Applicable Industries
- Healthcare & Hospitals
- Telecommunications
Applicable Functions
- Maintenance
Use Cases
- Personnel Tracking & Monitoring
- Time Sensitive Networking
Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
Arkansas Children's Hospital is one of the largest pediatric medical providers in the US, with a mission to pioneer pediatric patient care, research cutting-edge treatment, and save lives. The hospital has a team of 500 physicians, 95 residents in pediatrics and pediatric specialties, and 4,400 employees, and operates 370 beds. The hospital is committed to championing children by making them better today and healthier tomorrow. However, the hospital can only help patients that show up for their appointments. When patients no-show, it costs the hospital a tremendous amount of time and money, and can negatively affect a child's care and recovery.
The Challenge
Arkansas Children's Hospital, one of the largest pediatric medical centers in the US, was facing a significant challenge in confirming patient appointments. The hospital was dealing with a high no-show rate, which was not only costing the hospital a substantial amount of time and money but also negatively impacting the care and recovery of the children. The hospital's legacy phone system, which was used to send out hundreds of thousands of appointment confirmation calls, was unable to handle the load and would frequently break down. This resulted in only a small percentage of patients receiving call reminders, leading to more missed appointments and further stress on the system. The hospital's search for a new solution was met with high price quotes from vendors and long waiting periods. The hospital also considered building an in-house notification system, but this would have left them with too much responsibility over the call center and taken valuable time away from other operations.
The Solution
The hospital turned to Twilio, a cloud communications platform, to reduce its no-show rate. Twilio's solution allowed the hospital to send out SMS or voice reminders to patients a day before their appointment, reminding them of the day, time, and location, and asking them if they would make the appointment. If the patient confirmed their attendance, the system would confirm the appointment time once again and hang up. If the patient indicated they would not be able to make it, the system would remind them to reschedule and provide them with the number to call to make a new appointment. The hospital also launched a broadcast message system that allowed outpatient administrators to build, schedule, and deliver phone calls for groups of patients scheduled for an appointment in any of their five clinic locations, informing them of changes in opening hours. The hospital is currently researching how to leverage Twilio even further, with an SMS short code that will allow them to contact even more patients about their appointments and changes in clinic opening hours, at greater speed and scale.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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