Comparing Automated and Manual Outreach

CHALLENGE

Sentara Healthcare, a 12-hospital system based in the Mid-Atlantic, wanted to enhance the process of following up with patients post-discharge. They had a call center in place but wanted to make the follow-up process more efficient for the call center by empowering them to better identify, triage and resolve patient issues.

SOLUTION

The system set up an A/B test, measuring the effectiveness of manual calls versus CipherOutreach. For one group, call center staff followed up with patients manually. This manual follow up proved challenging because the nurses had limited knowledge of the patient’s status or needs. For the second test group, the staff deployed the CipherHealth hybrid model in which CipherOutreach sends an automated call to all eligible patients. On the call, if a patient indicates any issues on the call, the call center is alerted to follow up and resolve the issue quickly.

RESULTS

Due to the large volume and length of manual phone calls, only a fraction of patients received follow up from the nurses and no one was called more than once if they weren’t initially reached. In contrast, patients in the CipherHealth test group received multiple follow-up calls, and for those patients indicating a concern, the call center staff was prepared to call them back and resolve his or her concern quickly. With CipherOutreach, the call center could reach more patients more frequently, and efficiently triage any issues. As a result, patients first engaged by CipherHealth were 3.4x less likely to be readmitted within 30 days of discharge compared to those who received only manual follow-up calls.

Readmissions Results with Automated vs. Manual Follow Up

CLIENT: Sentara Healthcare, PROFILE: 12-Hospital System in VA, PRODUCT: Post-Discharge Follow Up, PROGRAM: Readmissions Reduction, DATE PERIOD: Jul 2013-Feb 2014