FRANKLIN, Tenn., June 8, 2020 -- Dialog Health, a two-way texting platform that enables information to be pushed to and pulled from patients, caregivers, and healthcare facility staff, announces the publication of a new case study. This success story highlights how its platform is helping Chicago-based Mobile Anesthesiologists achieve substantial improvements in several aspects of its operations, including patient engagement and staff workload, all while reducing costs. The Dialog Health platform was selected by Ambulatory Management Solutions (AMS), a national management services organization that supports outpatient anesthesia services. AMS then had Mobile Anesthesiologists deploy the platform in July 2020. Since deployment, Mobile Anesthesiologists is reaching 97% of patients via text messaging. The anesthesia provider has used two-way text messaging for extensive patient outreach activities in areas such as preadmission documentation, patient transportation, COVID-19 screenings, compliance reminders, and satisfaction surveys. The case study shares the impressive results Mobile Anesthesiologists achieved in its Chicago market over a five-month period in 2021. These include the following: 225% increase in completed pre-appointment documentation (i.e., patient history) via Mobile Anesthesiologists' web portal 76% of post-operative surveys completed via text messaging 99% improved Net Promoter Score® 66% of patient satisfaction surveys completed via text messaging 74% of COVID screenings completed via text messaging Thanks to texting with Dialog Health, Mobile Anesthesiologists has significantly strengthened patient engagement while greatly reducing the staff time and costs associated with patient outreach and communications. "With Dialog Health, we are engaging with and helping our patients through their whole journey," said Tina Mentz, chief operating officer of AMS. "We're meeting patients where they are; we're interacting with patients the way they're accustomed to, which is their mobile device; and we're communicating with patients in the method they increasingly prefer. Thanks to texting, we're seeing significant productivity gains by eliminating manual outreach efforts while delivering better service to our patients." Brandon Daniell, president and co-founder of Dialog Health, praised AMS and Mobile Anesthesiologists for how they are using texting. "Text messaging has the potential to transform the way organizations communicate and engage with patients, and we're seeing this firsthand with AMS and Mobile Anesthesiologists. They have effectively leveraged texting to improve outcomes and the patient experience while also contributing to enhanced staff productivity and satisfaction. We are pleased our platform is greatly helping these terrific professionals and their patients, and we look forward to exploring how texting can continue to support efforts to meet and exceed their goals." To access the AMS/Mobile Anesthesiologists case study, click here. Organizations interested in adding text messaging for patient communications should visit Dialog Health, email info@dialoghealth.com, or call (877) 666-1132. * * * About Dialog Health Dialog Health provides a two-way texting platform to organizations which they can leverage as a communication and engagement channel. Two-way texting is a convenient, fast, effective, and affordable communication resource for stakeholder engagement. For more information, visit dialoghealth.com, call (877) 666-1132, and follow Dialog Health on LinkedIn. About Ambulatory Management Solutions AMS provides turnkey anesthesia and administrative support services for in-office and ambulatory-based surgical procedures to physician practices across various specialties that are completing surgical procedures for lower-risk patients in an office setting. Our comprehensive, office-based surgical solution has helped to drive significant growth of outpatient surgery and ease the burden associated with outpatient surgery on independent physicians. AMS helped to create a safe, effective, and financially viable office-based anesthesia model that has been replicated throughout the country. We have been focused on value-based healthcare since we started and continue to evolve the outpatient anesthesia model and services we provide to meet the needs of this unique and ever-changing environment. For more information, please visit ams-md.com.

By Brandon Daniell, President and Co-Founder, Dialog Health In early May, I went on my latest patient journey: my first colonoscopy appointment. Having worked in healthcare for many years, I had a good idea of what to expect from the prep and procedure. If you have never had a colonoscopy, you will find the prep part of the patient journey more challenging than the procedure itself — and by challenging I mean uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. I'll spare you the lovely details. What are also challenging are the number of steps one must complete and the timing for many of those steps — timing for everything from picking up the prep kit, to moving through the prep, to getting dropped for the procedure. Any missed steps or timing mistakes leading up to the colonoscopy could require cancellation and rescheduling, or even missed polyps. With that said, one would hope for a procedure which was first performed in the late 1960s and is now performed million times a year, providers would have developed a highly effective mechanism for helping patients comply with the multitude of directions required for a safe, successful colonoscopy. After 11 years of working with clients to improve patient activation during the patient journey, and given we have many clients who perform colonoscopies, I am well versed at how text messaging — particularly two-way texting — is being used by providers to notify, educate, support, and guide patients along their journey while helping reduce the number of cancellations, no-shows, and no-goes. Unfortunately, this is not what I experienced, and what I experience made this uncomfortable journey much more difficult than it needed to be. My Overly Complicated Patient Journey On a positive note, the surgery center in Denver where I had my colonoscopy uses text messaging for communication with its patients. As the preferred communication mechanism for a growing number of patients, the ability to text has become must-have for any healthcare provider. But on a much less positive note, the ASC sent me a single text message across my entire journey. It was a basic appointment reminder that only provided the day and time of the appointment and asked for a response to confirm I would be attending — which I gave. And yet even after texting back my confirmation, for some reason the center's email system still insisted on sending me not one, not two, but three (!) email reminders … which I