Getty Images/iStockphoto
CHIME Awards TrueCare CIO Collaboration Award for Health IT Partnership
CHIME member TrueCare reduced patient no-show rates by four percent through collaboration with health IT vendor Artera.
The College of Information Management Executives (CHIME) has honored Tracy Elmer, chief innovation officer of TrueCare, and health IT vendor Artera, with the 2022 CHIME Collaboration Award for their partnership.
The CHIME Collaboration Award is given annually to recognize a CIO who is a CHIME member and a CHIME Foundation firm who together offer a benefit to the health IT community. Winners are given an opportunity to share their collaboration and its outcomes with CHIME members for possible application in other healthcare environments.
Before the partnership, TrueCare struggled with record-high no-show rates and high call volume, even before the COVID-19 pandemic began. The healthcare organization also lacked bidirectional communication with their patients that would meet them where they are: on their phones and in their preferred languages.
“TrueCare has been providing heartfelt, compassionate care for over 50 years,” Tracy A. Elmer, MS, CHCIO, CDH-E, RHIA, chief innovation officer for TrueCare, said in a press release. “A core element of our patient engagement strategy was to innovate how we actually connect with our patient, ensuring that we not only meet their healthcare needs but all the aspects of how they engage with it.”
TrueCare evaluated various patient communication vendors a few months before the onset of COVID-19 and ultimately selected Artera. Officials said that the scope of implementation grew dramatically in response to the pandemic.
According to Elmer, the collaboration between TrueCare and Artera went well beyond the technology.
“As a CIO, I understand that the significance and meaning of innovation goes well beyond technology,” said Elmer. “It takes people and context to bring it to life.”
Since the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health center has reached 150,000 patients via the Artera platform and has sent 8.3 million messages to its patient population. Overall, TrueCare was able to reduce patient no-show rates by four percent.
