NYC Health + Hospitals today announced the expansion of its text message appointment reminder platform for patients from Harlem to Hollis. Live at NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island since July 2019, the new platform offered to patients in adult and pediatric primary care practices is now live at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, Queens, Woodhull and NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Gouverneur. It is offered in the public health system’s 14 most common languages spoken by the patient population, including Spanish, Urdu, and Mandarin. Since the past summer, text-message appointment reminders reduced missed appointment by 6.1 percent, helping to make appointment scheduling more efficient. This reduction represents approximately 1,207 appointments. Prior to using the text messaging platform patients would receive an automated voice recording to confirm their appointments. The new platform offers scheduling flexibility by allowing patients to directly connect to the call center for help rescheduling, expanded language options, and improved communication between patients and providers. Text message appointment reminders will be system-wide by the end of 2020 and will include other specialty areas.
“At NYC Health + Hospitals, we’re committed to meeting patients where they are and this includes utilizing all forms of communications to reach them during their busy days,” said Kaushal Challa, Chief Operating Officer of Ambulatory Care at NYC Health + Hospitals. “We understand that New Yorkers live hectic, unpredictable lives and providing patients the ease of canceling and rescheduling appointments is helping the City’s public health system take care of more people at their convenience.”
“This new era of health demands a different approach, one where providers must digitize the care delivery process to meet patient expectations and automate for efficiency at scale,” said Robbie Hughes, Lumeon Founder and CEO. “NYC Health + Hospitals is exemplifying this shift and setting the pace for large healthcare providers looking to improve outcomes, patient experience and efficiency across their enterprise. It’s exciting to support innovative healthcare systems make this much-needed transformation.”
Patients are automatically signed up for text message appointment reminders when they join the public health system and have the ability to opt-out of reminders, customize their communication preferences, or re-activate reminders at any time. Patients in adult and pediatric primary care are sent a reminder three days before the scheduled appointment and again the day before, if they choose to keep the appointment. Text messages ask the patient to either confirm, cancel, or ask for additional help. If a patient chooses to cancel, they are prompted to call a customer service line to reschedule their visit. In addition to primary care appointment reminders, patients are given a reminder for scheduled nutrition, nursing, and financial counseling appointments, which are often made in tandem with a primary care visit at NYC Health + Hospitals.
Powered by its Care Pathway Management (CPM) platform, Lumeon’s automated patient communication program allows patients to personalize how they communicate with their provider, ensuring that their appointment schedule is seamlessly communicated to them via SMS. If a patient doesn’t want to receive text messages, the system can also provide reminder phone calls using interactive voice response technology or reminder emails.
Since its launch in July, over 95,000 reminders have been sent. Patients have responded to 24 percent of reminder messages and responses include confirmations, cancellations, and requests for help or to reschedule. Fifty-three percent of reminders were sent in a language other than English.
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 42,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NYCHealthSystem or Twitter at @NYCHealthSystem.
Lumeon provides Care Pathway Management (CPM) solutions for healthcare organizations. Its industry-leading automation platform combines evidence-based pathways with deep operational expertise to deliver better care at a lower cost. A patient-first approach to pathway design, orchestration and automation ensure healthcare provider resources are optimized to deliver superior outcomes at less cost, achieving the goals of new reimbursement models. Progressive health systems in the USA and Europe have deployed Lumeon’s multi-award winning platform across more than 70 clients. For more information, visit www.lumeon.com.
Visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org
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