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New Better Patient Solutions

What happens when new technology enters the world of medicine? It seems that with new technology comes better and faster patient care. UnitedHealth, one of the biggest medical insurance companies in the US has recently joined together DSHI systems to provide an easy and quick way for patients to get the answers they need. Optum, a UnitedHealth Group company, has selected DSHI Systems to provide TriageXpert Call Center, DSHI Systems` proprietary triage decision-support solution, to Optum call-center nurses. Optum nurses provide health information and education to more than 28 million consumers from 8 call centers across the nation. Nurse call centers perform a vital role in directing callers to appropriate care. TriageXpert utilizes sophisticated, physician-written algorithms that enable nurses to accurately and consistently analyze thousands of symptoms.

Algorithms are designed by DSHI Systems` physician-authors, utilizing best-evidence and best-practice resources. TriageXpert generates a symptom-based interview from a library of 50,000 questions. The exact sequence of questions is steered by the caller?s responses. TriageXpert analyzes the responses and then provides its recommendation to the nurse. This entire task is completed in less than eight minutes. DSHI Systems supplied Optum with a custom application programming interface to TriageXpert. This approach allowed Optum to choose its own CRM application and utilize existing information assets, while leveraging high-quality medical decision-making provided by TriageXpert. Following rigorous testing, the solution was implemented in stages throughout 2005.

This culminated in a full deployment for 2006. In 2006, DSHI Systems will release two new products based on its popular TriageXpert engine. TriageXpert WorkerWell puts decision making tools in the hands of consumers, empowering them to make better health decisions. As a corporate wellness strategy, TriageXpert WorkerWell saves money by reducing unnecessary emergency room visits. TriageXpert Context Search converts conventional medical web searches that are based on word syntax, to more powerful searches that are based on concepts. The TriageXpert Context Search prompts users for relevant medical history, analyzes the results, and then automatically generates the most accurate search terms.