Hosted IVR

October 23, 2012

Department of Veterans Affairs Leverages IVR System to Help Weight Management Initiative

By Rich Steeves
TMCnet Web Editor

The Department of Veterans Affairs is one of the most important agencies in our government. When soldiers return home from tours of duty around the world, they face challenges that are unique. The VA has a track record of assisting returning veterans in many areas, from mental health to home loans, insurance, education and more. One recent initiative undertaken by the VA is called TeleMOVE, which is a weight management protocol. Recently, the VA has decided to leverage an interactive voice response (IVR) system to assist with this initiative.

The IVR system will help patients that require a flexible, mobile solution to help manage their weight. It provides VA staff with an additional way to monitor their mobile patients remotely, enhancing patient care via telehealth.

Clinicians can use the IVR system to monitor patient vital signs, gathering important information about their patients’ health. These clinicians can review the remotely monitored sessions and make adjustments to care plans, medication and more. The particular IVR solution selected by the government agency is provided by Authentidate (News - Alert), and is deployed in conjunction with that company’s Electronic House Call Web-based platform.

"Authentidate is very pleased that the VA has approved the national rollout of our IVR solution with TeleMOVE,” said Gavin Stewart, vice president of Business Development at Authentidate, in a statement. “We believe that the other DMPs which are currently being pilot tested will be approved for national deployment in the near future and that our IVR solution provides a significant growth opportunity for our company. We continue to work closely with the VA to provide cost-effective solutions to help support their efforts to deliver the best health care for our veterans."

Edited by Jamie Epstein