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Read IKC's Position Paper: Recommended Changes to Conditions for Coverage to Improve and Modernize Kidney Care
Kidney patients deserve better access to home dialysis.
"Switching to peritoneal dialysis allowed me to get back to the ring and live my best life."
– Vy, dialysis patient
"It wasn't easy to find a dialysis center that would train me in home hemodialysis, but once I did, that made all the difference for me."
– John, transplant recipient
"When I crashed into dialysis, I had no idea what my options were. If it weren't for my own research online, I would never have known about home dialysis."
-Gwenie, in training for home hemodialysis
Vy, dialysis patient
John, transplant recipient
Gwenie, in training for home hemodialysis
37,000,000 Americans are affected by kidney disease and 550,000 annually are on dialysis. However, the pathway to choosing where and how to do dialysis can sometimes be difficult for patients and their loved ones. Not all patients have access to the same choices for their dialysis care.
Self-dialysis, including peritoneal dialysis and home hemodialysis, is a safe and effective treatment option for patients facing permanent kidney failure—also known as End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) or End-Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD)—while they wait for a kidney transplant, or if they're ineligible for a transplant.
Home dialysis offers logistical, economic, and quality of life benefits for patients experiencing kidney failure; but it's widely underutilized in the United States despite the advantages it can offer.
The federal government and the kidney community agree that increased patient access to home dialysis is crucial. Nonetheless, existing federal regulations make it difficult or impossible for patients to access dialysis at home.
To give patients experiencing kidney failure the best chance at maintaining their quality of life, federal policies have to change to align with the goal of providing more patients the choice to receive their dialysis at home.
Create a whole new paradigm that gives patients a choice in their dialysis.
Empower kidney patients to access diverse innovations that improve their lives.
Modernize existing policies and regulations to foster flexibility in patient care.
Medicare's existing ESRD Conditions for Coverage apply a one-size-fits-all set of federal requirements for offering dialysis services whether patients are receiving dialysis in a clinic or treating at home. Yet, many of these requirements do not need to apply to self-dialysis options. Current regulations create unnecessary complexity and delays that prevent many patients from having choices in where and how they receive their dialysis.
Remove barriers that make it challenging for self-dialysis, home training, and support to be provided in existing health care settings.
Strengthen guidance to expand home dialysis training, support, and transitional care via in-center self-dialysis, with extra focus on marginalized communities.
Protect patient safety while giving providers more flexibility in skilled staffing to coach patients and care partners on independent skills-building, based on their own licensure or training.
Provide information to patients and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on medical directors and owners of each dialysis facility.
Simplify and streamline requirements on what is needed to establish Medicare certification for a home training and support facility.
Expand options to provide accessible, safe virtual care, and training to patients electing self-dialysis modalities.
Read Our Recommended Changes to Conditions for Coverage to Improve and Modernize Kidney Care
Gwenie lives on a ranch in a rural area of NE Montana. She is not new to the healthcare arena, but had no idea that she had CKD when she "crashed" into dialysis in Nov. 2020. With no major medical center near her small town, Gwenie drove over 400 miles to Billings, MT to seek treatment. Like many others who crash into dialysis, she woke up with a CVC catheter on dialysis in the hospital. Upon discharge, Gwenie was sent to her closest dialysis facility for outpatient dialysis, 60 miles away on an Indian reservation. She describes the experience as "the blind leading the blind." She received no information on home modalities at that clinic, and only learned about her options on the Internet. She approached her clinic about this option.
Therein lay the problem. Despite no regulation requiring a care partner for the machine she would be using at home, the clinic required that her husband be in attendance for her entire dialysis training — 3 days a week for 4-6 weeks. Gwenie and her husband operate a working ranch with livestock, so one of them has to be present on the farm at all times. The clinic would make no accommodations for this, so Gwenie did more Internet research. She found a clinic in Fargo, ND that would train her for solo dialysis. So, in the Spring of 2021, Gwenie will relocate 500 miles away to Fargo for 4-5 weeks to begin her training for solo home dialysis.
John recently received a kidney transplant, but he is a veteran of dialysis, experiencing all modalities of treatment. However, when John first made the decision to transition to home hemodialysis (HHD), he found that his options were limited.
Even though he was in an urban area, he found there were few dialysis centers that offered HHD training. With the assistance of his nephrologist, John was able to identify a center that met his needs, but it was 45 minutes away, and not conveniently located near public transportation. This is a challenge for an individual dependent upon public transportation.
However, John persevered, selected the center, was able to complete his HHD training and experienced great success with HHD.
