In a recent press release, pMD®, the innovation leader in health care technology, has added two new features to enhance communication for both providers and patients. pMD® pChat™ users can now make encrypted and secure voice calls, providing another powerful tool to help prevent potentially harmful medical errors. Practices will also save significant time with new automated patient appointment reminders, increasing efficiency and greatly reducing no-shows rates.

Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the U.S. behind only heart disease and cancer. A subpar exchange of information can lead to tragic consequences, but there is no reason inefficient communication should be a barrier to providing excellent patient care.

Voice Calls

In addition to HIPAA-compliant text and video conferencing, which are already available in pMD, health care providers can now call patients within the app without exposing their personal phone numbers, providing top-notch care without sacrificing privacy. Users can also instantly reach colleagues who are using pMD® Secure Messaging™ without needing to have their phone number.

“Let’s face it, sometimes it is just more efficient to pick up the phone and talk to a colleague or patient live,” said Ted Ranney, vice president of business development at pMD. “Patients and doctors are both happier when communication is seamless. We want to give providers the option to deliver high-touch, personalized care without sacrificing their privacy. Secure voice calling is essential to lowering barriers to sharing information and giving everyone the best chance at a great outcome."

All voice calls with patients are initiated by the provider, eliminating privacy concerns. Calls are also logged and time-stamped to ensure accurate reporting.

Automated Appointment Reminders

Patient no-shows are a perennial issue for any medical practice, one which costs the health care industry $150 billion per year overall. Every missed appointment that could be potentially filled by another patient is money left on the table, not to mention a waste of time for staff and providers.

“Missed appointments are frustrating for any practice,” says one doctor at Women Caring for Women in New Jersey. “Our days are hectic and an incredible amount of time and effort goes into scheduling. Any time a patient doesn’t show up, we can always think of another patient that would’ve wanted that appointment slot, but we were unable to accommodate them. pMD’s appointment reminder feature helps increase efficiency for our scheduling team and reduce the no-show rates significantly.”

With automated patient appointment reminders, practices can significantly reduce those missed appointments, while freeing up office staff to focus on other tasks. Keeping medical visits top of mind, patients can connect with scheduling staff directly through pMD® Secure Messaging™ to easily confirm, reschedule, and discuss items related to their upcoming visit without spending time playing phone tag.

Customizable reminders can be sent to patients via text or phone call at set intervals before the appointment to streamline communication.

Coming soon, pMD will continue to enhance its communication functionality with additional features such as voice memos, for messages too long or complex to type.

About pMD

pMD gives health care professionals powerful, intuitive mobile software that improves patient care. With pMD's mobile communication, data capture, and care navigation platforms, health care teams finally have an elegant and simple technology to maximize efficiency and collaboration, capturing everything right at the point of care. pMD interfaces with all major electronic medical records, hospital systems, and medical billing systems, enabling the efficient sharing of data and cutting down on medical errors. pMD is committed to developing the best solution and providing superior customer service. For more information, contact pMD or visit www.pmd.com.

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