Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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System and Method for Patient Contact
Technical Field of the Disclosure
[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to medical facilities
and, more particularly,
to a system and method for facilitating contact with patients discharged from
medical
facilities.
Background of the Disclosure
[0002] Patients discharged from a medical facility, such as an
emergency department,
outpatient procedure area, or a hospital, greatly benefit from timely contact.
Follow-up
assessments not only address patient's well being, medication compliance, and
adherence to
discharge instructions, assessments also determine if a patient's medical
condition is worse
relative to the time of discharge. Addressing any patient concerns in such a
way actively
reduces claims and patient re-admissions. Patient contact and assessment is
often also
utilized to solicit feedback regarding various aspects of the patient's visit
to the medical ,
facility. For example, patients may be asked to evaluate hospital staff and
care provider
performance. Patients may also be asked to comment about the medical facility
itself.
[0003] Conventionally, patient contact and assessment after discharge
have been achieved
through phone calls. Phone call contacts have several disadvantages. For
example, a
callback staff is required to be maintained at all times to keep track of
discharged patients and
to timely contact them upon discharge. Maintaining the callback staff is not
only expensive
for the medical facility, it also requires that the callback staff be diligent
in actively
contacting and, if necessary, re-contacting discharged patients. Further, even
if the callback
staff is diligent, patients may not be available to answer callback staff
phone calls and/or may
choose not to return any missed calls from the callback staff. Thus, the
callback staff may
not always be able to timely contact the patient, whose health condition may
have already
deteriorated by the time of contact. On other occasions, the callback staff
may not be able to
establish contact with the patient at all. Critical feedback about health care
providers and the
medical facility itself is also often not collected in callback staff phone
calls.
[0004] Accordingly, it would be beneficial if a system and method
could be developed to
facilitate active contact with discharged patients in a timely and efficient
manner. It would
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additionally be beneficial if such a system and method could, in addition to
addressing patient
concerns, also provide the patient flexibility in choosing how and when to
respond back to
the medical facility.
Summary of the Disclosure
[0005] In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a method of
collecting
feedback from a user is disclosed. The method may include providing a server
capable of
storing a survey and generating a unique link to access the survey on the
server, the server
further capable of sending the unique link to at least one of the user and a
callback clerk. The
method may also include completing the survey by the user and returning the
completed
survey to the server, the server capable of compiling responses in the survey.
The method
may additionally include determining by the server if any actions in the
completed survey
have been triggered, the server further capable of at least indirectly
addressing the triggered
actions and gathering the responses in the survey into at least one report by
the server.
[0006] In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a
system to collect
feedback from a user is disclosed. The system may include a server capable of
storing a
survey and generating a unique link to access the survey on the server, the
server further
capable of sending the unique link to at least one of the user and a callback
clerk using a web
enabled device. The system may also include a user profile document designed
to be
automatically uploadable to the server, the survey tailored to the user
profile, on-duty staff for
quickly addressing a first type of user concern, designated directors for
addressing concerns
of a client and a second type of user concern and a reporting system for
collecting
information from the survey for future use.
[0007] In accordance with yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a
method of
contacting a patient discharged from a medical facility is disclosed. The
method may include
providing a server capable of storing a survey and generating a unique link to
access the
survey on the server, the server further capable of sending the unique link to
at least one of a
patient and a callback clerk. The method may also include creating a patient
profile
document for the patient by the medical facility and uploading the patient
profile document
on the server, creating the survey tailored to the patient profile document by
the medical
facility, uploading the survey on the server and completing the survey by the
patient using at
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least one of a web enabled device and the callback clerk. The method may
further include
returning the completed survey to the server, reviewing the completed survey
by the server to
determine if any actions have been triggered and addressing the triggered
actions by the
server.
[0008] These and other aspects and features of the present disclosure will
be more readily
understood upon reading the following description when taken in conjunction
with the
accompanying drawings.
Brief Description of the Drawings
[0009] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for setting up a client to use a
patient callback
system, in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present
disclosure;
[0010] HG. 2 is a block diagram of the patient callback system of FIG. 1,
in accordance
with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure; and
[0011] FIG. 3 is a flowchart outlining steps of contacting a patient
discharged from a
medical facility using the patient callback system of FIG. 2.
[0012] While the present disclosure is susceptible to various modifications
and alternative
constructions, certain illustrative embodiments thereof, will be shown and
described below in
detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to be
limited to the
specific embodiments disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover
all
modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the
spirit and scope of
the present disclosure.
