Health System Outsources Referral Management
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
In light of challenges to hospital physician search sites, a number are turning to outsourcing.
Physician finder sites are often the first point of contact for a patient when accessing a hospital or health system, but a recent report by Kyruus has revealed 52.5 percent of hospitals and health systems lack the ability for patients to narrow their search for a clinically appropriate doctor based on medical conditions or symptoms, according to Health IT Outcomes.
The study showed nearly 20 million times a year patients are sent to a provider who is not the right match for their condition, demonstrating major failings in most existing referral programs. In light of these findings, several major healthcare systems have turned to outsourcing.
Steward Health Care System, New England’s second largest health system, has announced a partnership with Kyruus which will drive patient-provider matching solutions across the network of approximately 3,000 primary care physicians and specialists as well as power the system’s online physician search tool. Kyruus also recently partnered with the largest health system in New England, Partners Healthcare, and Houston Methodist hospital has also announced it was adopting the same technology.
The Kyruus platform takes a Big Data approach to analyze physician demographics, clinical expertise, accepted insurance, and availability to identify providers who match a patient’s needs and preferences. HL7-based interfaces give clients the option to incorporate ProviderMatch into patient registration and scheduling workflows for streamlined appointment booking.
“Patients come to Physician Finders expecting accurate information about physician specialties, locations and insurance plans. Instead, they often leave feeling confused by the lack of information and frustrated by the inability to book an appointment or perform other online functions that are routine in the airline and many other industries,” said Dr. Graham Gardner, Kyruus’ CEO and co-founder. “Fortunately, increasing attention on the patient experience is prompting many healthcare systems to rethink how they can best serve patients accessing their digital channel.”
Sanjay Shetty, MD, president of the Steward Health Care Network, said in the press release that, “By working with Kyruus, we will be able to more easily and more accurately identify physicians in our network with specific expertise and offerings that meet the needs of a particular patient. This will improve our overall patient access, care experience and outcomes.”