only found a week after my procedure. I also received two phone calls reminding me of the appointment — which I didn't answer since I did not recognize the number. I only learned that it was the ASC calling when I finally got around to listening to the messages left on my voicemail … after my procedure. I also received from the center a very detailed and complex list of instructions on a piece of paper summarizing all of the dos and don'ts for my procedure starting seven days before the procedure. These dos and don'ts covered foods to avoid, medicines to take, medicines to stop taking, what to drink, what not to drink, when to start the prep, how much to drink after the prep, when to drink the second prep, when to stop drinking all together, and much more. There were so many moving parts and precise times to do — or not do — things that I must have reviewed the paper 20 times. The last thing I wanted to do was to mess up the process and be forced to do it all again because my scheduled appointment would need to be rescheduled or to undergo a suboptimal colonoscopy that could miss something potentially life-threatening. Despite a lack of prompting, I was fortunate that I remembered to go to the pharmacy to get my prep kit. I have heard stories from patients who forgot to do so and realized they could not start the prep only when they went to start the prep. I believe this paper also mentioned I needed a driver to accompany me to the ASC. I cannot recall if I was told an arrival time. I was arriving early regardless because I wanted to get the whole process done without delay and didn't want to risk being late. I recall needing to look up the address of the facility myself. Without clear information on parking, this was going to require a "find-out-when-we-get-there" approach. I arrived at the facility with my wallet, which included my license (as my form of identification), insurance card, and a means of payment — all of which the ASC required but had not reminded me to bring. Since my father was accompanying me and he is a retired surgeon, he encouraged me to leave my watch, phone, and bracelet at home. He also advised me to wear shorts, T-shirt, and slip-on shoes (nothing that needed to be laced up) — all of which would help me get dressed and ready for discharge more easily as I came out of the anesthesia. Fortunately, my procedure went well, largely because I had not lost the paper with the prep instructions and double-and triple-checked them as I moved through the steps required for compliance. As I was being discharged, I was told I would get a call from a nurse the following day. What the ASC failed to mention was that the call would come early in the morning. Sure enough, I had a phone call from a number I did not recognize show up on my mobile phone at 7:15 am the next day. I did not answer it since: 1) Who calls at 7:15 am in the morning?!? and 2) I didn't recognize the number. I eventually listened to the voicemail … five hours later when I checked voicemails while eating lunch. Thus completed my nowhere-as-easy-as-it-could-have-been colonoscopy journey. In Appreciation of Text Messaging Looking back on my journey, I was reminded about the effectiveness and convenience of the two-way texts our clients send to and receive from patients. I wish I had received texts reminding me to pick up the prep at the pharmacy, reminding me to not eat anything with seeds or nuts starting three days before my appointment, and reminding when to stop drinking fluids. It would have been great to receive a text the day I needed to start the prep with a reminder to start it at 6:00 pm. The text could have included a link to an electronic version of the piece of paper I was using, which I assume many people lose. A text letting me know there were emails needing my attention would have been a plus. A text the night before that provided my arrival time, a link to a map to the facility, suggestions on where to park, and a reminder of what to bring and leave at home would have all been really helpful and better ensured I did what I needed to do — for me and the ASC. Going back to that phone call at 7:15 am the day after my surgery: If it had been a text asking me if I needed a call from the nurse, I would have read it and replied with a "No." I looked at my phone at 7:15 am and ignored the call, but the text message would have been read as soon as I saw I had a new text. As I write this a week following my procedure, I have not been asked to provide any feedback on my experience. If I had been asked, I would have said the staff were fantastic and I would happily recommend their facility to others — with a recommendation that they communicate more through texting. The ASC could have texted me and asked me to rate my experience and then followed up to my reply of "excellent" with a text thanking me and inviting me to leave a 5-star review on one or more of the review websites the center is using to help market itself to its community. Looking back on my whole experience, I cannot help but realize just how great the patient journey is at our clients' facilities. Communication in healthcare is so important, and two-way texting is such any easy way to activate, engage with, and guide the patient. When it comes to something like a colonoscopy, effective communication throughout the journey takes on even greater importance. With my background in healthcare, I knew how important it was to undergo the procedure and do whatever I needed to so I could keep my appointment and best ensure an optimal screening. But I worry about those patients who may struggle to follow and stay compliant with the complex prep directions and ultimately need their appointment canceled. Will they even want to reschedule it, especially if they are concerned about their ability to follow the directions to a T? Will they be able to take more time off for the prep and procedure, having already done so once without success? Can they arrange transportation again? One bad experience may be all it takes to deter someone from getting the "gold standard" for decreasing colon cancer risk. While the use of text messaging does not ensure compliance, it undoubtedly helps. I hope the ASC where I had my colonoscopy, and all others, look more closely at the ways two-way texting can improve the patient journey. We'd love Dialog Health to be the platform they use, but even if it's not, what matters is that texting becomes the communication mechanism relied upon for those patients who prefer it. And as we know, that's most patients these days. By using text messaging, providers will help their patients get the care they need, when they need it. Texting does a lot more for the organizations but improving patient care should be justification enough for adding it as a communication mechanism and exploring opportunities to leverage it.

