The hardest working part of the US healthcare system: Caregivers I come from family of doctors. Growing up, I always took it for granted that healthcare was convenient and easy. Whenever anyone in my family needed a medical appointment, all it took was a call from my father to a colleague and “bingo” there was an appointment on the books – usually for the next day. So when I returned to Nashville in 2008 to spend time with my grandmother as she was nearing the end of her life, I was shocked by how the healthcare system I once saw as easy and convenient had driven my mom to tears as she played the roll of primary caregiver to my grandmother. My mom, married to a doctor and with a sister and brother in law who are doctors, was left wallowing for answers and help on what to do for my grandmother. The healthcare system that was treating my grandmother was woefully falling short when it came to supporting and educating my mom on what she should be doing to help my grandmother. This week the NY Times ran an article on the “gaping hole” in the US healthcare industry: “Caregivers aren’t supported, and America overlooks their importance”. The article stated “Americans spend so much time debating so many aspects of health care, including insurance and access. Almost none of that covers the actual impossibility and hardship faced by the many millions of friends and family members who are caregivers. It’s hugely disrupting and expensive. There’s no system for it. It’s a gaping hole.” As I watched the tears of frustration stream down my mom’s face back in 2008, I made a promise to do what little part I could. At the time, my business partner and I were starting Dialog Health to enable two way texting as a way to remind, educate, and support patients on key things they needed to do relevant to their health. The day after I made the promise to help caregivers, we designed a caregiver communication option in the Dialog Health platform. To this day it is the feature in our system of which I am most proud. Let me end by saying that most of you reading this blog post are likely to be caregivers one day. If you know someone who is currently a caregiver, give them a hug and hand. Believe me, one day you will want both as well. At the very least, send them a text of encouragement - their phones will still get it even when they are in the “gaping hole".

An ASC in Dallas saw their online rating on YELP go from 1.5 stars to 3.5 stars in just 30 days by using the Dialog Health's two-way texting platform to follow up with patients after their appointment, the facility was able to have the patients rate their experience EXCELLENT, GOOD, AVERAGE or POOR. Those patients who responded EXCELLENT were automatically sent a text thanking them for their response and providing them a direct link to Yelp. Importantly, the facility was able to identify which patients were not satisfied with their visit and engage them with a phone call to address any issues. Your on-line reputation has never been more important...engaging with your patients via texting can help you discover how to improve patient satisfaction and consequently your on-line reputation.

After the sixth call from spammers I may have cursed at my phone. My last blog post shared CNN's article "Nearly half the calls we receive this year will be spam!" Unfortunately, I get to experience this every day. Most people I know do not answer "unknown caller" calls but in my position, I must answer all my calls...even the unknown. Which is catch-22 as answering my phone makes me get even more spam calls...even being on the "don't not call" list. My fury and disgust at these spammers is two-fold...first for taking advantage of people (there's a special place in hell for spammers) second, when people stop answering their phones they can miss very important information such as "Friendly reminder to NOT eat or drink after midnight tonight for your surgery tomorrow." That's a pretty important message. These spammers did me a favor today. They reminded me of the great work we are doing at Dialog Health...helping Healthcare get their important messages to their patients via Text (98% open rate). So, I am channeling all my fury at these spammers and continuing to get the word out about Two-way Texting. I’m fighting the good fight. Spammers be damned.

CNN covered the study by First Orion who referenced a Federal Communications Commission report February 2019. The Atlantic article "Why No One Answers Their Phone Anymore", May 2018, reports the increased amount of spam calls in our lives. In a recent presentation I talked about how Paul S Romer, the 2018 Nobel Prize winner in Economics, ignored two incoming phone calls from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to let him know he was the winner. He said, “I didn’t answer either, because I thought it was a spam call.” This is a great example of important calls getting unanswered. The trend is only going to get worse. What can you do? Try two-way texting. Text messaging is the most widely used and fastest growing channel of communication today. Dialog Health provides an easy-to-use two-way text messaging solution for today's world. #new #texting #twowaytexting #healthcarecommunication #employeecommunication

Interview with ASC Focus magazine. Reprinted with the permission from Ambulatory Surgery Center Association. Advantages of replacing voice mails with electronic, automated text messaging. Here is a summary of the article: Texting is a cost-effective, convenient and reliable communication channel that is preferred by patients, so it should be an essential part of an ASC's communication options. 1. Two-way texting is fast convenient and expected. 2. Two-way texting can decrease phone calls and increase response rates. 3. Texting can reduce no-shows and improve compliance. 4. Two-way texting can increase website and portal usage. 5. Texting can help patients engage with their PHI. Two-way texting drastically reduced our post-op calls. "We realized that most everyone that was coming into our facility had a mobile phone with them. So, we decided to ask the patient for their mobile number and to text them the day after their procedure to see if they needed a call from our nurse." Konnie Dao of Amsurg Corporation. The results were immediate and impressive with more than an 87 percent response rate. Download full article from About US section. #ASCA #DialogHealth #twowaytexting #ambulatorysurgeytextingsolution

Texting is the most widely used form of communication today. Knowing how to use texting in your communication mix is critical for the best ROI. Dialog Health's two-way texting platform has multiple best-practice texting solutions that get results. Here are just a few examples. • Reduce No-shows with Automated & Customizable Appointment Confirmation Texts • Improve Compliance with NPO Instruction Texts * Reduce Phone Calls with Post Appointment Follow-up Texts • Increase Portal Usage with Text including links to Portals and Websites • Decrease AR Balance with Payment Reminder Texts • Get 4 & 5 star Ratings with link to On-line Reviews • Reach Thousands in Minutes with Group / Mass Broadcast Text Messages • Improve Enrollment with Open Enrollment Text Messages and Links • Immediate Response with Direct / Live Text Messaging • Get Higher Response Rate to your Surveys with Survey Text Messages • Change Languages for your Audience with Customizable Text Messaging See other popular use cases and the results our clients are getting using Dialog Health's Two-way Texting Platform One platform with multiple solutions.

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