Emory Healthcare adds KyruusOne platform to streamline call center, online scheduling

Georgia healthcare giant Emory has tapped provider search and scheduling solution company Kyruus to help streamline operations in their call center. The health system has selected the KyruusOne provider data management platform and ProviderMatch patient access solution for implementation in its call center and consumer-facing website.

ProviderMatch for Access Centers will help the call center boost efficiency by consolidating scheduling workflows into a single solution. Kyruus' "proprietary clinical taxonomy" will build detail provider files and special search capabilities will make it easier for associates to identify the right providers for patients, Kyruus said in a statement.

[Also: Digitized ICU project saves Emory Healthcare $4.6 million over 15 months]

To meet Emory's growing patient demand for online appointment scheduling, a shared provider data management platform, KyruusOne, and the ProviderMatch applications Emory's call center will allow staff and patients to search for providers, view their availability, and book directly into scheduling systems.

"Emory Healthcare is a nationally-renowned leader in patient access operations," said Graham Gardner, CEO of Kyruus. "We're honored to support this forward-thinking organization in its efforts to raise the bar even further with a multi-channel approach to expanding and improving patient access."

[Also: Emory Healthcare, Stratus strike partnership]

Emory has made other technological strides this year. In April, officials at Emory said they'd saved $4.6 million over 15 months thanks to an ICU program that allowed nurses to remotely monitor patients in the intensive care unit using eICU technology from Philips.

They've launched the program to address ICU staffing shortages, and implemented high-resolution cameras and microphones to monitor patients and alert the ICU team when a patient needed help. After an audit that gauged the program's success, results showed Emory reduced its average Medicare spending by $1,486 over 60 days compared to the other hospitals, yielding the estimated $4.6 million in savings for care of Medicare beneficiaries.

Also, audit results showed Emory discharged patients sooner. There was a 4.9 percent increase in the rate of patients discharged to their homes to receive care, a 6.9 percent drop in patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities and long-term care hospitals and a 2.1 percent decrease in 60-day inpatient readmissions.

Twitter: @BethJSanborn
Email the writer: beth.sandborn@himssmedia.com