How Notifications can Improve Health & Safety
Notifications, an NEMT passenger information system, is primarily used to send clients automated trip reminders and arrival updates. But there are two other reasons to use Notifications. You can use Notifications to promote better health outcomes for NEMT clients with automated messages that inform, remind, and encourage taking action. You can also use Notifications to provide clients with updates regarding natural disasters or other emergencies affecting the community.
Sending Healthcare Messages
Why bother sending healthcare messages to your clients? First, it’s not a “bother.” Because Notifications is automated, it takes just a few minutes to set up the message in the back-office system and push it out to all (or a portion) of your clients. Improving health care outcomes is a goal of all Medicaid-funded organizations. Brokers and providers can work with their medical transportation funders to craft health care messages that promote client self-care and encourage appointment attendance.
With healthcare messages, you can:
- Encourage clients to attend their primary care appointments by sending messages about the importance of regular check-ups. These messages could be sent to clients that have appointments coming up in the next month, or it could be sent to clients that have not booked a trip in a while (and whom may not have seen their doctor recently). By encouraging clients to attend appointments, your funders are happier because the incidence of missed appointments may be reduced.
- Remind clients about services that are offered through your organization or their MCO. For example, if you offer mileage reimbursement for clients who can drive to appointments (or have a friend or family member drive), you can send a message informing clients about this option. Reminding clients that you offer certain services or options can boost adoption.
- Inform clients about general health and wellness concepts, such as how to properly cover one’s mouth while sneezing. Messages about germ control can help you do your part to curb the spread of viruses during flu season.
Sending Emergency Notifications
Natural disasters and other crisis situations unfortunately happen. When disaster strikes, where do people turn for advice? Flipping to a news station on the TV or radio might give them some information about the disaster and affected areas, but what if they need to know specific health-care related information? Notifications can be used to send emergency messages to affected clients, so that they are fully informed of the situation and how it impacts them. Notifications supports text and voice messages as well as email messages, so even if cell service is down, they will receive the message (if they have Data or WiFi.)
With emergency messages, you can:
- Re-post critical messages from local authorities, such as areas to avoid and emergency contact numbers.
- Let clients know if they are under an emergency evacuation order, and what actions to take.
- Let clients know if their appointment is cancelled, and what they should do to access treatment in the interim.
Notifications for Emergencies and for Every Day
Hopefully you won’t have much need for sending emergency messages, but if you do need to, it’s great to have a tool that makes it easy. During times of emergency, the office (and the entire community) will be in a hectic state. You’ll have a lot to deal with, but at least you won’t have to worry about how to communicate with your clients!
Every day, you can use Notifications to help achieve specific organizational goals. Encourage improved health care outcomes, encourage clients to see their doctor, and even promote services offered by your organization.
This blog was written to highlight some of the useful ways Notifications can be used beyond its primary purpose. To learn more about using Notifications to send trip reminders and arrival updates, visit the Notifications webpage.
