Parkland Health & Hospital System Improves Care, Cuts Costs with Amcom Software Unified Communications Solutions
- Technology has enabled best practices as well as creative solutions to challenges
- Unified communications solutions span all contact center operations, emergency notifications, Web-based employee directory lookups, and on-call scheduling
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – March 3, 2010 – Amcom Software, Inc., today announced that its unified communications solutions are enabling Parkland Health & Hospital System to enhance patient care through creative uses of technology, which in turn has reduced costs. The Dallas-based organization uses integrated Amcom solutions for its contact center operations, Web-based employee directory, on-call scheduling, and emergency notification.
Round-the-clock agents field more than one million internal and external calls annually, including requests to activate critical medical and non-medical notifications throughout the organization. The tight process developed for Heart Cath Team activations has notably reduced the hospital's treatment time for heart attack patients (door-to-balloon time). The efficient use of Amcom technology and attention to communication processes helped Parkland achieve recent accreditation as a primary stroke center.
The Amcom system's emergency notification capabilities have also helped Parkland send alerts to key groups outside the hospital for time-sensitive situations. This has included notifying staff at the nearby children's hospital of incoming critical patients. The system provides tracking to enable documentation of all communications. This solution is also used to alert members of the Parkland system of the need to respond to multiple urgent events.
Internally, more than 8,000 Parkland employees have come to rely heavily on the Amcom Web-based employee directory and on-call schedules, which have logged 2.5 million hits since 2005. The ability to locate on-call schedules as well as staff and provider contact information has reduced the number of agent calls by a third. The electronic on-call schedules replaced a manual paper system which was difficult to maintain. The improved system allows Parkland to easily comply with state and federal requirements for on-call schedules to be archived for a minimum of one year. Together, these efficiencies have generated ROI for Parkland in the form of reduced workload for the contact center.
"Our Amcom solutions work together to orchestrate and synchronize communications and actions in a way that's become essential to our ability to fulfill our patient commitment," said Sheila Cook-Dolciame, R.N., M.S.N., and Director of Call Center Operations for Parkland. "We have become highly versatile and responsive, finding creative ways to solve our challenges through a blend of internally identified process changes and a smart use of technology."
"We're delighted to support Parkland in its efforts to continually evaluate their operations and uncover new methods of improving patient care and safety," said Chris Heim, CEO, Amcom Software. "So many of our customers are finding that tying processes together through unified communications has far-reaching benefits for all involved."
About Parkland Health & Hospital System
Parkland Health & Hospital System is one of the largest public hospital systems in the country with 685 operating beds and more than 8,000 employees. Services include a Level I Trauma Center, the second largest civilian burn center in the U.S. and a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The hospital averages about 41,000 admissions annually. The system also includes 20 community-based clinics, 11 school-based clinics and numerous outreach and education programs. Parkland is a teaching hospital for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. For the last 16 years, the hospital system has been ranked as one of the country's top hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. For more information, visit www.parklandhospital.com.
About Amcom Software
Amcom Software provides technology solutions for organizations that depend on speed, accuracy, and productivity to manage mission-critical, day-to-day, emergency and event-driven communications. Amcom Software's advanced solutions for contact center communications, emergency management, integrated alarm management, and paging infrastructure are used by thousands of leading organizations in hospitality, healthcare, education, business, and government. Amcom's recent acquisitions of Commtech Wireless and SDC Solutions, along with the additions of Xtend Communications and Telident E911 solutions, further solidify the company's market leadership. For more information, call 800.852.8935 or go to www.amcomsoftware.com.
Media Inquiries:
Ron Wenaas
rwenaas@amcomsoft.com
+1 (612) 418-7077