Today's healthcare organizations use a variety of mechanisms to communicate with patients and their caregivers, facility staff, and vendor partners. It's commonplace to see organizations use a mix of older channels, such as mail and phone, and newer approaches, such as email, mobile app, and text message, in their efforts to reach and engage with these stakeholders. With multiple options, what should organizations rely upon the most? Let's examine each of these five channels and then evaluate them on three characteristics: initial setup cost, cost per outreach, and engagement effectiveness. Phone For years, phone was a highly reliable means of reaching an individual. Every phone call was either answered or answering message/voicemail listened to and usually followed up on. Organizations could expect that they would speak with the individual they needed to reach on the initial call or would eventually hear back from that person. Phone calling can still be an effective means of communication — assuming the person on the other end answers the call. But the number of people doing so is declining. Fast. As a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults found, eight-in-ten Americans don't generally answer their cellphone when an unknown number calls. A 2021 Hiya study found that 94% of Americans don't pick up the phone for unidentified callers due to rapid rise of robocalls. Meanwhile, voicemails may not be listened to for hours or days — or perhaps ever. There are many reasons why you should not leave a voicemail. These reasons have been contributing to the decline in voicemail. In fact, the fall of voicemail was already a topic of conversation back in 2013. Phone calling is also expensive — and becoming more expensive essentially by the day. Phone calls require what quickly adds up to significant staff time, especially for those outreach efforts that require multiple phone calls (and with no guarantee of success). Pair that staff time with the surge in labor costs for healthcare organizations and it's easy to see how phone calls are largely an inefficient and costly use of resources. While organizations still need the ability to make calls, especially to reach those individuals who may not want to communicate via any of the other channels discussed in this piece, it's clear that the less phone calls an organization needs to make, the better. Evaluation criteria Initial setup cost: It's fairly easy and not particularly expensive to set up staff to make phone calls. An organization needs a phone plan and the phones for staff to use. While not the cheapest communication channel, it's far from the costliest. Outreach cost: This is what should be motivating healthcare organizations to move away from the phone as much and as quickly as possible. There's the time it takes for staff to enter in an individual's phone number. The time it takes to wait for someone to answer. The time it takes to speak with an individual or the time it takes to leave a voicemail. When outreach requires multiple calls, which is more often the case these days, the time — and associated cost — surges. Engagement effectiveness: If someone answers the phone, calling becomes very effective. But that's a big if, and one that's growing bigger by the day. Mail Even when mail was a more common form of communication, it was never a great method of communication simply because of the time it took for a piece of mail to be assembled, sent, and then reach the intended recipient. That time has not decreased. In fact, we've only seen increases in the time it takes for a piece of mail to go from one location to another largely due to postal service staffing shortages and budget cuts. The increased prevalence of severe weather can add more time, as can the typical mix of factors that cause mail delays (e.g., traffic accidents, holidays). Another problem with mail: There's no assurance that a piece of mail will ever reach its intended recipient. Reasons why include that individual moving to mail being lost to an incorrect address captured in a database. The U.S. Postal Services reports that more than 4% of mail is undeliverable as addressed. This is mail that could not be delivered to the address on the mailpiece. Even if a letter reaches the recipient, there's no way to ensure they will read it. The correspondence could end up in the trash before its ever opened. Finally, the cost of mail has steadily increased over the years, with plans for additional increases in the near future — without a corresponding increase in the value of sending mail. Evaluation criteria Initial setup cost: Getting staff set up to send mail is fairly easy and it's inexpensive. That's the good news. Outreach cost: The bad news: The cost per outreach far outweighs any savings achieved via the low setup cost. There's the staff time required to produce and print the material that will be mailed, the time it takes to assemble the mail piece, and the cost of (rising) postage, envelopes, paper, and ink. This all adds up to a lot of money, fast. The cost of sending a single stuffed envelope, taking into consideration staff time and materials, typically runs around $1.20 to $2.00. Engagement effectiveness: Another knock against mail: It's a highly ineffective way to engage with recipients for the reasons we've already noted. There's no practical way to ensure a piece of mail reaches its intended recipient and is read by this recipient. If the mail asks the recipient to perform a task, the organization that sent the mail will need to wait for the person to act, assuming they ever do so. If a person fails to act, the organization will need to follow up, likely using one of the other channels we discuss in this piece. This bodes the question: Unless absolutely necessary, or when requested by recipients, why send mail at all? Email When email came on to the scene, it seemed like a perfect communication mechanism. Fast? Check. Easy to send? Check. Cheap to send? Check. Likely to be opened and read? Check. But a few things happened as email became more ubiquitous for these reasons and smartphones became an integral part of everyday life. The number of emails people received in a day soared. And, of course, so did spam. Statistics show the following: The average person receives more than 100 emails per day. The open rate for emails is between 20% and 40%. Nearly 85% of all emails are spam. In fact, billions of spam emails are sent daily. Many people have multiple email accounts — often at least one business and one personal. It's easy to see