UnitedHealth Care Services Signs Contract with DSHI Systems for Nurse Call Center Solution
Optum, a UnitedHealth Group company, deploys DSHI System's next generation solution to improve medical decision-making for 28 million consumers.
Orlando, FL (PRWEB) January 25, 2006
Optum, a UnitedHealth Group company (UNH), has selected DSHI Systems to provide TriageXpert(TM) Call Center, DSHI Systems' proprietary triage decision-support solution, to Optum call-center nurses. Optum nurses provide health information and education to more than 28 million consumers from 8 call centers across the nation. Nurse call centers perform a vital role in directing callers to appropriate care.
TriageXpert(TM) utilizes sophisticated, physician-written algorithms that enable nurses to accurately and consistently analyze thousands of symptoms. Algorithms are designed by DSHI Systems' physician-authors, utilizing best-evidence and best-practice resources. TriageXpert(TM) generates a symptom-based interview from a library of 50,000 questions. The exact sequence of questions is steered by the caller’s responses. TriageXpert(TM) analyzes the responses and then provides its recommendation to the nurse. This entire task is completed in less than eight minutes.
“TriageXpert represents the next generation in nurse call center solutions,” says Stephen J. Schueler MD, CEO of DSHI Systems Inc. “It was designed from the ground up to raise the standard of practice while delivering the necessary metrics to reduce medical costs. TriageXpert outcome studies show that the majority of callers who planned to visit the emergency room were safely re-directed to an alternative location for care.”
DSHI Systems supplied Optum with a custom application programming interface (API) to TriageXpert(TM). This approach allowed Optum to choose its own CRM application and utilize existing information assets, while leveraging high-quality medical decision-making provided by TriageXpert(TM). Following rigorous testing, the solution was implemented in stages throughout 2005. This culminated in a full deployment for 2006.
In 2006, DSHI Systems will release two new products based on its popular TriageXpert(TM) engine. TriageXpert(TM) WorkerWell puts decision making tools in the hands of consumers, empowering them to make better health decisions. As a corporate wellness strategy, TriageXpert(TM) WorkerWell saves money by reducing unnecessary emergency room visits. TriageXpert(TM) Context Search converts conventional medical web searches that are based on word syntax, to more powerful searches that are based on concepts. The TriageXpert(TM) Context Search prompts users for relevant medical history, analyzes the results, and then automatically generates the most accurate search terms.
DSHI Systems (www. dshisystems. com) is the leading innovator in physician-written, decision-support systems for consumers and health professionals. For over a decade, DSHI Systems has enabled US government and commercial health care organizations to deliver quality demand management solutions to their membership. Using an xml-based API, customers can quickly integrate, customize, and deploy highly scalable web server solutions.
Optum (www. optumanswers. com) is a leading provider of personal health services, serves 28 million individuals nationwide with services and tools to help them get healthy, stay healthy and live with illness. Founded in 1990, Optum is a UnitedHealth Group company and serves clients representing health plans, employers, insurance carriers, membership organizations and the government.
# # #
