Emergency Preparedness Communication For Medical Clinics

    DALLAS, TX, October 19, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- AdTel International, Inc.'s Doctorconnect.net is an interactive patient communication service using two-way text/SMS, voice, and email communications to increase patient and family engagement.

DoctorConnect.net gives you the tools you need for fast, effective communication with staff and patients during emergencies. The 'Time Block' and Bulk messaging feature allows you to communicate with patients and staff simultaneously from anywhere with customizable notifications of practice closings, location changes, and schedule changes in emergency situations. This DoctorConnect.net feature has voice, text message, and email messaging capability. Text message is the most effective when landlines are down.

CMS states in the final rule, that the emergency preparedness requirements will be consistent and enforceable for all affected Medicare and Medicaid providers and suppliers, and address the three key essentials they believe are necessary for maintaining access to healthcare services during emergencies: safeguarding human resources, maintaining business continuity and protecting physical resources.

"Situations like the recent flooding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, remind us that in the event of an emergency, the first priority of healthcare providers and suppliers is to protect the health and safety of their patients," said Patrick Conway, MD, MSc, CMS deputy administrator and chief medical officer. "Preparation, planning and one comprehensive approach for emergency preparedness is key."

"As people with medical needs are cared for in increasingly diverse settings, disaster preparedness is not only a responsibility of hospitals, but of many other providers and suppliers of healthcare services. Whether it's trauma care or long-term nursing care or a home health service, patients' needs for healthcare don't stop when disasters strike; in fact, their needs often increase in the immediate aftermath of a disaster," said Nicole Lurie, MD, Health and Human Services assistant secretary for preparedness and response. "All parts of the healthcare system must be able to keep providing care through a disaster, both to save lives and to ensure that people can continue to function in their usual setting. Disasters tend to stress the entire healthcare system, and that's not good for anyone."

Catherine Sampels, Director of Sales, "We initially thought the TimeBlock messaging would be a neat feature to offer our clients, but we didn't realize the full impact of the capabilities it provided until Super Storm Sandy in 2012. We had a multi-location practice with one location on Staten Island. All locations' patients and staff were notified of practice closings in advance of the storm, but the biggest impact came afterwards. Numerous locations were damaged and the location on Staten Island was demolished. With landline communication down for almost a week, the only other option of communicating was via text message. Since DoctorConnect.net is cloud-based, the practice's management team was able to login from remote sites (including their homes) and communicate updates to patients and staff on temporary location addresses and temporary office hours. DoctorConnect.net was the only source of patient contact information available since their practice management and EMR were server-based and damaged during the storm. TimeBlock messaging is invaluable during a crisis."

TimeBlock messaging improves the daily efficiency by quickly notifying patients of schedule changes. Calling patients can take up to an hour or more, but TimeBlock messaging blankets all patients within a specified time-frame with a text, email and phone call within 5 minutes. Old school, manual calls are labor intensive and a drain on staff resources. If your practice struggles with call volume and hold time, having software that allows you to communicate with patients without being on the phone is a must.

DoctorConnect.net is a subsidiary of AdTel International, Inc. that providing text, voice or email reminders to patients of upcoming scheduled appointments, reminders of vaccination schedules, re-care reminders, notices of availability of test results, notices of prescription refills, and notices of appointment schedule changes. The system allows patients to confirm appointments automatically or request a change in appointment time if necessary. The service is used by a variety of healthcare providers in a wide range of specialties and general medical practice as well as dentists, veterinarians, chiropractors, therapists, and home health providers.

AdTel International, Inc. is a privately held corporation based in Dallas, Texas that has been providing communication systems through innovative technology since 1992. AdTel may be contacted at 972-503-0717 or via our website www.doctorconnect.net.

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