Case Study

Implementation of ALY in a Hospital Setting

My Perspective as the Telehealth Partner. This case study outlines my experience working with a mid-sized hospital following their adoption of the ALY platform for behavioral health consults. It focuses on operational performance, workflow alignment, and the impact of ALY on consult efficiency.

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1. Hospital Setting

The hospital is a mid-sized facility with:

  • A busy ED
  • Limited inpatient psychiatric capacity
  • A small behavioral health nursing team
  • No dedicated staff for collateral gathering

The hospital implemented ALY to centralize consults and reduce reliance on phone calls and fragmented communication.

2. Initial Implementation

When ALY was introduced, consult volume was manageable and staff were enthusiastic. Early use showed:

  • Requests entered correctly
  • Consults consistently routed
  • Nurses using ALY messaging for questions

However, within weeks, operational inconsistencies emerged that directly affected our turnaround times.

3. Challenges Observed
Incomplete Collateral

Many consults arrived with no nursing notes, labs, or vitals. This forced providers to pause evaluations to request missing information, leading to delays.

Urgency Confusion

ED staff marked routine consults as urgent (and vice versa). This made triage unpredictable and created risk during high-volume hours.

Workflow Misalignment

Unclear expectations on face-to-face evals led to patients being admitted without evaluation and the ED waiting unnecessarily.

Offline Comms

Staff using personal calls instead of ALY messaging resulted in lost audit trails, missed updates, and delayed responses.

4. Interventions
Step 4.1
Workflow Review

I met with leadership to outline what information providers need before accepting a consult and why consistent collateral is essential.

Step 4.2
Standardized Protocol

We established required collateral uploads (labs, notes), a clear definition for “urgent” consults, and a uniform process for face-to-face evals.

Step 4.3
Staff Training

We trained nurses on where to upload files and how to use message threads. Once understood, overall communication improved significantly.

5. Outcomes
Improved Turnaround

Reduced delays from missing collateral allowed providers to begin assessments quicker.

Accurate Triage

With proper urgency tagging, true emergencies were seen faster and routine cases scheduled appropriately.

Stable Flow

Clarified expectations resulted in fewer admissions without evaluation and smoother transitions.

Staff Confidence

Teams became comfortable relying solely on ALY, reducing off-platform communication.

"The implementation of ALY demonstrated that the platform is effective when supported by consistent workflows and clear communication."
Once standardized processes were introduced, ALY significantly improved efficiency, reduced delays, and strengthened collaboration between the hospital and the telehealth team.