Debra’s Medical Telemessaging: Streamlining Message Delivery to Ease Operator Workloads

Debra’s Medical Telemessaging, a Victor/Booth Communications Company, is a family-owned business that was started in 1988 out of a dentist’s office with just one account. Back in the day they had a variety of clients, including funeral homes, limousine services, and doctor’s offices. In 1995 they moved to Berkley, MI and sold off their non-medical accounts to specialize in the medical profession. When Debra passed away in 2018, her daughter, Jamie, became the sole owner. Today Debra’s Medical Telemessaging is a small, but busy business with 13 staff, serving approximately 1500 physicians (350 accounts).

In 2014 they added Amtelco Secure Messages to their product offerings. Many of their clients had made the switch from pagers to texting since they didn’t want to carry around pagers anymore and had cell phones. Amtelco’s secure messaging app was a hard sell in the beginning, but the risk of incurring HIPPA violations was a big factor that helped get their clients on board.

The biggest challenge Debra’s Medical Telemessaging has encountered with Amtelco Secure Messages is convincing the older generation who are not as tech-savvy that this is an easy solution. Making sure they have a good internet connection to download the app and a compatible smart device are key to getting users set up. Their users find it simple and learn that the app is as easy to use as sending a text.

They recently were able to convince one site to start using Amtelco Secure Message by just having one physician try out the app for a few days. This allowed them to see how easy it is to use and led to all physicians deciding to utilize it. Jamie Pineau, Owner, indicated they have found the app to be a time-saver for their business. They currently have 585 Amtelco Secure Messages licenses. The number of call-outs to customers has decreased and not having to give out messages is convenient. The app has freed up their time so they can service more accounts, and the read receipts are a comfort to know the message was received and read.