why the value of email as a communication channel has declined over the years. When you combine the sheer number of emails people receive daily with the rise in spam and concern about cyberattacks via mechanisms like phishing plus the need to manage multiple email accounts, it's far from a sure thing to expect people to read and respond to their email and do so in a timely manner. Evaluation criteria Initial setup cost: The initial setup of email is similar in cost to that of setting up a staff member with a phone number. They need an email service provider, email address, and email plan as well as enough storage to handle their email responsibilities. Outreach cost: Sending email remains cheap. Sending emails in bulk may require some additional expenses, but they're not so high as to significantly elevate the outreach cost. Engagement effectiveness: Whereas email was once highly effective at engaging a recipient, it's quickly becoming as ineffective as paper mail. As we noted, most emails go unread. Those that are read may not be read in a timely email and may not be acted on. If someone provides an email address associated with a job and then leaves that job, the email address will no longer be a valid way to communicate with that individual. Unless you're running an email campaign through a program like Constant Contact or Mailchimp, you may never know if or when someone has opened an email. Ultimately, most emails sent will require follow-up outreach via another communication mechanism. App More and more of our lives are spent interacting with apps on our smartphones. Just how much time are we spending? A survey showed that Americans spent a third of their waking hours on mobile devices in 2021. This is undoubtedly one of the reasons why healthcare organizations have explored setting up their own apps to communicate with stakeholders. If stakeholders are on their mobile devices so often, an app would seem like a great way to reach them. And there's certainly truth in this. But, once again, there are some big "ifs" associated with using an app for communication. The stakeholder will need to add (download/install) the app to their phone and either log in with information provided by the healthcare organization or by setting up their own account. Once this is completed, the app would seem to be an effective communication mechanism — assuming that when the stakeholder changes phones, they bring the app with them to their new phone, and assuming that logging into and using the app is fast and easy. There's also the fact that about 3 out of every 10 Medicare-aged adults cannot use apps. Organizations will need to develop out a separate communications plan for this group, which, for some organizations, could be rather large. Evaluation criteria Initial setup cost: Very, very high — and that's for just a basic app. The more bells and whistles, whether optional or required, the higher the expense. At a minimum, an organization is looking at many thousands of dollars for development of the app. Does it need to be HIPAA compliant? That's going to run up the costs. Then there's maintenance/update costs, the costs to ensure it can work on current Android and Apple devices, and the costs to train users on how to use the software that powers the app. There can be many others as well, depending on what is and isn't included in develop and maintenance. Finally, there are the costs associated with getting the word out to stakeholders about availability of the app. This can include adding the app to mobile app stores and providing links to download the app on an organization's website. Outreach cost: On a positive note about cost, once the app is developed and launched, sending messages through it is inexpensive. It's essentially on par with email. Engagement effectiveness: Assuming a stakeholder takes the time to install the app and set it up on their mobile device, using an app as a communication channel can be a fairly effective means of engagement. The process of adding and logging into the app will make the user feel more compelled to interact with the app, assuming they find it user friendly. But getting someone to download and set up an app is likely to prove very difficult for most healthcare organizations — and especially those not interacting with stakeholders on an ongoing basis. Patients who view a healthcare interaction as a short-term experience (e.g., surgery, urgent care visit) are unlikely to see great value in taking the time to set up and interact via an app — one that they will likely remove once the experience is completed — if alternative communication channels exist. Text message Finally, let's look at text messaging, which is a communication mechanism used daily and preferred by a growing number of Americans. There are several factors that have contributed to the rise of texting. The proliferation of cell phones and then smartphones — all of which come with built-in functionality to send and receive texts — is one of them. Another is the ease of texting, especially on smartphones that provide a full keyboard. A third factor is that text messaging is now generally included in cell service plans. Gone are the days of spending a quarter to send or receive a text. A fourth — and very significant — factor is that we're now at a point where it's fairly easy for people to keep their current cell phone number even if they move or change cell phone service providers. This means that a cell number has become a reliable way to identify and reach someone over time. One final factor worth noting is that the ability to include hyperlinks in texts has opened up new opportunities for senders to direct recipients to information that goes beyond what's included in the text. Texting was initially a way to communicate with friends and family members, but as the popularity of text messaging rose and the cost to send and receive texts decreased, businesses saw it as a great way to reach and engage with customers. It's now commonplace for consumers to receive texts from financial institutions, airlines, hotels, e-commerce companies, and many more, including a growing number of healthcare organizations. While spam texts are a concern, their frequency remains low compared to email and phone spam. The number of texts one receives is also likely to be much lower than the number of emails received. This increases the likelihood that the recipient of a text will take the time to review the message — and do so in a timely manner. Research has shown that about 97% of all texts are