Vy is an avid Muay Thai boxer and sandwich blogger living in Orange County, CA. Vy joined a new kidney-specialized care management program 3 weeks after having started in-center hemodialysis. While he had done some of his own research on dialysis, Vy started dialysis without fully understanding all the options. Like many dialysis patients, he did not know about his self-dialysis options.
He engaged with his new care team and outlined what his goals were, both for treatment and his lifestyle. It was really important to him to keep up his active lifestyle and get back to Muay Thai boxing 3-4 times a week. After receiving in-depth, customized education on all of his treatment options and talking it through with his dedicated nurse, Vy decided to switch to peritoneal dialysis. This decision allowed Vy to get back to the ring and live his best life.
We are innovators – patient and physician advocates, health benefits companies, care providers, and medical device manufacturers – collaborating to remove barriers to treatment choice for kidney patients and ensure more people can easily access dialysis at home.
Recommended Changes to Conditions for Coverage to Improve and Modernize Kidney Care
March 3, 2022:
IKC Releases Report Recommending Solutions to Modernize Conditions for Coverage for ESRD Patients
June 29, 2021:
Innovate Kidney Care Campaign Launched to Expand Access to Home Dialysis
Kidney News:
Profit and Loss: America on Dialysis
Fox13:
Innovate Kidney Care provides patients with options
McKnight's Senior Living:
New kidney care coalition tells CMS to break down barriers to in-home dialysis
Healio:
ASN, NKF, CVS Kidney Care among members of campaign to improve home dialysis
NEJM Catalyst:
Bringing Kidney Care Home: Lessons from Covid-19
Scientific American:
© Innovate Kidney Care 2023


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Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Toxicity
Increasing Complexity in Mechanistic Toxicology: Microenvironment to Bioinformatics
Chair Rhiannon N. Hardwick
Vice Chair Heather M. Wallace
Andover, NH, US
Applications for this meeting must be submitted by July 18, 2021. Please apply early, as some meetings become oversubscribed (full) before this deadline. If the meeting is oversubscribed, it will be stated here. Note: Applications for oversubscribed meetings will only be considered by the conference chair if more seats become available due to cancellations.
Collaboration across the many areas of toxicology research including the environmental sciences and pharmaceutical and consumer product development, is critical for scientific advancement as scientists from academia, private industry and government strive to solve crucial public health problems. The Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Toxicity (CMMT) Gordon Research Conference (GRC) boasts a rich history of presenting the latest unpublished innovations in mechanistic toxicology within a collegial environment fostering open scientific exchange, networking, and career development. The 2021 week-long program aims to highlight interdisciplinary and integrative scientific partnership across the academic, government, pharmaceutical, and consumer product professional sectors and more. Featured session topics include functional genomics, environmental toxicant metabolism, impact of the cellular microenvironment on toxic outcomes, integration of artificial intelligence in toxicology, modernization of developmental and reproductive toxicity testing, mechanistic understanding of new therapeutic modality toxicities, and novel mechanistic approaches for aneugenicity risk assessment. The program also includes an early career investigator session featuring two trainees selected from the associated Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) along with emerging investigators in mechanistic toxicology from across the U.S. and abroad. Additionally, the program will offer a Power Hour™, which is a unique and popular session offered by the GRC to provide an open, informal venue to address challenges faced by women in science and critical issues on diversity. The 2021 CMMT GRC Power Hour™ will for the first time focus on challenges for women with intersectional identities. The session, led by active researchers in the field of toxicology who are also leading advocates of women in science and persons with intersectional identities, will stimulate dialogue on career development and inclusivity. All attendees are welcome and encouraged to attend this featured event on Monday afternoon.
Fostering fellowship in scientific dialogue, networking, and career development has been a cornerstone of the success of the CMMT GRC. The tradition continues in 2021 with many opportunities throughout the conference week for open scientific dialogue and collaboration during daily poster sessions, as well as emphasis on discussion following oral platform sessions and during breaks.
All applicants are encouraged to submit abstracts of their latest work. Late-breaking abstracts will be selected for short, oral presentations, thus providing additional opportunities for scientists at all stages of their career to showcase their advancements. Late-breaking speakers will be notified by the Chairs via email approximately 2-3 months prior to the meeting if selected. Graduate students and postdoctoral scientists are encouraged to also apply to the associated GRS, which is organized by and for trainees and offers additional opportunities for scientific presentations and leadership.
Limited funding support for trainees and young investigators (graduate students, postdoctoral scientists, assistant professors) who present posters and indicate a need for financial assistance at time of application will be considered for financial assistance to cover full/partial registration and/or travel costs. Please email the conference Chairs if you wish to be considered for financial assistance. Applications will be reviewed for potential assistance following the late-breaking abstract submission deadline. Final decisions for funding will be made by the Chairs based on scientific merit, need, and availability of funds.
