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Call 4 Health: The Patient-Centric Approach to Telemedicine
Joseph Pores, CEO
Life can often propel us in new and surprising directions. Joseph Pores, founder and CEO of Call 4 Health in Delray Beach, FL can certainly vouch for that. When his mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Pores soon learned through heartfelt personal experiences that patient care and ease of communication shared among patients, doctors and hospitals was not always seamless. He vowed to be a change maker for the patient experience, and ultimately, for his mom’s legacy. “Patients’ requests require immediate attention and should be dealt with professionally and expediently,” says Pores.
Call 4 Health has developed on the cusp of fundamental change as a business model and conduit for patients to get the care and services they so deserve and for medical management, physicians, and hospital facilities to bring about a more compassionate approach to everyday care. “Call centers are here to move the barriers of hospital walls,” says Pores. “By responding fast to patients and clients’requests— health call centers can help reduce administrative burdens, while also making the patient experience more positive.”
And now, 21 years and counting, Call 4 Health serves clients in almost every state, with 80 percent of clients being in hospitals and healthcare systems, and the remaining 20 percent in homecare, hospice, and pharmaceuticals. Pores, whose stalwart determination paired with his professional background in customer service, has strategically led and delivered important changes in the call center/telemedicine industry today.
These aspects include the addition of the Call 4 Health nurse triage division, and the Call 4 Health Virtual Behavioral Health Program, which uses video chats via Skype-style technology and conferencing for collaboration between doctors and therapists to enable secure communication between doctor-to-doctor and doctor-to-patient.
“We’re here to help resolve many of the daily pain points in practice management, such as staff issues and fiscal challenges,” says Pores. Throughout his career, Pores has stayed true to his vision and innovative take on the industry he has grown to be so passionate about. There are plenty of beneficial reasons for hospitals and other healthcare providers to outsource call centers away from in-house receptionists and administrative staff, according to Pores. “Our call center helps alleviate potential problems involved with scheduling and balance of workload. We are the liaison serving to provide quick answers with fewer callers being left on hold. Plus, Call 4 Health offers the opportunity for higher patient satisfaction rates and positive metrics for value-based reimbursements,” adds Pores.
There’s an endless litany of reasons why health care call centers, such as Call 4 Health, can better provide what medical offices or hospital switchboards cannot. Call 4 Health is an example of a robust call center business model because it is patient-driven, professionally trained staff follow best practices and are ready to handle what might happen moment-to-moment, hour-by-hour. “Our philosophy is that no call should ever be considered unimportant,” says Pores. The credo to be upheld at Call 4 Health is that the patient experience, virtual or otherwise, is reflective of the client’s caliber and compassion. For hospitals, private doctor offices, and licensed therapists, it’s about how to assuage the burden of everyday operational issues without diluting the human equation.
“We deliver a practical patient access solution,” asserts Pores. “By setting a foundation for quality health call center operations, Call 4 Health can improve caller satisfaction, ROI, savings to an organization, and be a resourceful beacon for patients seeking a personal connection.”