Detailed Description of the Disclosure
[0013] Referring to FIG. 1, a schematic diagram for setting up a client 100
for using a
patient callback system 2 (See FIG. 2) is shown, in accordance with at least
some
embodiments of the present disclosure. In at least some embodiments, the
client 100 may be
representative of a medical facility 6 (See FIG. 2) such as any hospital or
clinic, including,
but not limited to, inpatient and outpatient procedure centers, dental
offices, chiropractic
clinics, physical therapy clinics, rehabilitation facilities, veterinary
clinics and other types of
healthcare entities that render any sort of medical or otherwise therapeutic
treatments to
patients. To facilitate setup of the client 100, a new client database 102 may
be first created.
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In at least some embodiments, the client database 102 may be created by
forming a partition
on a server 8 (Again, see FIG. 2) and by providing basic client information
such as name and
contact details of the client.
[0014] After creating the client database 102, other
information/preferences of the client
100, such as manner of communication with the patients, trigger notifications,
etc. may be
set, as described below. The client 100 may also identify any directors and
any on-duty staff
to notify of the trigger notifications, as well as the manner in which to
notify them. Thus,
after creating the client database 100, a variety of data requirements 104 may
be relayed to
the server 8 and the client database may be configured for automatic data
upload to the
server. Each of the clients 100 may also be assigned a client identification
number. Further,
the data requirements 100 may be utilized to set up various data fields to
create a patient
health profile, described below with respect to FIG. 2. These data fields may
govern the type
of information that may be collected from each patient to create a unique
patient health
profile. Additionally, as also described below, the data requirements 104 may
be set up for
automatic download as new patient profiles are created or alternatively,
within set periods of
time.
[0015] Client and user information 106 may also be entered into the client
database 102.
The criteria to determine re-contact inclusion/exclusion criteria as well as
re-contact priority
order 108 may be determined as well. Client and user information 106 may
include the
contact information (e.g., name, e-mail address, phone number, etc.),
designation (e.g.,
technician, physician, callback clerk, on-duty staff, etc.), department, and
any other
information that may be deemed useful in identifying any personnel who may use
the patient
callback system 2.
[0016] Trigger notifications 110 to contact any of the designated personnel
(described
below), the desired manner of contact with those personnel, assessment
questions and
responses 112 and any actions 114 to be taken upon receiving the responses
from the patients
may all be set in the client database 102. Various time periods 116, such as,
how long after
discharge to contact a patient, when to send a self-assessment and/or
callback, etc may be set
as well. An electronic message master switch 118 may be used to enable or
disable contact
with the patients.
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[0017] It will be understood that while the steps above to setup the client
100 have been
described in a specific order, in at least some embodiments, the order of the
steps may be
changed as desired. Further, as appropriate, one or more steps may be replaced
by other
desired steps or some steps may be skipped as well. In other words, the client
setup is
flexible and may be tailored to suit the client's needs.
[0018] Referring now to FIG. 2, the patient callback system 2 is shown, in
accordance
with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. The patient callback
system 2 may
be utilized to contact a patient 4 discharged from the medical facility 6. The
patient 4 may be
contacted, for example, to determine their health condition since discharge,
as well as to
solicit feedback about their experience at the medical facility 6. As defined
herein, the term
"patient" may include human or animal patients, and where applicable, the term
"patient"
may also include representatives, agents or guardians of the patients. While
the patient
callback system 2 has been shown to contact the patient 4 discharged from the
medical
facility 6, it will be understood that the callback system may be utilized in
any application
where a response, feedback or follow-up from a user is desired. The term
"user" as used
herein may include person or persons, animals, parties or entities that are
customers, patrons
or otherwise receive/use any form of services, whether professional or social.
[0019] To facilitate contact with the patient 4, a patient profile document
may be created
when the patient first receives treatment at the medical facility 6. The
patient profile
document may be uploaded to the server 8, as indicated by communication link
10. The
patient profile document may include (although not necessarily) a set of
protected health
information (PHI), such as, patient's name, date of birth, address, gender,
phone number(s),
e-mail address, date/time of arrival and discharge, reason for visit, name and
identification of
the care provider(s), native language, insurance information, etc. It will be
understood that
the above is a non-exhaustive list of information that may be a part of the
patient profile.
