The Problem: Managing 7,000 Urgent Calls Across a Large Health System

A large health system was using a traditional medical answering service, creating significant communication challenges.

• Patient calls needed to be routed across 1,100+ physicians and providers
• Patients experienced long hold times
• Calls were frequently missed or mishandled by the call center operators
• Physicians and providers did not always receive the right calls in a timely manner
• Multiple disconnected processes created inefficiencies

With such high call volumes, the health system needed a more reliable and scalable call management solution to improve patient care and operational efficiency.

The Solution: One Centralized, Automated Patient Communication Solution

The health system implemented Clarus to consolidate multiple call management processes into a single, centralized platform.

Key capabilities included:

• Scalable workflows designed for high call volumes
• Automated call routing to the appropriate provider
• Centralized management of urgent patient calls through one cloud-based dashboard
• Real-time visibility into patient call activity including recordings and transcriptions

With Clarus, the health system streamlined management of more than 7,000 urgent patient calls per day, reduced missed and mishandled calls, and improved patient access to timely care.

In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, staff shortages can pose significant challenges to maintaining seamless patient care. Whether due to unexpected absences, increased demand, or other factors, healthcare providers must be equipped with strategies to navigate these shortages effectively. Here are some approaches to ensure uninterrupted and high-quality patient care in the face of staff shortages.

1. Utilizing Technology to Enhance Efficiency:

Leveraging technology can significantly improve operational efficiency during staff shortages. Implementing advanced scheduling systems, telemedicine solutions, and automation tools can streamline processes, reducing the burden on the existing workforce. Virtual care options enable healthcare providers to reach patients remotely, alleviating the strain on in-person staffing and improving accessibility to medical services.

2. Prioritizing Patient-Centric Approaches:

During staff shortages, prioritizing patient needs becomes paramount. Healthcare providers should focus on core patient care functions, optimizing workflows to maintain the highest standard of service. Clear communication with patients about potential delays or changes in procedures is crucial to manage expectations and maintain trust.

3. Flexible Staffing Models:

Exploring flexible staffing models can help bridge the gap during shortages. Utilizing locum tenens professionals or agency staff provides a quick and temporary solution to ensure that patient care remains consistent. Additionally, implementing flexible work schedules and remote work options can contribute to better staff retention and satisfaction.

4. Collaborative Team Approach:

Encouraging a collaborative team approach fosters a sense of unity among healthcare staff. During shortages, teamwork becomes even more critical. Implementing effective communication channels and fostering a supportive work culture enables staff members to collaborate seamlessly, ensuring that patient care is not compromised.

In conclusion, navigating staff shortages in healthcare requires a multifaceted approach that combines strategic planning, technology integration, and a patient-centric focus. By implementing these strategies, healthcare organizations can maintain the highest standards of patient care, even in challenging staffing situations.

2024 Healthcare Trends 

As we step into 2024, the healthcare landscape is undergoing substantial transformations driven by technological advancements and the evolving needs of patients. Innovations in communication technology are playing a vital role in reshaping patient experience and overall healthcare delivery in the coming year. Let’s explore the key trends that you will see in 2024.  

Patient-Centric Care 

The healthcare industry is shifting towards a more patient-centric model, emphasizing proactive and preventive care. Advanced technologies are enhancing patient engagement by minimizing wait times, providing accurate AI-transcriptions of patient messages, and facilitating seamless communication with staff and providers for both urgent and non-urgent needs. Proactive communication strategies foster stronger patient-provider relationships. 

Artificial Intelligence 

Revolutionizing healthcare, artificial intelligence (AI) streamlines processes, improves accuracy, and enhances operational efficiency. Cutting-edge call management systems utilize AI to transcribe patient messages, giving healthcare providers the option to either listen or read messages, with a focus on prioritizing urgent matters. This not only alleviates the burden on healthcare staff but also ensures prompt addressing of critical issues. AI is being activated in a wide range of areas to help prevent provider burnout and improve patient experience. 

Data-Driven Decision Making 

Healthcare providers are increasingly leveraging data analytics for informed decision-making. Integration of analytics tools, without specifying the provider, allows administrators to gain valuable insights into call volumes, patient inquiries, and overall communication patterns. This data-driven approach enables continuous improvement in service delivery and optimal resource allocation. 

