VoiceFriend's New Wellness Check Module For Its Voice-Activated Communications Solution Helps Reduce Hospital Readmission For Discharged Patients

VoiceFriend leverages proven Amazon Alexa voice technology to enable nursing communities and rehabilitation centers to perform easier and more effective wellness checks on their discharged patients—helping reduce hospital readmissions.

Boston, MA (PRWEB)- VoiceFriend, LLC, has today announced the latest release of its Wellness Check Module for its voice-activated notification and communication solution—with new features to help nursing communities and rehabilitation centers perform more effective wellness checks on their discharged patients.

Leveraging the innovative Amazon Alexa voice assistance technology, VoiceFriend’s updated Wellness Check Module makes it easier than ever for rehabilitation providers to reach out to discharged patients and perform follow-up wellness checks. The new feature provides discharged patients with three easy options to respond to wellness checks: 1) receive an inbound telephone call and press a number on the telephone key pad to confirm they are okay, 2) call the center’s designated phone number by a specific date/time, or 3) check-in via their voice-activated Amazon Echo smart speaker device.

The new VoiceFriend Wellness Check Module can be easily programmed by the nursing/rehab center to automatically ask important follow-up questions. When a discharged patient is reached, the VoiceFriend system can ask customized questions, such as, “How are you feeling?”, “Are you following your care plan?”, “Do you have questions about your care plan or medicines?”, “Do you need supplies?”, or “Would you like someone to call you to discuss any other questions or issues?”

The VoiceFriend solution then automatically notifies the center staff as to which discharged patients have or have not updated their wellness status on time—along with patients’ responses to the follow-up questions. This greatly reduces the number of manual wellness checks needed and increases the touchpoints between providers and discharged patients.

The need to address readmission challenges is supported by a national study of rehabilitation facilities by the University of Texas Division of Rehabilitation Sciences. This study found that 30-day readmission rates among rehabilitation facilities averaged 12%— as high as 18.8%—for the six most common impairment groups. The readmission of hospitalized older adults is currently a $20 billion annual expense for Medicare.

“Given the high risk and cost of readmission, performing effective follow-up wellness checks on discharged patients is a vital responsibility for nursing communities and rehabilitation centers,” says Bruce Baron, VoiceFriend’s Chief Executive Officer. “But performing these wellness checks using typical manual solutions is costly and resource intensive. Our newly enhanced voice-activated Wellness Check Module increases engagement with discharged patients while helping reduce readmissions. The more effective wellness follow-up process provides additional peace of mind for patients and families—and frees staff time for other high priority tasks.”

This announcement today further extends VoiceFriend’s commitment to deploy innovative voice technology to help senior care providers improve the effectiveness of their communications with patients, families and staff and boost wellness and quality of care.

About VoiceFriend, LLC
Founded in 2009, VoiceFriend, LLC, developed the VoiceFriend Notification Solution as a simple yet powerful cloud-based notification solution that helps senior living, skilled nursing, rehabilitation centers and other providers build better communities and operate more efficiently and effectively. VoiceFriend keeps seniors, staff and families informed of events, activities, appointments and other important information. Today, thousands of care providers rely on VoiceFriend to reduce staff costs, increase senior and family engagement, and boost satisfaction while positively impacting census.