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Medical Service Company creates pathway to compliance

Medical Service Company creates pathway to compliance

Josh MarxATLANTA – With 70% of patient outreach calls going to “voice mail hell,” Medical Service Company knew it needed to revamp its PAP adherence program to boost patient engagement and compliance, and create better efficiencies. 

So, the company set out to create an automated, scalable program using not only voice calls but also texts and emails, based on preference, to assess patients and evaluate factors that affect outcomes. 

“So much of our process was to ask the patient to call us and call us when we were available,” said Josh Marx, managing director of sleep and vice president of business development during a session at Medtrade East in October.  

At the root of the program: Identifying which of three pathways a patient is on. Those are: an adherence pathway, in which that patient is or is not meeting daily compliance requirements and not experiencing leaks, elevated AHI or elevated CAI; a clinical pathway, in which the patient is experiencing leaks, elevated AHI or elevated CAI; and a rescue pathway, in which the patient is not meeting daily compliance requirements after 30 days of CPAP therapy. 

Since the program was launched in February 2020, MSC has sent 20,000 notifications: 50% text, 30% email and 20% voice calls. Patient response has been 37% to 40%, says Scott Owsiak, vice president of clinical services. 

“It’s straightforward,” he said. “If a patient is going to hit (compliance) in the first 30 days, we have to hit them hard. Sixty-eight percent are compliant within the first 30 days. That drops dramatically to 8% within 60 days and down to 4% within 90 days.”  

Based on existing volume, MSC estimates it will save about $744,000 during a 12-month period using the program vs. salaries for 12 employees. 

“By leveraging creative and customized outreach to our patients, we can avoid these outbound attempts and compel the patient to call us (inbound),” said Marx. 

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