Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Another Medical Application of IVR

In an ongoing effort to use technology to improve medical care, many forms of IVR systems have been implemented in many stages of the treatment process. From simply finding an available physician to complex follow-up after a hospital stay, IVR systems are helping doctors provide better care for patients at decreased costs. Houston, TX based HealthHelp has found a way to further improve their management of radiology benefits to allow for twenty-four hour service through an IVR system.

HealthHelp manages a clinical database to assist physicians in choosing the best radiology solution for a particular diagnosis. Under the previous system, doctors were limited to using a call center and/or online form to interface with the service. The system was further limited by the fact that it was only staffed during certain hours of the day. Qwest recently developed an IVR system for HealthHelp that collects the pertinent insurance information, American Medical Association (AMA) codes and specific clinical queries that allow the automation to quickly process and approve the necessary medical tests. As a result, the correct medical test can be determined and conducted at any hour of the day thus allowing for more responsive medical care. A widespread development and adoption of this type of application could conceivably save many lives and health care dollars around the country and the world.

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