Other types of information such as, emergency contacts, etc., that may be
deemed useful by
the medical facility 6, may be part of the patient profile as well. The
patient profile document
may additionally include various patient preferences and privileges, such as,
the patient's
preferred mode of contact by the medical facility 6 (e.g., via text message, e-
mail and/or
telephone), number of attempts to be made by the medical facility to contact
the patient 4,
how long after discharge to be contacted, level of patient's access to the
patient callback
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system 2, etc. Although not recommended, the patient 4 may also opt out of any
contact by
the medical facility 6.
[0020] The upload of the patient profile document to the server 8 may be
automatically
performed via secure connections and protocols (e.g., secure file transfer
protocols).
Information may be uploaded to the server either when a new patient profile
document is
created or when additional information for an existing patient profile
document is available.
The frequency of uploading information to the server 8 may also be set as
desired. For
example, information may be automatically uploaded to the server 8 at either
fixed times of
the day (or night), instantly as the information becomes available, and/or
within specified
intervals of time. Furthermore, the patient profile may be transferred to the
electronic data
records of the medical facility 6 and/or printed for paper medical records.
[0021] With respect to the server 8, it may be any of a variety of server
systems that are
commonly used in medical facilities. In at least some embodiments, the server
8 may be a
cloud server based upon a cloud computing model. Cloud computing may be
defined as a
model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a
shared pool of
configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage,
applications, and
services). Cloud computing is well-known and, therefore, has not been
described here in
great detail. Any of a variety of cloud computing models that may be
appropriate for
purposes of the medical facility 6 may be used for the server 8. In other
embodiments, other
types of application, file, database, web servers and the like, may be used as
well.
Furthermore, the server 8 may be a stand-alone or networked embedded or other
physical
computer system designed to run one or more services or serve the needs of the
medical
facility 6. The server 8 may include any of a variety of volatile or non-
volatile
memory/storage devices, such as, flash memory, read-only memory (ROM),
programmable
read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),
electronically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), etc.,
computing and
processing devices, such as, microprocessors and central processing units, and
computer
readable media, such as, joysticks, flash drives, optical disc drives, floppy
discs, magnetic
tapes, drums, cards, etc. The server 8 may also include output and display
devices such as
monitors and printers. Other types of computing, processing as well as
reporting and storage
devices may be present within (or used in conjunction with) the server 8.
Furthermore, a
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variety of devices, systems and software that are commonly employed in
combination or
conjunction with servers, such as power supplies, fault tolerance systems,
etc. are
contemplated and considered within the scope of the present disclosure.
[0022] The server 8 may run one or more software programs or applications
stored in a
memory location, read from a computer readable medium, and/or accessed from an
external
device operatively coupled to the server by any suitable communication
network. The server
8 may also be part of a client-server architecture where the server may be a
computer
program running to serve the requests of other programs, such as those at the
medical facility
6. In that regard, the server 8 may perform computational task on behalf of
the medical
facility 6. Furthermore, patient information may be secured in a segregated
manner on the
server 8 with multiple-layer password protections and strict authentication
processes. Data
integrity may be assured by various encryption protocols and the server 8 may
be
authenticated with extended validation certificates. Other types or levels of
security, such as,
firewalls, may also be in place to protect the server 8 itself, as well as the
information of the
patient 4.
[0023]
After the patient 4 is discharged from the hospital or clinic 6, the callback
system 2
may be utilized to contact the patient. The contact may be in the form of a
survey. As will
be described further below, the survey may either be completed independently
by the patient
4 or with the assistance of a callback clerk 20. The purpose of the survey may
be to
determine the well-being and recovery of the patient 4 since discharge from
the medical
facility 6, elicit feedback about the patient's experience at the medical
facility, experience
with various care providers, as well as any other feedback or concern that the
patient (or
those filling out the survey) may have. As stated above, the survey may be
completed in at
least two ways: self-assessment (the patient completes the survey
independently) or callback
(the patient completes the survey with the help of the callback clerk 20). In
self-assessment,
the survey may be sent to the patient 4 and the patient (or patient's
representative) may
complete the survey on their own within a specified period of time and
subsequent to
completing the survey, the patient 4 may return the survey to the medical
facility 6. To
complete the survey by callback, the patient 4 may receive a call from the
callback clerk 20,
who may collect the patient's responses and complete the survey.