read, and 95% are read within just minutes of reaching a recipient. Age was once a barrier to texting, but that's no longer the case with nearly all Americans owning a cell phone with texting capabilities. In fact, 92% of American adults older than 65 text. In short, if you want to get a message out fast and with a high degree of confidence that the recipient will receive, read, and respond to it, send that message as a text. Evaluation criteria Initial setup cost: While not the lowest on this list (that goes to mail), the setup cost for a healthcare organization to leverage text messaging is likely to be similar to that of setting up phone and email service. There will be the initial cost of the text messaging platform and its implementation, setting up the platform to text with stakeholders, some ongoing maintenance and upgrades, and staff training. Outreach cost: The bulk of the investment in text messaging concerns the costs discussed in the previous section. Once an organization is set up to text, outreach costs are very low. Each text ends up costing pennies. That's factoring in the time it takes to create and send messages. Engagement effectiveness: This is where text messaging distinguishes itself from the four other communication mechanisms discussed in this piece. There is no other channel that will be more effective at reaching and engaging with the bulk of stakeholders — regardless of their age or location. Most people opt in to receiving text messages from their healthcare providers and few opt out. As we noted above, texts are likely to be opened and read fast. Furthermore, text messaging platforms often include the ability to identify when messages are successfully delivered and opened. This provides helpful information staff can use to determine whether supplemental outreach via a mechanism like a phone call would be worthwhile. The use of two-way texting provides organizations with another valuable engagement mechanism. Two-way texting allows recipients to respond to a mass text, with their response captured by the text messaging platform. Healthcare organizations are using such functionality for everything from confirming appointments, to conducting COVID-19 prescreening surveys, to checking in with patients following discharge to determine if they have questions or questions, to performing satisfaction surveys. The ability to include hyperlinks in texts is allowing healthcare organizations to direct patients to any number of online sources, including patient portals, educational materials, payment systems, scheduling platforms, and maps and directions. To learn how text messaging is being used to drive enterprise-wide healthcare communication, read this eBook. The Unquestionable Winner There's no doubt that texting should be the backbone for any healthcare organization's communications. The low overall setup and outreach cost combined with unmatched engagement effectiveness, ease of sending messages, and ability to monitor outreach success makes texting the best communication option for interacting with most stakeholders. While organizations will need to use other mechanisms to communicate with stakeholders when those stakeholders either do not provide a mobile number, provide the wrong number (which can be corrected), prefer not to text, or do not respond to texts, organizations will benefit by communicating by text as much as possible. Text messaging is easy, fast, and inexpensive. And most importantly, research shows that it's highly successful in helping organizations achieve transformational results and improvements that would not be possible with any other communication mechanism. Now that you have read this article, ask yourself: "What channel would I want my doctor or hospital to use?"

Dialog Health announces the publication of a new client success story highlighting how its two-way text messaging platform is helping an anesthesia provider achieve noteworthy improvements in several aspects of its operations, including patient engagement and staff workload. The Dialog Health platform was selected by Ambulatory Management Solutions (AMS), a national management services organization that supports providers of mobile anesthesia services. AMS then had Chicago-based Mobile Anesthesiologists deploy the platform in July 2020. Mobile Anesthesiologists has since used two-way text messaging for a wide range of patient outreach activities in areas such as preadmission documentation, patient transportation, COVID-19 screenings, compliance reminders, and surveys. The success story shares the impressive results Mobile Anesthesiologists achieved in its Chicago market over a five-month period in 2021, including the following: 97% of patients opted into text messaging 225% increase in completed pre-appointment documentation (i.e., patient history) via Mobile Anesthesiologists' web portal 76% of post-operative surveys completed via text messaging 99% improved Net Promoter Score 66% of patient satisfaction surveys completed via text messaging 74% of COVID screenings completed via text messaging Thanks to texting with Dialog Health, Mobile Anesthesiologists has substantially strengthened patient engagement while greatly reducing the staff time and costs associated with manual patient outreach and communications. "I'm 1,000% satisfied with Dialog Health," said Tina Mentz, chief operating officer of AMS, who identified the opportunity for Mobile Anesthesiologists to benefit from adding text messaging as a communication mechanism. "The platform is easy to use. We are engaging with and helping our patients through their whole journey. We quickly identify which patients actually need a phone call. The Dialog Health team responds promptly to our questions. Our experience with Dialog Health has greatly exceeded expectations." Brandon Daniell, president and co-founder of Dialog Health, praised AMS and Mobile Anesthesiologists for how they are using texting. "Text messaging has the potential to transform the way organizations communicate and engage with patients, and we're seeing this firsthand with AMS and Mobile Anesthesiologists. They have effectively leveraged texting to improve outcomes and the patient experience while also contributing to better staff productivity and satisfaction. We are pleased our platform is greatly helping these terrific professionals and look forward to exploring how texting can continue to support the efforts of AMS and Mobile Anesthesiologists to meet and exceed their goals." Access the AMS and Mobile Anesthesiologists client success story.

