Notifying employees, members, patients and residents of college dormitory and long-term care facilities the latest on H1N1 – swine flu prevention and when and where to get regular flu shots – and H1N1 vaccinations when they become available – are not just good ideas. They can be literal lifesavers. It could also save your organization by reducing productivity-crippling sick time and resulting rising healthcare costs.

SoundBite Communications (News - Alert) is enabling businesses, governments, institutions and non-profits to deliver such information by developing and spreading the H1N1 Flu Notifications Solution. Part of SoundBite’s Proactive Customer Care Solutions Suite, the new hosted IVR/e-mail/text-based outbound application is aimed at pharmacies, insurance providers and hospitals to help them reach their customers, markets and audiences. For example, a national retail chain recently used the H1N1 Flu Notifications Solution to notify employees about its on-site flu shot clinic. Also a major health care provider is also sending H1N1 flu notifications to encourage members to get a flu shot this season.

SoundBite’s multi-channel, proactive customer communications platform is highly scalable and can quickly communicate with millions of customers and employees globally on a variety of communication channels and mobile devices. The flexible, on-demand H1N1 Flu Notifications Solution enables organizations to quickly design and execute a communications strategy that will:

The advent of the SoundBite solution is very timely. The Center for Disease Control reports that doctors’ offices have been experiencing a six week seasonal high for flu-like illnesses, and that more than half of the U.S. states are reporting widespread flu activity at this time. In September, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned that employers could face crippling absenteeism as the flu season takes hold. Yet nearly half of all businesses do not have a flu prevention plan of record.

“Many of the health insurance providers and hospitals that come to us for flu notifications need a flexible solution that they can deploy immediately to communicate with members and patients before the height of the flu season,” Michael Drew, CEO of Ringclear, a provider of proven customer communication solutions and a SoundBite reseller, said. 

“By advising our clients to proactively communicate to their members and patients ahead of time, they can reduce a large percentage of inbound calls they currently receive regarding flu shot availability and insurance coverage and significantly reduce operational costs,” Drew added.

As the H1N1 flu continues to spread globally, organizations must prepare themselves for what could be a near-pandemic situation by updating or implementing new pandemic plans, SoundBite officials said. They need plans that not only address their internal employee and operational needs but also that of their key external constituents.

“Frequent and proactive communications is critical for flu awareness and prevention,” Mark Friedman (News - Alert), chief marketing and business development officer at SoundBite, said. “Our on-demand, H1N1 Flu Notifications Solution makes it easy for any organization to quickly create and deploy these timely and relevant communications to employees and customers around the world.”