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[0024] The survey may be designed and created to address the needs of the
patient 4, as
well as of the medical facility 6. In at least some embodiments, the survey
may be designed
and/or created by the medical facility 6 itself. In other embodiments, the
survey may be
designed and/or created by a third party and used by the medical facility 6.
Each survey may
be tailored for the patient 4 and may include a variety of questions, such as
those asking
about the patient's health and well-being since discharge from the medical
facility 6,
questions regarding medication, home-care, follow-up/discharge instructions
and the like,
questions asking the patient 4 to rate and evaluate his/her care providers at
the medical
facility, questions relating to the medical facility itself (such as
cleanliness, facilities, ease of
access, etc.) and other similar questions.
[0025] Furthermore, in at least some embodiments, all surveys may include
some standard
questions for the patients to answer, as well as some disease/condition or
diagnosis specific
questions that may be unique to a patient suffering/receiving treatment for
that particular
disease/condition or diagnosis. The survey may also include questions that
address top
medical problems associated with patient re-admission. For instance, a patient
being treated
with a congestive heart failure condition may be asked a few unique questions
that may allow
the patient's re-admission risk to be determined. If the risk is determined to
be above a set
threshold, then an intensive home care regimen may be initiated in order to
assure a high
chance of successful home care and reduced chance of re-admission. The
callback clerk 20
may also be given the flexibility to ask questions from the patient 4 based
upon the patient's
risk threshold and disease/condition diagnosis/treatment.
[0026] Additionally, the questions may be multiple choice questions and/or
may provide
space that the patient 4 may supplement their responses in. The survey may
also include
various directions to aid the patient 4 for completing the survey in an
effective manner, as
well as instructions for the personnel/automated systems receiving the
completed survey to
follow-up diligently on the survey. Furthermore, the survey may be developed
in the
language specified by the patient 4 in his/her patient profile. Similar to the
patient profile, the
survey may be uploaded to the server 8 and may be linked to the patient
profile of the patient
4. Once created, the questions in the survey may be continually modified, new
questions
added or irrelevant questions deleted to reflect the patient's follow-up care
and needs. In
addition, the survey may be created simultaneously with the patient profile,
or any time
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thereafter. Thus, the survey may be very flexible such that the questions in
the survey may
be altered and tailored to address a specific patient's needs and reduce
chances of re-
admission.
[0027] After creating and uploading the survey, contact (either by way of
self-assessment
or callback) may be initiated by the medical facility 6. In at least some
embodiments, the
patient 4 may be able to specify, as part of the patient profile, the time
period within which to
be contacted by the medical facility 6 for completing the survey. Furthermore,
a unique link
to the survey may be generated by the server 8. The link may be a character
string such as a
uniform resource locator or URL containing a reference to an internet
resource, such as, the
server 8 where the survey may be located. The link may not contain any
sensitive patient
information. The server 8 may send the link to the patient 4 in various
different ways. For
example, in some embodiments, the server 8 may send a text message to a phone
12 via
communication link 14. In other embodiments, the server 8 may e-mail the link
to the survey
to either the phone 12 or a computer 16 via communication link 18. In yet
other
embodiments, the server 8 may send the link to the survey to the callback
clerk 20 (e.g., to a
phone or computer used by the callback clerk, or alternatively a hard copy of
the survey may
be mailed to the callback clerk) via communication link 22. A hard copy of the
survey may
be mailed directly to the patient 4 as well.
[0028] It will be understood that the phone 12 may be representative of a
cell or mobile
phone and specifically, a smart phone, a landline phone, a telephony
application
programming interface (TAPI) phone, a voice over internet protocol (VoIP)
phone or other
types of phones or devices that are capable of receiving the link to the
survey via a text
message or e-mail. The patient 4 may utilize the phone 12 not only to receive
the survey, but
also to complete and return the survey back to the medical facility 6.
Relatedly, the computer
16 may be representative of a laptop, desktop, notebook, netbook, tablet, or
any other
computing device capable of receiving e-mail and/or completing the survey. It
will also be
understood that while the patient 4 may receive the link to the survey via one
medium (e.g.,
the phone 12 or the computer 16), the patient may utilize another medium
(e.g., the phone 12
or the computer 16) to complete and return the survey. In at least some
embodiments, the
medical facility 6 may make an application, widget or the like available that
the patient 4 may
download on their phone 12 and/or computer 16 to access, complete and/or
return the survey.
