October marked the first anniversary of the launch of Azara Patient Outreach (APO), Azara’s patient engagement module which enables DRVS users to conduct “Set it and Forget it” campaigns that automatically initiate patient contact via text. Today, APO contains 31 messaging campaigns across 9 programs (with more planned for future release) designed to close care gaps and increase patient engagement and care.
Azara’s journey to Azara Patient Outreach began through our partnership with CareMessage—combining Azara’s population health data reporting and analytics with CareMessage’s patient engagement mobile messaging technology. The Azara-CareMessage partnership was created to help simplify the process for our safety net provider clients to leverage the actionable insights from within DRVS and enable effective patient communication.
During the pilot phase, one of the initial test sites for APO, Honor Community Health Center, a Michigan-based FQHC, was able to identify and reach out to 149 patients diagnosed with diabetes who had not had an A1C test within the current calendar year. In just 4 weeks, 21 patients responded to the messages, increasing A1C testing rates for these patients from 0% to 33% while also improving diabetes education with minimal manual effort.
Months later, in response to the ongoing pandemic, Azara introduced COVID-19 Immunization programs for APO which enabled users to automate outreach to patients for scheduling and receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. With automatic prioritization and outreach to patients based on a customizable set of clinical factors, the solution was able to free up valuable resources to administer the vaccine and care for patients.
This past August, Azara announced our partnership with Luma Health, combining Luma Health's patient journey platform and Azara’s data reporting and analytics—allowing users to engage patients through APO’s pre-configured programs that automatically initiate patient contact via Luma Health text message, track response and follow-up actions, adjust outreach efforts and quantify results. Both platforms integrate seamlessly with leading EHRs to inform the longitudinal picture of a patient's care.
In a recent NWRPCA news article, Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center (ANHC) shared how staff was able to expand their existing success with Luma Health messaging by connecting it with Azara DRVS—realizing the enormous potential to expand the positive impacts for their patients. As a result, ANHC staff are now able to quickly report on patients who are overdue for preventive care using data from DRVS, then send a text message with a single click.
57 health centers across the US are now using APO to send over 50,000 messages per week, reaching over 100,000 patients in the past three months alone!
As we exit the first year of APO’s history, we are excited to report that 57 health centers across the US are now using APO to send over 50,000 messages per week, reaching over 100,000 patients in the past three months alone! It is very clear that using automated outreach to increase contact and engagement with patients is highly effective and we plan to continue to add ways to further this capability. Stay tuned for the introduction of three new programs that are coming soon—Chlamydia Screening, Hypertension Medication Renewal and Adherence, and Transitions of Care.
