Patient Engagement:
Automated.
Intelligent.

HealthCall APR Assistant™
Fully Integrated
Digital Patient Engagement Tools

Why Patient Engagement Matters

Numerous HealthCall studies, research, and real-world success demonstrate the profound impact of patient engagement.

A Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) program achieved remarkable success using HealthCall Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) to manage anxiety in a high-frequency 911 caller with complex medical and mental health conditions. The patient, who had made 49 EMS calls in a year, was enrolled in an RPM program that tracked key vitals like blood pressure, glucose, and oxygen levels—metrics often confused with anxiety symptoms. Within 72 days, EMS calls dropped to zero, and over the year, calls decreased by 86%, demonstrating the effectiveness of RPM in helping the patient distinguish between anxiety and true medical emergencies.

This approach not only reduced emergency service use but also empowered the patient through daily health feedback, personalized education, and trust-building interventions like the 3-3-3 grounding technique. By integrating RPM with mental health support and care team coordination, the program transformed a cycle of anxiety-driven emergency calls into sustainable self-management — showcasing RPM as a powerful tool for treating anxiety in community healthcare settings.

An EMS department implemented HealthCall to enhance its Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) operations, particularly in fall prevention and patient follow-up. By using HealthCall’s APR™ Assistant, the team automated over 2,000 follow-up calls, identifying 700 patients who required further attention and contacting more than 1,600 directly. Each day, the system flags 40 to 60 non-transported fall cases, enabling early outreach through brief, automated wellness checks. Patients with three or more falls in a 90-day period are escalated for personal contact and in-home safety evaluations — leading to 277 home inspections completed within the year.

This use case highlights how HealthCall saves valuable time, increases patient reach, and enables more targeted care. Nearly 4,000 EMS crew referrals were logged and tracked in the system, with field medics scheduling, charting, and tagging patients in real-time. The system also supports integration with community initiatives, resource tracking (e.g., Narcan distribution), and grant reporting. By centralizing patient data and workflows, HealthCall empowers EMS programs to scale outreach, streamline communication, and generate actionable insights across multiple care domains.

A major home health provider upgraded its patient monitoring capabilities by adopting HealthCall APR Assistant™, part of HealthCall’s Care Delivery Platform. Faced with limitations from an outdated system, the organization sought a more scalable and customizable solution to meet the growing demands of chronic disease management and post-discharge care. HealthCall’s APR Assistant™ allowed clinical staff to manage by exception—focusing on patients whose responses triggered alerts—while also enabling personalized care plans and streamlined follow-up. The implementation was completed efficiently, and the platform’s flexibility allowed care teams to tailor assessments to each patient’s evolving needs.

The transition to HealthCall resulted in significant clinical and financial improvements. Within two months, the provider moved 100 patients from a costly device-based telehealth model, cutting out equipment-related expenses such as rental, delivery, and maintenance. The organization reported a 30-day hospital readmission rate of just 4.7% for heart failure patients, far below the national average of 18.5%. Diabetic patients also experienced meaningful health gains, including reductions in A1C levels. In addition to better outcomes, HealthCall’s approach fostered deeper patient engagement, empowering individuals to take an active role in their care through consistent education and automated assessments.
[https://www.healthcall.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/10-HealthCall-Case-Study-Large-Home-Health-Network-Upgrades-to-Device-free-Monitoring-to-Improve-Care.pdf]

The HealthCall Automated Patient Response Assistant™ (APR Assistant™) has proven highly effective in improving medication adherence within programs for chronic disease. In a six-month study involving 523 heart failure patients, 94% reported compliance with their prescribed therapy—matching or exceeding manual disease management programs while significantly reducing administrative burden and cost. Compared to traditional care, patients using HealthCall® were four times less likely to be hospitalized during a seven-month follow-up, resulting in substantial cost savings: $317,508 less than the control group after accounting for program costs. Additionally, 88% of HealthCall participants remained free of rehospitalization versus 57% in the usual care group.

Beyond reducing costs and improving outcomes, HealthCall’s patient engagement tools strengthen patient accountability, education, and engagement. In contrast to manual call systems staffed by nurses, HealthCall collects self-reported data efficiently, helping patients understand the value of their medications and reinforcing self-care behavior. Clinical outcomes were further validated by physiological improvements such as reduced B-type natriuretic peptide levels, a critical biomarker in heart failure management. These results underscore HealthCall’s ability to deliver high-quality, scalable care delivery solutions while enhancing both patient compliance and overall healthcare efficiency.
[https://www.healthcall.com/healthcall-medication-adherence/]

Challenges and Considerations

1. Data Privacy and HIPAA Compliance
   • Why it matters: Patient engagement tools handle sensitive personal health information (PHI), so it’s critical that they comply with HIPAA regulations to protect patient privacy.
   • HealthCall’s approach: The platform emphasizes secure, seamless data flow between engagement tools, ensuring patient data is protected during communication and stored securely. Features like audit logs and secure messaging support compliance and accountability.
   • Bottom line: Ensuring HIPAA compliance builds trust, safeguards legal standing, and is essential for patient confidence and adoption.
2. Digital Literacy and Access Issues
   • Why it matters: Patients vary widely in their comfort with technology. If tools are too complex, adoption and engagement drop—particularly among older or underserved populations.
   • HealthCall’s approach: Tools are designed to be app-free, registration-free, and function across universal devices including voice, SMS, email, and postal mail. This flexibility reduces the barrier to entry, supporting patients with limited tech experience or access.
   • Bottom line: Accessibility and ease of use are crucial for equitable and widespread adoption of digital tools across diverse patient populations.
3. Integration with Existing Systems
• Why it matters: Fragmented digital tools can disrupt workflows, create data silos, and hinder care coordination.
• HealthCall’s approach: The platform is fully integrated with a longitudinal EHR and works as a natural extension of care teams, enabling automated workflows, real-time data sharing, and streamlined documentation.
• Bottom line: Seamless integration enhances provider efficiency, improves care continuity, and maximizes the value of engagement tools.

Conclusion