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[0029] Furthermore, the callback clerk 20 may either be a person (such as a
nurse) or
alternatively, the callback clerk may be an automated processing control
system designed to
collect responses from the patient 4. When the callback clerk 20 is an
automated processing
control system, the callback clerk may have at least some of the same
components as the
server 8 described above, such as a memory system, a processing system, input
and output
devices and software designed to collect responses from the patient 4. The
callback clerk 20
may also include one or more telephones and voice processing equipment to make
phone
calls and collect responses from the patient 4. The automated callback clerk
20 may also be
linked to the server 8 (and possibly to other servers as well). When the
callback clerk 20 is a
person, the callback clerk may use any of a variety of ways, such as, phones
(like the ones the
patients 4 may use) and/or computers (also similar to those described above),
including any
tablets, smart-phones, applications, widgets, etc.
[0030] After the link to the survey is sent to the patient 4, the patient
may access the
survey by clicking that link. As shown herein, the patient 4 may access the
survey from the
text message or the e-mail containing the link to the survey, as represented
by communication
links 24 and 26. Furthermore, the patient 4 may complete the survey on his/her
phone 12
and/or the computer 16 by following the instructions on the survey (self-
assessment). The
survey may also specify a certain time period for the patient 4 to respond
back with the
completed survey. Upon failing to complete and return the survey within that
time period,
the patient 4 may receive a phone call from the callback clerk 20 to complete
the survey, as
indicated by communication link 28. The patient 4 may also receive a call from
the callback
clerk 20 if the patient had specified callback as an option for completing the
survey. The
questions of the survey, whether completed by the patient through self-
assessment or via
callback, are typically the same although, as described above, the callback
clerk may have
some flexibility in tailoring the questions depending upon the patient's
condition at the time
of the phone call.
[0031] Once the survey is completed and returned (either via self-
assessment or by
callback) to the medical facility 6, several actions may be taken. These
actions may be
dependent upon the responses of the patient 4 in the survey. Some actions may
be triggered
instantly and/or automatically, while other actions may be pipelined and saved
for later
review. For example, when the patient 4 reports a medical or follow-up
concern, built-in
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triggers in the survey may automatically notify on-duty staff 30 via
communication link 32.
The on-duty staff 30 may contact the patient 4 and address the concern, as
shown by
communication link 34. The on-duty staff 30 may be a primary care physician
and/or a home
health agency that receives the trigger notifications and provides decision
support in order to
reduce medical facility re-admissions, which has increasingly become a high
level goal.
Each of the discharged patients 4 may be assigned to a specific on-duty staff
30. In addition,
when the patient 4, while completing the survey, indicates a worse medical
condition since
being discharged from the medical facility 6, the survey may ask additional
questions to
recommend a course of action even before the on-duty staff 30 responds back.
[0032] Other types of survey responses, such as those relating to
satisfaction concerns and
other issues related to the care providers, as well as the medical facility 6
are relayed to
various designated managers and directors 36 via communication link 38. For
example,
feedback related to doctors may be conveyed to designated doctor directors,
while feedback
related to nurses and care providers other than doctors may be relayed to
designated nurse
directors. Similarly, feedback regarding the medical facility 6 may be relayed
to the
designated facility directors. Furthermore, each of the designated directors
36 may specify
the manner in which to receive the survey responses and, thus, responses to
each designated
director may be tailored to their respective preferences. The designated
directors 36 may also
specify whether to receive the responses immediately when a completed survey
is returned or
after a delay and upon compiling responses from multiple surveys. Furthermore,
certain
types of responses may be reported to the designated directors 36 right away
irrespective of
the directors' set preferences. After receiving the responses, the designated
directors 36 may
address the concerns of the patient 4, as represented by the communication
link 34.
Typically, although not always, the on-duty staff 30 may have a higher
priority over the
designated directors 36 in addressing the concerns of the patient 4.
[0033] In addition to addressing the concerns of the patient 4, the survey
may also be
utilized to prepare various reports and conduct a detailed reporting 40 of the
responses.
Specifically and as indicated by communication link 42, detailed reports
containing
departmental demographics, assessment results, and staff performance may be
generated.
The various reports may be generated daily, weekly, monthly or as desired.
Staff
performance or individual provider reports may include metrics related to
productivity,
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satisfaction and utilization. For example, at least some of the detailed staff
reporting may
include information on one or more of the following: (a) average number of
patients seen per
hour; (b) average workload per hour (based on patient acuity and disposition);
(c) percentage
of satisfied and dissatisfied patients; and (d) relative satisfaction on a
percentile basis relative
to the same provider in the past, other providers in same department, and with
other clients.
