Baptist Health System, Birmingham Ala., Selects ERTexting for Communication of Emergency Room Wait Times
Filed under: Emergency Services, Other, Wait Times Health Services
New service allows patients to receive emergency room wait times mobile via any cell phone with text capability.
ER Texting is proud to announced that Baptist Health System, based in Birmingham, Ala., has selected the company as its provider for the SMS/text communication of Emergency Room (ER) wait times for Citizens, Princeton, Walker & Shelby Baptist Medical Centers.
Birmingham and North Central Alabama area residents can now access live wait times for all four hospital emergency rooms by simply texting their zip code to “4ER411” (437411). Wait times for all hospitals are delivered instantly. In addition to the ER wait times, BHS also provides information for its 40 Baptist Health Centers that accept walk-in patients, providing additional options for lower acuity patients.
With more than 5,000 text inquiries made in the initial launch month of November, the service has quickly established itself as a tool consumers can conveniently use from any cell phone to instantly retrieve live wait time emergency room information.
“The ability to provide valuable wait time information to our patients attracted us to this program,” said Ross Mitchell, Vice President of External and Governmental Affairs at Baptist Health System. “By deploying a zip code-based strategy, we’re able to provide relevant information since we’ve geographically associated zip codes to the nearest hospital emergency room, as well as to our Baptist Health Centers.”
Providing ER wait times improves patient satisfaction scores; delivers greater hospital transparency; provides for better load balancing and increased efficiency and ultimately increases ER visits. Today’s patients are demanding more and more healthcare related information. Posting ER wait times aligns with consumers’ expectations and is a determining factor when selecting a hospital for emergency care.
About ER Texting
ER Texting provides texting services to hospitals and urgent care facilities that want to post their emergency room wait time and allow consumers to access those times via text message. By virtue of its dedicated and highly recognizable SMS short code 4ER411, ER Texting offers a complete, secure and integrated texting and marketing platform. For more information on ER Texting and our capabilities, please visit www.ERtexting.com.
Reducing the Number of Emergency Room Patients Who Leave Without Being Seen—It’s About Flow and What They Know
Filed under: Emergency Services, ER Facts, ER Reviews, Other, Wait Times Health Services
A recent Wall Street Journal health article focused on the rising percentage of emergency room (ER) patients that leave without being seen (LWBS). According to the most recent government statistics, LWBS patients jumped from 1.7 % between 1998 and 2006 to 2.7 % between 2007 and 2008.
The opportunity cost of these lost patients is significant. Emergency Department Chairman, Joe Guarisco MD of Ochsner Health Systems in New Orleans, commented, “Revenue of about $450,000 is lost even if 1% of patients walk out of an emergency room in a facility that has an annual patient volume of 50,000.”
Fewer ER’s, more patients and physician shortages have all contributed to the current environment. Accordingly, hospitals are addressing the issue in two ways: 1) Reducing ER wait times and 2) Posting live, actual ER wait times in order to better set patients’ expectations.
Streamlining flow and processes are critical to a more effective and efficient ER and thus to reducing patient wait times. In addition, staffing with less costly nurse practitioners and physician assistants allows physicians to stay focused on patient care and manage their time more efficiently.
Providing current ER wait times properly sets patient expectations, thereby reducing those that could fall into the LWBS category. Effective communication of ER wait times can be accomplished by posting the wait time on the hospital website, highway billboards, smart phone apps, and even more conveniently via simple text message. In this manner, patients are quickly, economically and conveniently made aware of wait times at an ER of their choice.
About ER Texting
ER Texting provides texting services to hospitals and urgent care facilities that want to post their emergency room wait time and allow consumers to access those times via text message. By virtue of its dedicated and highly recognizable SMS short code 4ER411, ER Texting offers a complete, secure and integrated texting and marketing platform. For more information on ER Texting and our capabilities, please visit www.ERtexting.com.