Dialog Health has published a complimentary eBook exploring the ways text messaging is being leveraged by healthcare organizations to improve patient and staff communication and engagement throughout their enterprises. With texting, organizations are strengthening care quality, revenue, satisfaction, and compliance, and achieving improvements in many other areas. ​The eBook's content is organized by stage in the patient journey, which is broken down as follows: Pre-appointment Appointment Post-appointment Billing ​The resource also includes a chapter on staff communication, which is essential to supporting successful communication throughout these patient-focused stages. As is noted in the eBook, "Text messaging is a proven method for engaging patients, enhancing outcomes, improving staff productivity and strengthening workflow, among other benefits. As text messaging has become the preferred communication method for a growing number of Americans, healthcare organizations should evaluate how they can incorporate two-way text messaging as a communication platform across the organization." The free eBook is now available for download. Organizations interested in adding text messaging should visit email info@dialoghealth.com, call (877) 666-1132, or fill out this form.

The March 2022 issue of Medical Economics includes a column written by Dialog Health's President Brandon Daniell on the business value of texting. Daniell's column, "Why text messaging is good business for your practice," is included in a special report in the issue about the "tech-savvy physician." Other stories in this report cover topics such as artificial intelligence (AI), evaluating technology, social health, telehealth, and ransomware. The issue is available for download here. Daniell's column is on pp. 18-20. The piece can also be read online here.

We are excited to share the news of our new partnership with BetterHealthcare. The press release announcing the partnership is provided below. * * * BetterHealthcare Partners with Dialog Health to Revolutionize Self-Scheduling and the Patient Experience Strategic partnership leverages technology to increase healthcare provider's productivity, cut costs, and improve patient experience. NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, February 22, 2022 / BetterHealthcare, a technology company powered by its interoperable BetterAccess platform, today announced a partnership with Dialog Health, a two-way texting platform for healthcare organizations, to offer a turnkey self-scheduling and patient engagement system for healthcare organizations and clinics. This combined solution allows clinics to improve their efficiency and grow profitability by optimizing operational workflows. It also enables clinics to ensure qualified patient appointments and provides a seamless, enhanced patient experience throughout the entire patient journey. The strategic partnership leverages technology as a business asset to increase productivity, cut costs, and improve patient, clinician, and staff satisfaction. Hospitals using two-way text messaging have found that it eliminates most follow-up phone calls to patients while freeing up hundreds of staff hours, enhancing productivity. “Getting someone to book an appointment is great, but if you don’t engage them along the journey, then you’re missing an opportunity to improve productivity and increase revenue,” says Brandon Daniell, president and co-founder of Dialog Health. “By bringing together the technology from both companies, we are empowering patients to initiate their journey and then engaging them, making the delivery of care simpler and more efficient for everyone.” The Dialog Health system is a conversational, two-way communication tool that enables providers to notify, educate, and support patients while steering them toward a richer, more engaged online scheduling experience. Dialog Health clients achieve text messaging reach rates of up to 97%. “The speed, convenience, and ubiquity of texting are helping healthcare providers increase patient participation and engagement in their care, which is contributing to better outcomes and financial performance,” says Daniell. Clinics are increasingly relying on texting for patient and staff communications. Phone calls require substantial staff time and resources but deliver poor results because of the tendency for patients to ignore calls from unfamiliar numbers. Email communications have become less dependable due to the proliferation of spam and the sheer volume of emails. In addition, many healthcare systems are looking to increase their appointment volume with a robust alternative to the static webform. BetterHealthcare’s BetterAccess platform connects patients to the right provider at the right time with a truly configurable online scheduling solution that adapts to their business with appointment types and qualifying questions specific to their organization and providers. “Combining BetterAccess and Dialog Health addresses a missing piece in healthcare,” says Greg Peters, CEO of BetterHealthcare. "Consumers are already familiar using text messaging and scheduling appointments on their own, outside of healthcare. Through our partnership, we’re bringing this to healthcare.” “Text messaging engages — it creates consideration and intent — and now you’re given the transaction piece with our BetterAccess platform,” says Peters. “This is an exciting opportunity to bring two great technology platforms together with one solution that unlocks so much value for the entire healthcare ecosystem.” About Dialog Health Dialog Health provides a two-way texting platform to organizations that they can leverage as a communication and engagement channel. Two-way texting is a convenient, fast, effective, and affordable communication resource for stakeholder engagement. For more information, visit www.dialoghealth.com, call (877) 666-1132, and follow Dialog Health on LinkedIn. About BetterHealthcare BetterHealthcare is a technology company, delivering adaptable, scalable technology solutions with actionable data that powers health operations and accelerates business growth. From enterprise healthcare systems to providers across service lines, organizations are using BetterHealthcare to drive revenue and growth through appointment volume. With an interoperable, HIPAA-compliant platform and EHR compatibility, the BetterAccess platform connects patients with the right provider at the right time. To learn more or schedule a demo, visit betterhealthcare.co/request-a-demo. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