It will be understood that the list above is non-exhaustive and may include
reports on several
other parameters that may be deemed useful for either a specific group of care
providers or as
requested by an individual care provider. Relatedly, departmental reports may
include results
such as average time a discharged versus admitted patient spends in a specific
department.
[0034] Various other types of reports may be prepared and other information
may be
collected from the survey responses in order to improve customer satisfaction,
improve the
medical facility 6, as well as evaluate the efficiency and productivity of the
care providers.
Responses from multiple surveys from various patients may be gathered to
compile the
detailed reports 40.
Industrial Applicability
[0035] Thus, the present disclosure sets forth a callback system that may
be utilized to
contact patients discharged from a medical facility after receiving a
treatment. After being
discharged, the patients may be sent a survey to complete. The patients may
have the option
to complete the survey independently (self- assessment) or with help from a
callback clerk
(callback). Based upon the patient's responses, various actions may be taken
by the medical
facility. For example, any medical concerns may be addressed immediately or
quickly by an
on-duty staff. Other types of concerns relating to the medical facility and/or
the care
providers may be parsed and compiled in the form of various reports.
Designated directors
may also be informed of concerns regarding their respective fields.
[0036] Turning now to FIG. 3, a flowchart 44 outlining the steps in
contacting the patient
4 and completing the survey is shown, in accordance with at least some
embodiments of the
present disclosure. After starting at a step 46, a patient profile is created
at a step 48. As
discussed above, a patient profile may be created when the patient 4 checks in
to the medical
facility 6 for treatment. If the patient 4 has been to that specific medical
facility 6 before, a
patient profile for that patient may already exist. In that case, the patient
profile may be
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updated to account for any new information. As also discussed above, the
patient profile may
include patient's name, age, gender, mailing and/or e-mail address, phone
numbers,
emergency contact, treatment received and/or recommended, medication list,
immunizations
if applicable, other health information, associated identities of care
providers, any discharge
instructions, language preference, and other user preferences and privileges
such as how to
receive and complete the survey, etc. Other types of information that may be
useful in
rendering care to the patient 4 may be present within the patient profile. In
at least some
embodiments, the patient profile may also be referred to as a client profile.
The patient
profile may be uploaded to the server 8.
[0037] Next, at a step 50, a survey may be created for the patient 4.
Typically, the survey
may be created upon the patient's discharge from the medical facility 6,
although the survey
may be created simultaneously with the patient profile or at any point after
that. The survey
may be specifically tailored to the needs of the patient 4, as well as may
include questions for
improving the patient's experience at the medical facility 6 and for
evaluating the care
providers. Specifically and as discussed above, the survey may include problem-
specific
question sets for the patient 4. These question sets may include critical
questions that
indicate that the patient is at high risk for re-admission. When the risk
exceeds built-in
thresholds, a trigger notification may occur according to the preferences of
the medical
facility 6.
[0038] The survey may be linked to the patient 4 and may also be uploaded
to the server 8.
In addition, a unique link may be generated by the server 8 for the survey.
After uploading
the survey to the server 8 and creating the unique link, the survey may be
sent to the patient 4
at a step 52. As discussed above, the link may be sent to the patient 4 via
one or more
methods specified by the patient in his/her patient profile. For example, the
link may be sent
via a text message, an e-mail, a hard copy or the patient may choose to
complete the survey
with the help of a callback clerk.
[0039] In at least some embodiments, the patient 4 may first receive the
link to the survey
for completion via self-assessment and then, if the patient does not respond
back within a
specific time period, the call back clerk 20 may call the patient for
completing the survey. In
at least some other embodiments, the patient 4 may choose to receive the call
from the
callback clerk 20 first to complete the survey via callback. When the patient
4 completes the
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survey via the callback clerk 20, the callback clerk may recommend any
immediate actions
(such as going to the emergency department, administering certain medications,
etc.) based
upon the patient's medical condition. The callback clerk 20 may also escalate
the patient's
medical condition to the on-duty staff 30.
