METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING CALL YIELDS WHEN CONTACTING PATIENTS WHO ARE DUE FOR A VISIT BUT DO NOT HAVE A SCHEDULED APPOINTMENT

• US 20090161846A1
• Filed: 12/22/2007
• Published: 06/25/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brevium Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Brevium Incorporated
• Inventors: PERRIN, BRIAN WILLIAM, GERLACH, BRETT CORNELL
• Granted Patent: US 8,208,619 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/93.250
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring

Abstract

A method and apparatus for improving call yields and reducing redundant calls while contacting patients who have not responded to reminders to schedule a return appointment, or who are due for a visit according to accepted standards of care or office policies, but have not scheduled an appointment. The patient reactivation system is queried for the next patient on the contact list, and queried again to find all patients sharing one or more phone numbers with this patient. Information required for contacting these patients to invite them to make an appointment is displayed. The user is presented one phone number at a time, and prompted to call this number and invite all listed patients to make an appointment. Results are collected, and when multiple patients are displayed, the program may prompt the user for clarification regarding which patients a given result applies to. Based on the results collected, the system determines whether or not to prompt the user to call the same patients again with other phone numbers, if available. Finally, the system analyzes the set of results collected in order to calculate follow-up call times for each patient. The system may keep separate follow-up call times for each phone number as well in order to further improve the patient experience.

Claims

1. A method for improving call yields and reducing redundant calls in a computer-implemented patient reactivation system used to call patients who have not scheduled an appointment to receive a needed health care service and to invite them to schedule an appointment, comprising:

a) selecting a primary patient name from a contact list, the contact list including names of patients who have not scheduled an appointment to receive a needed health care service;

b) automatically determining by the patient reactivation system user computer the names of one or more secondary patients from the contact list who reside in the same household as the primary patient, the primary patient and the secondary patients forming a call set;

c) prompting by way of the patient reactivation system user computer interface the user to call the patients in the call set at the first telephone number associated with the call set; and

d) recording call results in a patient reactivation system database for the patients in the call set.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein recording call results for the patients in the call set includes recording results for the primary patient and at least one of the secondary patients.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining a follow-up time for individual patients and determining a follow-up time for individual phone numbers.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein recording call results for the patients in the call set includes recording individual call results for the members of the call set.

5. The method according to claim 2 in which recording individual call results for the members of the call set includes selecting from a computer screen a call result and selecting which of the patients in the call set the selected call result applies to.

6. The method according to claim 2 in which some selected call results are automatically applied to all patients in a call set and in which some selected call result are automatically applied to the primary patient.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein recording call results for each of the patients in the call set includes automatically calculating a follow-up time for the patients in the call set.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein recording call results includes automatically calculating a follow-up time for the phone number associated with the results.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein automatically determining the names of one or more secondary patients from the contact list comprises determining the names of secondary patients sharing a telephone number with the primary patient.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein automatically determining the names of one or more secondary patients from the contact list comprises using family relationship information from the management system to determine the names of one or more secondary patients who belong to the same family as the primary patient.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising using a computer-telephone interface to auto-dial the first phone number.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

presenting to a user by way of the patient reactivation system user computer interface a second telephone number associated with the call set; and

recording in the patient reactivation system database second call results for each of the patients in the call set for whom final call results were not previously recorded.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising automatically calculating by the patient reactivation system computer a follow-up time associated with the first and second telephone numbers.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein recording call results for each of the patients in the call set includes recording a new phone number when the call results indicate that the current number is not valid.

15. The method according to claim 1, further comprising performing a last minute verification that the first patient should be contacted before prompting the user to contact the patient.

16. A method for improving call yields and reducing redundant calls in a computer-implemented patient reactivation system used to call patients who have not scheduled an appointment to receive a needed health care service and to invite them to schedule an appointment, comprising:

a) selecting a primary patient name from a contact list maintained in a patient reactivation system database, the contact list including names of patients who have not scheduled an appointment to receive a needed health care service;

b) automatically presenting to a user by way of a patient reactivation system computer user interface a first telephone number for contacting the primary patient;

c) calling the first telephone number to attempt to contact the primary patient;

d) if the attempt to contact the primary patient using the first telephone number is unsuccessful, automatically presenting to the user a second telephone number;

e) calling the second telephone number to attempt to contact the primary patient; and

f) entering by way of a patient reactivation system computer user interface the results of the attempt to contact the patient into the patient reactivation system database.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising determining a first call back time associated with the first telephone number and a second call back time associated with the second telephone number.

18. The method of claim 16 further comprising determining secondary patients that are associated with the first telephone number and attempting to contact the secondary patients at the first or second telephone number.

19. A patient reactivation system used to call patients who have not scheduled an appointment to receive a needed health care service, comprising a computer programmed to:

a) select a primary patient name from a contact list, the contact list including names of patients who have not scheduled an appointment to receive a needed health care service;

b) automatically determine the names of one or more secondary patients from the contact list who reside in the same household as the primary patient, the primary patient and the secondary patients forming a call set;

c) prompt the user to call the patients at the first telephone number associated with the call set; and

d) record call results for each of the patients in the call set.

20. A computer-readable media having thereon computer-readable instructions for:

a) selecting a primary patient name from a contact list, the contact list including names of patients who have not scheduled an appointment to receive a needed health care service;

b) automatically determining the names of one or more secondary patients from the contact list who reside in the same household as the primary patient, the primary patient and the secondary patients forming a call set;

c) prompting the user to call the patients at the first telephone number associated with the call set; and

d) recording call results for the patients in the call set.