Care collaboration technology vendor TigerConnect has debuted TigerTouch, a text message-oriented, audio/visual telehealth system designed to help health systems manage COVID-19 cases.

TigerTouch allows providers to control communication by initiating communications with a patient’s cell number via text message, thus solving phone-tag and voicemail problems. The system also enables care providers to securely exchange photos, videos and file attachments on their smartphones.

WHY IT MATTERS

TigerTouch is a mobile-centric healthcare-communications platform that enables doctors, nurses and allied health professionals to communicate securely with patients via video, voice or text with a single, enterprise-grade app. This is achieved without forcing a patient to log in to a portal, download an app or create another password to manage.

TigerTouch is designed to increase access to healthcare and improve outcomes while reducing hospital readmission and enhancing show rates – all critical to defeat COVID-19, the company said.

As health systems seek new ways to provide care while reducing the spread of COVID-19, TigerTouch helps healthcare providers communicate directly with patients on their favorite platform: their phone, the vendor said. Less than 20% of patients log in to a portal or download an app, compared to the 97% who text.

TigerTouch is designed to help healthcare providers improve patient experiences, the company said, by providing:

• Direct engagement with healthcare providers. Clinicians can conduct 1-on-1 or group conversations via text, voice or video with patients, so enhancing remote care while avoiding potential exposure to COVID-19 or other infectious diseases.
• Communication throughout the patient journey. The system enables providers to engage patients at each touchpoint during a health event, from diagnosis, to hospitalization, to recovery.
• Convenient communications. Secure, encrypted channels enable staff to share protected health information (PHI) in order to coordinate care quickly and avoid time-consuming call-backs.

THE LARGER TREND

To help fight the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the HHS Office for Civil Rights announced that during the coronavirus pandemic it would use discretion when enforcing HIPAA compliance for telehealth communications tools.

Meanwhile, the Trump Administration has expanded Medicare telehealth benefits, which the CMS says would enable beneficiaries to get telehealth services in physician’s offices, hospitals, nursing homes, rural health clinics and their homes.

Healthcare IT News has compiled a listing of telemedicine vendors in the age of COVID-19, a resource for health IT leaders.

ON THE RECORD

“At Geisinger, we’ve already seen the tremendous value of TigerConnect with improved communication across the entire health system, so bringing patients into these conversations is the next logical step that could greatly improve the quality of the care we provide,” said Dr. Jonathan Slotkin, director of spinal surgery at Geisinger Health System, in a statement provided by TigerConnect.

“As an accountable care organization, it is our responsibility to find efficiencies in the delivery of care while still ensuring positive outcomes and experiences for patients,” added Dr. Savas Petrides, CEO at Innovation Care Partners. “We are always looking for innovative ways to improve communication between doctors and patients, and bringing secure texting into our organization could have an enormous impact on the quality of care we provide.”

Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT
Email the writer: bill.siwicki@himssmedia.com
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.