Looking ahead to 2024, it is evident that technology will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping how healthcare practices handle patient communication. Cutting-edge call management systems emerge as key players, aligning with industry trends such as patient engagement, AI transcriptions, and data-driven decision-making. By embracing these advancements, healthcare practices are well-equipped to navigate the dynamic changes in the industry, delivering more efficient and patient-centric care in the years ahead. 

Winter is Coming: Successfully Manage Call Demand with Clarus

Cold and flu season is an annual battle that healthcare practices around the world must face head-on. As temperatures drop and sniffles become more common, the demand for medical care skyrockets. This surge in patient calls and visits presents numerous challenges for healthcare practices, from overwhelmed office staff to patient frustration. Fortunately, innovative solutions like Clarus can play a vital role in supporting both staff and patients during this time.

The cold and flu season brings a wave of patients seeking treatment, advice, and reassurance. Healthcare practices are overflowing with appointment requests, prescription refills and inquiries about symptoms. This sudden surge of calls can overwhelm front office staff, causing delays in patient care and diminishing overall satisfaction. Additionally, ensuring accurate and timely information to patients is crucial during this period to prevent the spread of illnesses.

How Clarus Can Help

Clarus is a valuable solution during the cold and flu season. Here’s how it can address the challenges healthcare practices face during this time:

1. Efficient Call Handling: Clarus offers intelligent call routing and management features ensuring that incoming calls are directed to the right person promptly. This reduces hold times and alleviates staff stress.
2. Appointment Scheduling: Our platform integrates seamlessly allowing office staff to schedule appointments for patients reducing phone traffic.
3. After-Hours Support: Cold and flu symptoms can occur at any time including outside of regular office hours. Clarus can provide after-hours support to address patient concerns and schedule appointments for the next business day.
4. Efficient Documentation: Clarus can help streamline the documentation process by recording patient information and symptoms accurately, which can be later integrated into your EHR to maintain a comprehensive patient history.
5. Analytics and Reporting: Clarus can provide valuable data and insights on call volume, patient inquires, and appointment trends during cold and flu season. This data can be used for future planning and resource allocation.

The challenges that healthcare practices face during cold and flu season are undeniable. However, with the right tools and strategies in place, such as Clarus, practices can enhance their efficiency, provide better patient care, and support their staff. By embracing innovative solutions like Clarus, healthcare practices can weather the storm of cold and flu season with confidence ensuring that patients receive the care and information they need.

30% of malpractice claims are related to miscommunication according to CRICO Strategies. Specifically the study cites, lack of documentation is an overwhelming reason for miscommunication in healthcare.

While there are many solutions in place to prevent lacking documentation, the issue still persists — specifically after-hours. Most after-hours solutions to patient care fail to document calls accurately and to the specifications of insurance providers causing these malpractice claims to exist.

Download the white paper to discover:

• Vulnerabilities of practices causing malpractice claims as it relates to after-hours care
• Requirements for documentation by insurance companies
• Tactics to minimize your practice’s risk for malpractice suits

The Problem: Manual Call Routing Created Delays and Errors

Managing after-hours patient and provider calls with a traditional answering service created several challenges for Virginia Heart.

• Calls were frequently routed to the wrong provider
• Complex physician call schedules were difficult to manage
• Office staff and providers had to manually correct routing errors
• Delays in communication impacted response times for urgent needs
• Administrative burden increased for both providers and staff

These call routing challenges and errors made it increasingly difficult to provide timely patient care and maintain strong hospital relationships.

The Solution: Automated Call Routing for After-Hours Patient Calls

Virginia Heart implemented Clarus to automate after-hours call routing and eliminate the errors associated with traditional answering services.

Key capabilities included:

• Automated call routing based on provider schedules
• Support for multiple physician on-call schedules
• Accurate routing of urgent patient and hospital calls without staff intervention
• Reduced administrative burden for providers and staff with the easy-to-use mobile app
• Faster response times for after-hours needs

The result was a more reliable after-hours communication process that eliminated call routing errors, improved patient satisfaction, and reduced stress on providers and office staff.

