HIPAA News

Varolii Announces Progressive Engagement, Complete Suite of Patient / Member Outreach Applications for the Healthcare Industry

(July 09, 2008)-- Varolii Corporation announced general availability of Progressive Engagement, the healthcare industry's first complete automated communications suite. Progressive Engagement enables Managed Care Organizations (MCO), Payers, Disease Management, Wellness Companies, Pharmacies and Pharmacy Benefit Management Companies to deliver automated communications to patients and members over the phone, through text messages, fax or email. It is a fully managed, on-demand outbound communications service that provides a cost-effective way to enroll more patients in disease management and wellness programs and promote member health. Early adopters of Progressive Engagement have already seen significant improvements over traditional mail-based and nurse telephone outreach.

Disease management and wellness programs have the potential to improve overall patient health; decrease on-the-job absenteeism; reduce medical claims; and improve employee productivity. However, rising healthcare costs have led to increased scrutiny of these programs with respect to their ability to effectively control program costs while fulfilling the promise of health and well-being improvements. These cost pressures are further exacerbated by chronically ill patients, who typically use a disproportionate percentage of services -- digging into health plan profits and depleting employer and consumer funds for health insurance.

Varolii directly addresses these issues with Progressive Engagement, a complete suite of automated, personalized communications that delivers superior results at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods of outreach. Healthcare organizations can use Progressive Engagement in a variety of ways, including:

-- Enrolling more patients in disease management and wellness programs

-- Providing a variety of educational messages on specific conditions

-- Offering reminders for immunizations and screenings

-- Surveying patients and members to obtain in-depth illness, medication or overall program information

-- Monitoring intervention impact and effectively triaging, and
-- Locating and re-engaging "lost-to-follow-up" patients

Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) that have already deployed Progressive Engagement have seen a seven-fold increase in initial engagement rates, up to a 200 percent increase in program enrollment, and up to a 70 percent improvement in obtaining accurate contact information -- a must for ongoing communications.

Independent research firm Forrester writes that "US health plans and benefits managers continue to see wellness management as a key cost-cutting strategy -- and the employees who have already adopted programs agree that wellness works. But program participation remains woefully low." To keep participants engaged over time, the firm recommends that companies "...design event-triggered outbound communications (via email, SMS, or automated voice message delivery) that acknowledge milestones of participation, health status, or rewards achievement." ("Incentives Entice Employees Toward Wellness -- How Employers Can Encourage Participation in Work-Based Wellness Programs," Forrester Research, Inc., June 2008).

"Enrollment is the cornerstone of disease management and health promotion programs, and it requires a significant investment by healthcare organizations," said Dr. Michael Ross, Vice President of Healthcare at Varolii. "Progressive Engagement enables Managed Care Organizations and Disease Management/Wellness Companies to maximize resources across their programs with the end in mind: delivering appropriate care, preventing onset and progression of disease, improving treatment adherence, reducing wasteful spending and improving retention."

Progressive Engagement is the latest healthcare communications offering from Varolii. Some of the largest healthcare organizations nationwide use Varolii to send HIPAA-compliant automated communications, achieving cost-effective results for both clinical programs and member/customer service programs. Varolii healthcare solutions were developed specifically to meet the needs of Managed Care Organizations and Payers, Disease Management and Wellness Companies, Retail and Specialty Pharmacies and Pharmacy Benefit Management Companies.

Varolii Progressive Engagement is generally available. For more information, please visit http://www.varolii.com/industries/healthcare/progressive-engagement.aspx

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