MILWAUKEE, WI – Aurora Health Care, a Milwaukee-based healthcare system, and Elmhurst, Ill.-based Elmhurst Clinic have implemented a new automated messaging system to boost patient compliance.

The messaging system, developed by Phytel, a Dallas-based physician-led provider of health IT solutions, is being used at Aurora Health and Elmhurst to reach out to patients for various health-related compliance issues.

“The computer calls patients itself, sounds like a warm welcoming voice, and even mentions their doctor by name,” said Joseph Kaliski, MD, of the Elmhurst Clinic, a group of primary care multi-specialty facilities and doctors. “It calls specifically on behalf of that patient’s doctor. The goal is to extend the doctor-patient bond and make it useful outside a doctor’s office.”

Phytel officials said the system has been used to remind patients to get vaccinated for the H1N1 virus.

“We look at health data from EMRs for gaps in care all based on guidelines and standards,” said Steve Schelhammer, Phytel's CEO. “From this the system sends messages to patients to receive recommended treatment.”

The implementation at both sites, said Schelhammer, was quick and easy.

“It takes a day to interface with the electronic medical record and patient management system,” he said. “We do all the heavy lifting at the office to update registries and look for patients out of compliance. We are typically on site one day and back on site for orientation and staff training.”

Kaliski said the new IT system has improved the number of quality visits and helps prevent other health-related issues.

“What’s really important is these are quality visits. We’re seeing patients before they get sick,” he said. “What’s more, if a patient has a cholesterol problem, I already have his latest LDL, or a diabetic’s blood glucose level, right in front of me. I don’t have to order these tests and see those patients again.”

The not-for-prift, Aurora Health Care, a system of 13 hospitals,  was Phytel’s biggest deployment, said Schelhammer.

“We had three people moving around Aurora locations,” he said. “It’s not a cookie cutter approach. You have to understand what the needs are. We aim for a very small footprint, typically put one person on site.”

Schelhammer said the messaging system has boosted the number of patients rebooking appointments in the practices where it has been deployed.

“Patients seem to move quickly to get appointments to see physicians,” he said. “Forty  to 50 percent are out of compliance in recommended care. We prioritize and follow up to reconnect with patients. Approximately 35 percent of patients over a 30-day period call to rebook appointments.”