ED visits cost 10–12x more than urgent care — Altru used a multi-channel campaign to redirect non-emergency patients and reduce ER congestion during COVID-19.
Patients habitually using the emergency department for non-emergency care were driving up costs and crowding Altru’s ED. Personify Health combined EMR data with consumer lifestyle and SDOH insights to identify and redirect these patients to express walk-in clinics — then rapidly pivoted during COVID to promote virtual waiting rooms and Express Video visits, keeping the strategy effective through the pandemic.
Altru Health System (Altru) wanted to drive patients to receive the right care for their needs by directing them to use express walk-in clinics instead of the emergency department (ED). A single patient’s ED use instead of urgent care or a physician can cost Altru 10 to 12 times more and was creating congestion during true emergencies like COVID-19. Our multi-channel campaign successfully redirected patients to urgent care, driving lower healthcare costs for patients while also reducing ER congestion for Altru.
Challenge
Altru sought to target people who were using the ED for treatment that could be better addressed in their express walk-in clinics. Many of these people had traditionally used the ED as a starting point to direct care flow, leading to higher costs and an overuse of Altru’s ED resources.
Solution
Personify Health’s Health System Growth Solution uses data and analytics to pinpoint the right campaign targets. Pre-built queries combine enriched consumer lifestyle and social determinants of health data with information from the client’s electronic medical record
(EMR), like a diagnosis or location visited, to identify the target audience. These Altru patients and prospects were then targeted with a multi-channel, multi-cycle campaign that included direct mail and email communications. To keep their audience engaged during COVID, Personify Health helped Altru rapidly adjust messages to educate patients about “virtual waiting rooms”, expanded virtual care options, and “Express Video” visits.
Results
The multi-channel outreach strategy was incredibly successful, especially in educing ED utilization for non-emergency services. This success continued during the COVID-19 pandemic in driving patients to virtual care options and reducing strain on ED services. Using Personify Health’s solution, Altru now has clear visibility into value gained when a targeted patient visits one of their express locations or engages with virtual care. They can also see what other services that patient used and ultimately determine an associated ROI.
Examples of Multi-Channel Campaigns
“We focus on patients receiving the right care for their needs. Directing thousands of patients to the appropriate facility means more people are getting more convenient and affordable care while also freeing up our ED for those who really need it. This has been a big win for our patients and community as well as the health system.”
Learn more at personifyhealth.com