Health and Disease Management
Research has proven interactive voice response (IVR) to be an extremely effective tool for reaching out to patients dealing with chronic diseases to help them manage their symptoms, remain compliant with medications and even modify behaviors. TelASK has collaborated with leading health care practitioners to create best of breed IVR support systems to assist this patient population.
Acute Coronary Syndrome
Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) is a term used to cover any group of clinical symptoms compatible with chest pain due to insufficient blood supply to the heart muscle resulting from coronary heart disease. These life-threatening disorders are a major cause of emergency medical care and hospitalization, and a leading cause of death.
Patient Support : TelASK provides post-discharge support for ACS patients. Prior to discharge from hospital, patients agree to a series of automated interactive calls that track their progress for a period of one year. Patients are asked if there have been any significant changes to their health or their care since they left the hospital and about any symptoms they may be experiencing. If necessary, the patient will be triaged directly to a clinician for further intervention.
Metabolic Syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is a name for a group of risk factors that occur together and increase the risk of coronary artery disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Risk factors include; increased blood pressure, elevated insulin levels, excess body fat around the waist or abnormal cholesterol levels. Having just one of these conditions isn’t diagnosed as metabolic syndrome, but it does contribute to the risk of serious disease. If more than one of these conditions occur in combination, the risk is even greater.
Patient Support : TelASK is currently providing IVR system support for an initiative undertaken to provide education and motivation about lifestyle changes for women with Metabolic Syndrome. Participants will receive a series of automated, interactive calls designed to support them as they take on new fitness and dietary goals. The questions help determine if participants are meeting their goals. If the system detects that the participant is struggling, they will be referred to a counselor, dietician or fitness coach.
Congestive Heart Failure
Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a condition in which the heart’s function as a pump is inadequate to deliver oxygen rich blood to the body. It can be caused by diseases that weaken or cause stiffening of the heart muscle or that increase oxygen demanded by body tissue that is beyond the capability of the heart to deliver. CHF can affect many organs of the body like the kidneys, lungs, liver and intestines. It is a common and serious condition.
Patient Support : TelASK provides post-discharge support to CHF patients. Before going home, patients agree to receive a series of automated calls designed to monitor changes in their health as well as provide them with information that assists them to manage their heart failure conditions.
The data gathered from the calls provides clinicians with the ability to closely monitor the progress of a large volume of patients at the same time. The system will also flag any responses that indicate the patient may need one-on-one intervention by the clinician.
Undiagnosed Diabetes
Many people have diabetes but don’t know it. Symptoms of diabetes are not always detected right away. The time between the onset of type 2 diabetes and diagnosis can be as long as 10 years ~ sometimes longer. This delay in diagnosis can result in the development of extremely serious complications such as cardiovascular disease, renal disease and diabetic retinopathy. Sometimes a person doesn’t realize they have diabetes until symptoms of the other diseases appear, and they go to see their doctor. Not only does this delay cost the patient crucial treatment time, it means additional, escalating costs once people enter the health care system.
Patient Support : TelASK provides support to patients discharged from hospital with undiagnosed diabetes. A series of automated, interactive calls follow those at risk for developing diabetes and reminds them about the importance of monitoring their blood sugar levels. The calls also provide information about diabetes prevention, complications and the importance of following up with their primary care provider. If the system detects someone is struggling, it will flag the call for follow-up from a clinician. In the case of a confirmed diabetes diagnosis, the system continues to monitor the patient and if necessary will refer them to a diabetes education program in their area for further follow-up.
Medication Compliance
Research shows that the transition from hospital discharge to home is a high risk period for medication noncompliance. This occurs for many reasons including the fact that while in hospital, patients are not always ready to learn about their post discharge care because they are stressed and/or confused. Once they get home, they may have questions about symptoms or side effects and they don’t always know what to do or who to call when this happens. It can often be many weeks before patients can see their primary care provider for follow-up. Medication noncompliance is a serious matter and has been linked to problems that require return emergency visits and even re-hospitalization.
Patient support: TelASK has participated in randomized control studies that address the issue of medication non-compliance and the measures that can be implemented to improve patient compliance, especially in the crucial early days after hospital discharge. Results show that reminder calls to patients regarding the maintenance of their medication schedule can make a significant and positive difference in compliance outcomes as well as contribute to a decrease in reported adverse events that can be associated with non-compliance.
Cardiac Surgery Patient Support Program
In this program, TelASK initiates interactive, automated telephone calls to cardiac surgery patients following discharge from the hospital. The system poses a series of questions designed to detect minor problems as well as more serious issues. When a minor problem is reported, the system relays pertinent information to the patient about the next steps they should take. For more serious problems, TelASK flags the patient for a callback from a clinician.