At Dialog Health, we're passionate about texting. We've seen the tremendous value texting — specifically two-way texting — can provide to healthcare organizations and other businesses that adopt a solution such as ours. But we're not the only ones who sing the praises of text messaging. In fact, numerous healthcare and communication experts throughout the country have gone on the record to do just that. Here are quotes from 10 such experts about texting. 1. Dr. Clement Bottino, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School: "Most of my paid clinical time is spent rushing through 15-minute visits and slogging through electronic paperwork. With texting, the rush disappears. Patients can text me when they want and there are no boxes to tick. I can answer questions, put worried parents' minds at ease and prevent unnecessary ER visits. It feels invigorating, the opposite of burnout." via WBUR 2. Bryan Yarbrough, Ardent Health Services: "Texting has proven to be a highly efficient, fast, and cost-effective way to streamline much of our emergency department discharge communications and reduce staff workload without sacrificing care quality. By adding text messaging, we can communicate with patients in a manner many of them prefer, which also helps improve satisfaction and engagement. Texting also allowing us to achieve other improvements, such as increasing adherence with primary care follow-up appointments and collections." via PRNewswire 3. Clare Lingel, Cedars-Sinai: "When we think about how we interact with technology today, texting is a really beautiful method. One of the first things that we talked about was how on any given day any of us might have over 100 emails waiting for our attention. But there's no time in a given day where you have 100 texts sitting there." via PatientEngagementHIT 4. Erica Spatz, Yale Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation: "Text messaging is a promising strategy to reach patients outside of the office. Most people have a cell phone, and with patients' permission, text messaging can be used to support specific health goals. We don't have to crunch all of healthcare into 20-minute visit slots." via YaleNews 5. Dr. Tammy Chang, University of Michigan Medical School and Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation: "We found that texting is not only acceptable and feasible but is the preferred method of collecting real time information from low-income community members. Most importantly, texting may offer an efficient, inexpensive way to give a voice to people who aren't often heard and whose needs aren't always met." via mHealthIntelligence 6. Dr. David Finitsis, Hartford Healthcare Cancer Institute: "… texting might make it easier and more cost-effective for physicians and their staffs to check in — to stay in touch — to offer encouragement to people who may feel isolated because of their medical conditions and who are having a tough time coping." via UConn Today 7. Lynn Gibson, CHRISTUS Health: "Mobile devices have become ubiquitous in all walks of society, and the healthcare industry is no exception. Clinicians increasingly take advantage of secure text messaging technology to improve communication with each other and their patients." via HealthTech 8. Eric Topol, Scripps Research Institute: "Most people respect getting texts, that is, it's high on their priority list of things to do." via The Washington Post 9. Doug Brown, Black Book Market Research: "Stakeholders across the healthcare industry are in the quest of finding solutions to use comprehensive real-time data and connectivity cleverly to advance patient safety, productivity and profitability. Organizations are adopting secure text messaging platforms because texts are convenient, as well." via Healthcare IT News 10. Dmitry Dragilev, JustReachOut.io: "Text messages are fast, effective and friendly, and your smartphone is optimized to receive them. In being 'optimized,' we’re suggesting how easy it is to receive a message without opening it up. It will rest on a locked phone screen. Unlike emails, texts will give you an audible notification after arriving. A business text message, believe it or not, has a 98% rate." via Entrepreneur Want to learn how two-way texting can help you achieve organization-wide improvements? Schedule a demo of the Dialog Health platform today!

An analysis of Dialog Health client data reveals that healthcare organizations are using the two-way text messaging platform to significantly reduce the time spent by staff on patient outreach concerning upcoming appointments. Dialog Health data indicates that clients, on average, can use texting to communicate with about 86.3% of patients about their future appointments. Text messaging is allowing users of the Dialog Health platform to: Ensure more patients receive the care they need, including critical preventive services such as mammograms and colonoscopies Achieve substantial reductions in cancellations, no-shows, and no-goes Increase patient volume and revenue Considerably reduce the time spent by staff calling patients about appointments Assign staff to other essential tasks that improve patient care and satisfaction, increase patient volume and collections, and strengthen operational performance and efficiency Reduce time spent on overtime and PRN (as-needed) staff Under 14% of patients will require outreach by means other than text messaging. Only about 1% of patients are opting out of communication by texting. About 2% do not provide a mobile phone number. Notably, the data analysis revealed that about 10% cannot be reached via the mobile phone number associated with their account. This represents an opportunity for organizations to further increase the number of patients who can be communicated with via texting if the mobile number is corrected. "For healthcare providers, making sure patients show up for their appointments is critical for helping keep patients healthy and decreasing the risk of future health issues while generating the revenue needed to keep an organization financially solvent," said Brandon Daniell, president and co-founder of Dialog Health. "Our latest data analysis shows that text messaging can play a central role in achieving these objectives and other noteworthy benefits. As we say, if you want to get a message out fast to a significant number of people and with a high degree of confidence they will receive, read, and respond to it, send that message as a text."

