Varolii is taking its patient engagement platform into the mobile market, with the launch of a smartphone app designed to enable healthcare providers to deliver specific information to their patients.
Dave McCann, CEO of the Seattle-based company, said Varolii built its customer interaction platform on voice, e-mail and text messages, and didn't want to take on mobile apps until they became more interactive. He said the new My Health Alerts app combines with Varolii's software development kit and its Interact platform to integrate several methods of communication.
The app enables providers to use integrated voice, text and e-mail channels, as well as smartphone push notifications and web app channels, to send and receive personalized messages from patients. This enables providers to push across appointment reminders and other information on clinical quality measures, and can tie into access to electronic health records.
“Our experience and primary research around healthcare customer interaction management have led us to the conclusion that if a large outpatient clinic operation has 1 million patients, smartphone applications will appeal to about 14 percent of that population,” he said in a press release announce the launch of the new app. “However, the app has to be orchestrated with other patient engagement channels like voice, e-mail and text messages. Standalone mobile apps – what we call first-generation apps – are not the answer because they don’t include push notifications or integration with these other channels. This is critical to driving successful adoption and use of a mobile app. Our third-generation mobile app integrates both of these pieces, making it a great choice for providers looking to build or improve a mobile app.”
“In a smartphone-majority world, consumers want more information when it suits them and via the channel they prefer – and a growing number prefer a mobile app to complement e-mail, texting and voice interactions," McCann added. "With Varolii’s My Health Alerts app, healthcare providers can deliver exactly that – instant self-service and proactive reminders to consumers in the way they want it on their smartphone."
Driving this move to mobile is a survey undertaken last year by Varolii. The survey, conducted in August among some 1,000 adults, indicated that consumers want to communicate on a regular basis with their doctors.
Half of those surveyed say a reminder – in the form of an e-mail, phone call, postcard, text message or smartphone app – could have helped them avoid a health problem in the past, and 45 percent would prefer an e-mail from their providers, but only 19 percent of providers currently use e-mail and even less use smartphone apps (4 percent) or text messages (7 percent).
Of those surveyed, 80 percent said a reminder from their doctor would be helpful in helping them maintain an ongoing treatment plan, and two-thirds say reminders would help them improve their health through diet or exercise. Of that number, 38 percent said they'd prefer e-mail, while 16 percent said text messages would be most helpful.
“This new era of pay-for-quality, local competition for market share and meaningful use has taken us well beyond annual check-ups and reactive patient relationships," said Vance Clipson, senior healthcare market manager at Varolii, in a press release. "Today, provider organizations need to be an active partner in a patient’s health and wellness. However, providers cannot scale to develop this kind of relationship on an individual basis. That’s where we come in. With Varolii, providers can leverage personalized, cross-channel interactions to engage with patients in a meaningful way across smartphone apps, voice, text and e-mail.”