[0040] Furthermore, the callback clerk 20 (as well as other staff members
of the medical
facility), upon recording patient answers/suggesting actions, may have an
option of raising
various flags. For each issue, the callback clerk 20 may raise one of three
types of flags:
"none," which is a default flag indicating no further action is to be taken,
"open," which
indicates an open issue that needs to be addressed, either by the on-duty
staff 30, by the
designated directors 36 or by some other entity within the medical facility 6
and "closed,"
which indicates that an open issue has been resolved and that the flag has
been changed from
"open" to "closed." Each flag (and particularly, the "open" and "closed"
flags) may have
associated with it a description box in which the callback clerk 20 may
describe the issue to
be addressed (for the "open" flag) or how the issue was addressed (for the
"closed" flag).
The description within the box of the "open" flag may be updated periodically
until the flag is
"closed." Additionally, the flags may be searchable to, for example, find all
"open" flags, to
determine which issues are outstanding. When the patient 4 completes the
survey by self-
assessment, the on-duty staff 30 may raise the above described flags for
further action.
Insofar as the flags assist the callback clerk 20 to keep track of any "open"
or "closed" issues,
the flags may also be termed as "issues trackers." These issue trackers help
with unusual
occurrences and assist the callback clerk 20 (and other staff) in keeping
track of issue
progress and resolution.
[0041] Whether the survey is completed by self-assessment or by callback
can be specified
by the patient 4 as part of the patient profile or at the time of discharge.
At the time of
discharge, the patient 4 may be placed on a callback queue. When the patient 4
successfully
completes the survey either by self-assessment or by callback, the patient may
be removed
from the callback queue. The patient 4 may also opt out of any future or
follow-up surveys
from the medical facility 6. In at least some embodiments, the patient 4 may
even opt out
from the first survey that is received by the patient after discharge.
Reminders may be sent
(via text, e-mail or hard copies) to the patient 4 for completing the survey
(unless the patient
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has opted out of the survey). In at least some embodiments, the reminder may
be sent to the
patient 4 in the form of a call from the callback clerk 20.
[0042] After completing and returning the survey at a step 54, the
responses of the survey
may be evaluated to determine if any immediate or quick follow-up actions are
needed at a
step 56. For example and as discussed above, if the patient 4 indicates that
his/her health
condition has been deteriorating since discharge from the medical facility 6,
the on-duty staff
30 may be notified at a step 58. The on-duty staff 30 may address the
patient's concern(s) in
one or more of several ways such as, but not limited to, by calling the
patient, faxing, e-
mailing or texting additional instructions to the patient, simultaneously
notifying the
associated care provider in addition to contacting the patient, etc.
Additionally, at the step
58, responses of the patient 4 related to specific care providers and the
medical facility itself
may be conveyed to the respective designated directors 36, as discussed above.
[0043] If no immediate or quick follow-up actions are required, then at a
step 60,
responses of the survey may be compiled into one or more new or pre-existing
reports.
Similarly, after the on-duty staff 30 address the concern(s) of the patient 4,
the patient profile
may be updated to include the follow-up actions, as well as the responses may
be captured in
the reports at the step 60. The process then ends at a step 62.
[0044] Thus, the callback system provides an innovative communication
system that
various medical facilities can utilize in pertinent service areas to
facilitate patient contact
after a discharge from the medical facility and/or after an emergency
department
visit/outpatient procedure. A sequential and blended approach (by both
messaging and
telephone) minimizes the cost per contacted individual. Performance metrics
generated for
each care provider with ample granularity provide meaningful monthly
comparisons.
Comments of praise and criticism facilitate self-improvement. Internal
benchmarking and
goal setting result in a workforce motivated to improve patient experience.
External
benchmarking improves a client's (e.g., the medical facility 6) ability to
compete for patient
loyalty.
[0045] In addition, contacting the patient after discharge heightens
patient experience and
helps uncover and swiftly address any lingering patient concerns. Proactive
patient
engagement facilitates communication between patients and healthcare providers
and avoids
re-admission into the facility because of deteriorating medical conditions.
Such patient
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communication after a transition of care (hospital to home, emergency
department to home,
or outpatient procedure to home) also improves patient safety and mitigates
medical-legal
risk for clients.
[0046] It will also be understood that while the disclosure above has been
explained with
respect to a medical facility, the teachings of the disclosure are equally
applicable (with
apparent modifications) to other application areas, such as, for marketing
purposes, etc.
[0047] While only certain embodiments have been set forth, alternatives and
modifications
will be apparent from the above description to those skilled in the art. These
and other
alternatives are considered equivalents and within the spirit and scope of
this disclosure and
the appended claims.