Just a few days ago, the United States reported nearly 2.5 million coronavirus cases in one week. This was the first time the number of cases in a week surpassed 2 million and well outpaced the previous record for a single week: 1.7 million cases from Jan. 3-9, 2021. One of the effects of this rapid rise in cases is that it's pushing businesses, many of which were already dealing with a staffing shortage before Omicron, to be even more short-staffed. Employees are calling out sick because of positive COVID tests, COVID exposure, other illnesses (e.g., flu), or needing to stay home to support family members. During this difficult period, we want to remind our clients that we are here to help you deliver time-sensitive and ever-evolving communications to your employees and fast-track the setup of functionality that can better support your efforts to coordinate, engage, and support staff. We also want to identify some of the ways clients are currently using the Dialog Health texting platform to communicate updates to employees, five of which are detailed below. If you are a Dialog Health user and want help setting up new alerts or if your organization isn't using text messaging but wants to add it to your employee communication capabilities, please reach out to your account representative or contact us at info@dialoghealth.com, 877.666.1132, or by filling out the form here 1. Emergency/mass alerts Our platform allows users to create and quickly send out mass text messages to staff. Uses include informing employees of changes to on-site safety protocols, a team member testing positive for COVID-19, and openings in or changes to the schedule. 2. Virtual connection via text messaging links Our clients are making sure employees are receiving the necessary access to virtual meetings, video conferences, web chats, and more via links embedded in text messages. Text messages with links have a better open rate and engagement than emails with links. 3. Business continuity Two-way text scheduling reminders are helping clients automate and send text messages based on their specific criteria, whether they need to reschedule staff shifts, modify opening and closing procedures, inform employees that they cannot enter the building, and communicate about other changes that affect operations. The system allows clients to send the right messages to the right group of people at the right time. 4. Health plan benefits Our clients are using texting to provide staff with timely information and answers to frequently asked questions concerning their sponsored health insurance, which may have changed with the start of the new year. This can include matters such as where personnel and covered family members can go to receive a COVID-19 test and vaccine/booster, how tests and vaccines are covered, and the availability of mental health services (i.e., employee assistance programs). 5. Emotional support One of the most important types of message clients are sending to staff during these difficult times are those that provide emotional and inspirational support. Texted words of encouragement and appreciation can lift a staff member's spirits and have a positive impact on an employee's mental health and outlook. Spread the Word, Not the Virus "Chaos Is Theme of New Year…" begins the title of a Bloomberg column. While there is optimism that Omicron does not have as much severity as the earlier versions of COVID and that the surge we are experiencing should pass somewhat quickly, there will be tremendous staffing uncertainty from day to day for some time. It is essential that businesses have the means and processes to best ensure the timely messages they need to get to staff — and others — are distributed efficiently and effectively. If you need to get a message out fast, to a significant number of people and with a high degree of confidence that your audience will receive and read it, send that message as a text.

Looking to improve your healthcare organization's revenue and decrease costs? All it may take is a text message. In Dialog Health President Brandon Daniell's new Medical Economics column, he discusses eight ways text messaging can help healthcare organizations improve patient retention and boost revenue. In "Why text messaging is good for the business of healthcare," Daniell discusses the following topics: Increasing patient volume Supporting telehealth programs Reduce cancellations, no-shows, and no-goes Boost collections Verification of coverage and benefits Improve online reputation Avoid readmission penalties Staffing optimization and productivity The examples highlighted in Daniell's column represent just a few of the ways text messaging is helping organizations strengthen their financial performance. As he concludes, "Organizations that add texting may quickly find that it's the clinical, operational, and financial tool they didn't know they had been missing." Access Daniell's column in Medical Economics.

With the coronavirus and its variants driving increases in infections, healthcare providers nationwide are being forced to manage a rise in outbound phone calls to patients and caregivers. Some providers have diverted staff and resources to completing these calls. But other organizations have turned to text messaging to help reduce the need for significant operational changes while making management of calls more efficient and effective. Here are a few ways Dialog Health is helping clients better manage the growing amount of phone calls staff would typically need to make every day. 1. Decrease multiple types of calls Learn five types of phone calls organizations are drastically reducing with texts. 2. Provide mass test results Within the first 60 days of implementing Dialog Health's texting solution, an urgent care provider was able to eliminate 75,000 phone calls informing patients of their negative COVID-19 test results. Read the case study here. 3. Reduce readmissions Using two-way text messaging, one hospital saved many staff hours by decreasing phone calls to patients. Perhaps more significant is that the hospital was able to achieve a more than 80% reduction in readmissions in just 90 days. Interested in using our two-way texting to drastically reduce phone calls and improve staff and patient satisfaction? To schedule a free demo of Dialog Health's HIPAA-compliant, two-way text messaging platform, please call or text our President Brandon Daniell at (615) 429-4252.