Nurse Response Helps Bring Awareness to National Health Care Quality Week

ST. LOUIS - Oct. 25, 2013 - PRLog -- Nurse Response, a national provider of multilingual nurse triage and health education services, is pleased to help bring awareness to National Health Care Quality Week, which is being celebrated this week.

“Since 1995, the health care professionals at Nurse Response have worked to create and implement quality-improvement systems that help deliver better care to those they serve,” said Kim Tuck, RN, President & CEO of Nurse Response. "Because nurse advice lines or nurse triage services are often the first point in the continuum of care, we strive to ensure that our team provides the highest quality service in every interaction.”

To help ensure that your nurse advice line is a quality health care partner, Nurse Response has compiled a few things to look for:

·         Ask About Accreditations: URAC is a nonprofit organization and is the leading health care accreditation organization for health call centers. The URAC accreditation process demonstrates a commitment to quality services and serves as a framework to improve business processes through benchmarking organizations against nationally recognized standards. The Health Call Center Accreditation assures that registered nurses, physicians or other validly licensed individuals perform the clinical aspects of triage and other health information services in a manner that is timely, confidential, and includes medically appropriate care and treatment advice.URAC ensures your nurse advice line is meeting service and quality guarantees.

·         Focus on Clinical Guidelines: The RNs who work for a nurse advice line must determine the appropriate action to take based upon current symptoms, without physically seeing the person on the other end of the line. Because of that, it’s important for them to use evidence-based specific telephone triage protocols and symptom decision support guidelines to ensure the right health advice is provided to each and every caller.

·         Clinical Expertise: Inquire about the level of experience of the team at your nurse advice line. Nurses need “real world” experience that adds to their well-roundedness and knowledge.

·         Listen to Happy Customers: Look for a partner who takes the time to ask customers about their experience – and learn from it. To ensure that the response isn’t just a random sampling, every caller should have the option to provide feedback. And don’t forget that the end customer isn’t the only one who can help to improve process. Using a third-party to research clients ensures that the results aren’t tainted and that all involved have a voice in improvement.

·         Attention to Education and Empowerment: Providing traditional nurse triage service is an important part of health care, but taking it a step further by providing knowledge and information can help enhance future state, too. Does your partner administer health care assessments, and aid in the prevention of serious illness by proactively screening patients for symptoms of disease and directing them to preventative care? Can your partner assist with scheduling physician visits and reminders about upcoming testing and appointments? A true health care partner can enrich the level of convenience and the overall comprehension of the sometimes confusing health care landscape.

·         Speak Your Language: English is a common language in our country, but there are many other languages that are prominent. Make sure your partner has bilingual team members and access to translation services if needed.

For more information about National Health Care Quality Week, visit www.nahq.org.

About Nurse Response

Nurse Response is a wholly owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation that is in the business of providing multilingual telehealth services. We partner with health plans, hospitals, providers, colleges and universities, and other specialty organizations to ensure all callers have access to high quality, appropriate care. Our services are designed to encourage callers to become active participants in their healthcare, engaging in activities that promote appropriate utilization of care resources as well as better health outcomes for individuals and their families. We have provided uninterrupted service every day since 1995. Nurse Response experienced Customer Care Professionals and Registered Nurses at our call centers across the country provide Care.Right.Now. through delivery of health information, education, and advice in a culturally and linguistically sensitive manner. For more information, please visit our website www.nurseresponse.com or contact us today at info@nurseresponse.com.