New Outbound Text Program to Provide Delivery of Healthcare information
Filed under: Emergency Services, ER Facts, ER Reviews, Other, Wait Times Health Services
Through a $100,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation, Temple University will deliver cardiovascular health information to neighboring communities through text messaging. Using a novel approach, cardiovascular health information will be channeled through community leaders and organizations, thereby giving it added weight.
Verizon’s grant will be used by Temple University to expand its Telemedicine Light program, by which doctors develop targeted, customized messages with community leaders that address the unique concerns—cultural, economic or linguistic—of a specific community. Once those messages are relayed by community leaders to the targeted population, community members are urged to sign up for weekly messages.
Tremayne Askew, a member of Triumph Health and Social Services Ministry as well as Temple’s Community Ambassador Program, told the university newspaper that the cell phone is the ideal method for getting the message out. Not everyone will see a news report, she said, but they all have cell phones, and they will get a text message.
As consumers rely more and more on mobile channels for their information—including that which is healthcare related—many hospitals are implementing a text strategy in order to deliver valued medical information to consumers’ cellular phones.
ER Texting provides a messaging platform that allows targeted outbound communication to past and future patients, as a way of “deepening” the hospital / patient relationship and without intrusion of privacy.
About ER Texting
ER Texting provides texting services to hospitals and urgent care facilities that want to post their emergency room wait time and allow consumers to access those times via text message. By virtue of its dedicated and highly recognizable SMS short code 4ER411, ER Texting offers a complete, secure and integrated texting and marketing platform. For more information on ER Texting and our capabilities, please visit www.ERtexting.com.
Mobile Mothers – Key Targets for Hospital Marketers
Filed under: Emergency Services, ER Facts, ER Reviews, Other, Wait Times Health Services
Recent survey results validate just how engaged mothers are in terms of their cell phone use and accordingly their responsiveness to information and services delivered via this medium.
The data shows that mothers are ahead of the curve in terms of cell phone adoption in many respects:
- 9% more mobile than general population
- Over 50% have smart phones
- 53% purchased smart phones as a result of becoming a mother.
Their usage and the various features they utilize are also of interest. Mothers spend 6.1 hours a day looking at their cell phone and are 284% more likely to text rather than call friends. Their favorite uses of their cell phones are for taking photos and / or videos, applications, calendar, internet access, email and texting.
Specific to healthcare and mothers:
- 90% research health conditions via their phone
- 60% research health and wellness information, using their phones
- 50% more likely to be using smart phones for health and wellness than the average adult
Accordingly, many mothers admit that they are addicted to their phones and recognize that their mobile “environment” is of critical importance.
In line with this trend, many hospitals are starting to post their emergency room (ER) wait times online and also accessible via text. The convenience of accessing a hospital’s current ER wait time is not just what mothers need but it’s now what most demand.
About ER Texting
ER Texting provides texting services to hospitals and urgent care facilities that want to post their emergency room wait time and allow consumers to access those times via text message. By virtue of its dedicated and highly recognizable SMS short code 4ER411, ER Texting offers a complete, secure and integrated texting and marketing platform. For more information on ER Texting and our capabilities, please visit www.ERtexting.com.
Hospital offers texting for information
Filed under: Emergency Services, ER Facts, ER Reviews, Other, Wait Times Health Services
In a recent article we discussed how the hospital of Central Connecticut has acquired a texting service by ERtexting. Using this service, they are able to make ER wait times available to a greater number of patients.
My Record Journal interviewed Dr. Jeff Finkelstein, the hospital’s chief of emergency medicine, he stated “I have yet to see a person who doesn’t have a cell phone.” The number of Americans who are now using a texting service is on the rise. Patients can text their zip codes to 4ER411 (or 437411) and will be provided with a list of wait times for the hospitals at New Britain General and Bradley Memorial, in Southington.
This service helps increase patient satisfaction since it is widely accessible and very easy to use. Dr. David Buono, medical director of the New Britain General emergency department affirmed, “I think it’s a fairly simple system.”
If you would like to find out more about this texting service, contact ERtexting.
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