The Problem: Manual On-Call Scheduling Led to Call Routing Errors

Managing after-hours patient calls with a traditional answering service created several challenges for Jordan-Young Institute, a specialized orthopedic practice:

• Physicians received calls when they were not on call
• Non-urgent patient calls were routed to providers after-hours unnecessarily
• Paper schedules were difficult time consuming to update
• Human error frequently caused call routing mistakes
• Staff lacked visibility into after-hours communications

As the practice grew, these manual processes became increasingly difficult to manage for the Jordan-Young Institute team.

The Solution: Automated After-Hours Call Routing and Physician On-Call Scheduling

Jordan-Young Institute implemented Clarus’s call management and patient communication software to automate after-hours call routing and eliminate manual scheduling challenges.

Key capabilities included:

• Automated physician call routing
• Real-time on-call schedule updates
• Mobile application access for providers
• Self-service scheduling for office staff
• Call tracking and documentation

The result was a more efficient and reliable after-hours communication process for their physicians and staff.

In the world of healthcare, efficient communication can be the deciding factor between a thriving practice and one struggling to keep up. This is where Clarus Call Management steps in, offering a transformative solution that has streamlined the way healthcare providers take patient calls. As we dive into the world of Clarus, let’s explore the services we provide, the challenges we address, and the reasons why Clarus has become the fastest growing technology platform for healthcare practices nationwide.

More than just a call management system, Clarus offers a comprehensive software platform designed to streamline and optimize the complexity of patient communication within healthcare settings. It is a daytime and after-hours solution that tackles the unique challenges faced by medical practices, hospitals, and healthcare providers.

Clarus Call Management offers a suite of services that revolutionize the way healthcare organizations operate:

1. Smart Call Routing: We ensure that incoming calls are directed to the right staff or department, reducing patient wait times and enhancing the patient experience.
2. Appointment Scheduling: Our platform simplifies the scheduling process, allowing patients to book appointments with ease while helping practices manage their calendars efficiently.
3. Real-time Analytics: With Clarus, you gain insight into call performance and patient communication patterns, enabling data-driven decisions.
4. Secure Messaging: We prioritize patient data security, offering secure messaging tools that facilitate confidential communication while ensuring compliance with HIPAA.

Clarus Call Management serves a diverse range of healthcare providers and staff including medical practices, health systems, clinics, and hospitals. Our focus group is to targeting Independent, Health Systems and MSO’s. Before discovering Clarus, these healthcare providers faced a multitude of challenges, including rising costs, unsatisfied patients, and administrative burdens. Multiple systems, high expenses and outdated processes were common issues these organizations were facing.

Our platform unifies and simplifies the complex web of patient communication, reduces administrative workloads, and enhances the patient experience. With Clarus, healthcare providers can focus on what truly matters, delivering high quality care, all while improving operational efficiency.

As providers and office staff continue to use this solution, the future of healthcare communication looks brighter than ever. Patients receive the care they deserve, and healthcare staff can focus on what truly matters – their patients well-being. With Clarus Call Management, the healthcare industry is taking a step forward in delivering efficient, patient-centered care.

Implementing Technology to Make Healthcare Jobs Better in 2023

As we wrap up the year reflecting on the last twelve months and looking to 2023, the healthcare industry has once again experienced new challenges and is continuing to adapt. In 2022, medical practices were tested to keep up with the growing demands of their patient populations with decreased access to staff.

The shortage of healthcare employees has been covered widely since the COVID19 pandemic. In 2023, we know this problem isn’t going away, but we also know there are ways for practices to become more attractive to prospective employees and optimize processes to eliminate need for new hires.

Technology provides medical practices with streamlined processes and optimized workflows. By choosing technology-based solutions, you eliminate manual tasks for your team and help their jobs run smoothly. Removing unnecessary steps in recurring responsibilities, your team can focus on what is most important and job satisfaction increases. Think of this as an investment to give workers time back.

Some areas we hear about frequently where technology can make a difference include data entry and overwhelmingly high volumes of patient calls. Possible integrations between systems to remove double data entry can help staff save time. Or removing the need to answer calls about billing, medical records, or prescription refills by automatically routing those calls to the right department without your front desk staff having to answer can save staff up to 3 hours per day – like Clarus’ Daytime solution.

Outsourcing is not an unfamiliar practice, but the ability to do so to a technology platform is more cost effective and offers more opportunities for improvement than the traditional contractor or third-party vendor relationship. Technology continues to improve and expand, and it can help your practice do the same.