health System
Are you looking for triage support like the services outlined above? We want to hear from you! Contact us today for a customized solution to fit your needs.
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 9,000 physicians and covers over 25 million lives nationwide.