This GRC will be held in conjunction with the "Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Toxicity (GRS)" Gordon Research Seminar (GRS). Those interested in attending both meetings must submit an application for the GRS in addition to an application for the GRC. Refer to the associated GRS program page for more information.
The topics, speakers, and discussion leaders for the conference sessions are displayed below. The conference chair is currently developing their detailed program, which will include the complete meeting schedule, as well as the talk titles for all speakers. The detailed program will be available by April 15, 2021. Please check back for updates.
Keynote Session: Gene Essentiality and Functional Genomics for Mechanistic Toxicology
Muireann Coen (AstraZeneca, United Kingdom)
Jason Sheltzer (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA)
Keren Carss (AstraZeneca, United Kingdom)
Artificial Intelligence in Toxicology and Its Role in Decision Making
Ruth Roberts (ApconiX, United Kingdom)
Shraddha Thakkar (National Center for Toxicological Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, USA)
Hao Zhu (Rutgers University, USA)
Matthew Martin (Pfizer, USA)
Re-Imagining DART in Modern Developmental Toxicity Testing
Kari Sant (San Diego State University, USA)
Jessica LaRocca (Corteva Agriscience, USA)
George Daston (Proctor & Gamble, USA)
Maria Bondesson (Indiana University, USA)
Thomas Knudsen (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USA)
Mechanisms of New Toxicities that Come from New Therapeutic Modalities
Matthew Wagoner (Takeda Pharmaceuticals, USA)
Wen Shen (Pfizer, USA)
Renier Brentjens (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, USA)
Jessica Hawes (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, USA)
Metabolism and Excretion as Determinants of Environmental Toxicant Responses
Danielle Carlin (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH, USA)
Lauren Aleksunes (Rutgers University, USA)
Shana Sturla (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Weston Porter (Texas A&M University, USA)
Jonathan Doorn (University of Iowa, USA)
The Cellular Microenvironment in Tissue Health, Disease and Toxic Exposure Outcomes
Shaun McCullough (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USA)
Kymberly Gowdy (The Ohio State University, USA)
Ana Mora (University of Pittsburgh, USA)
Matthew Campen (University of New Mexico, USA)
Stavros Garanziotis (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH, USA)
Novel Mechanistic Understanding of Aneugenicity and Its Impact on Risk Assessment
Phillip Wages (PepsiCo, USA)
Sean Taylor (International Organization of the Flavor Industry, USA)
David Eastmond (University of California, Riverside, USA)
Elsa Logarinho (University of Porto, Portugal)
Early-Career Investigator Presentations
Katelyn Lavrich (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH, USA)
Cassandra Meakin (Rutgers University, USA)
Keynote Session: Mechanisms of Protein Degradation by Immunomodulatory Drugs and Proteolysis-Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs)
Pete Newham (AstraZeneca, United Kingdom)
Eric Fischer (Harvard Medical School / Dana Farber Cancer Institute, USA)
Kevin Moreau (AstraZeneca, United Kingdom)
Samantha Snow (ICF, USA)
Sarah Lacher (University of Minnesota, USA)
Conference History Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Toxicity (GRS) Contribute Financially to This Conference
Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Toxicity (GRS)

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Jesse James Kennedy
Here is what Jesse James Kennedy tells us about himself: "My nephew was sent to prison a couple of years back and asked me to send him my stories to help him pass the time. After he read the stories I wrote he asked me to write something longer and I began Missouri Homegrown. I sent him chapters as I wrote them and he passed them around to other inmates and a couple of guards and they enjoyed them and asked for more so I kept going. (I left out the chapter on the prison break for obvious reasons.) "I am 45 years old, did a short stint in the Army, 10th Mountain Division Light Infantry which was part of the inspiration for Jay McCray. After the Army I got a little wild, did a little time, and then moved from job to job keeping out of trouble and reading a lot and learning to write. I've known many people similar to my characters but none were quite that violent." The McCray novels have won praise from Publishers Weekly, Booklist and many others for their harsh, fast-paced realism and sharp character portraits. Jesse James Kennedy lives in Missouri, where he is at work on another novel. With Black Hills Reckoning, Kennedy has brought the McCray saga to a close. But he's not--we hoped--done with writing. Seeking reassurance on that score, Perfect Crime checked in with him. Q.: Your work has been described as "country noir," brutal yet characterized by "gripping, beautifully executed scenes." The drug-dealing McCray family comes alive as ruthless but far from one-dimensional. A.: I have grown quite fond of the McCrays. Kind of sad to see the trilogy come to an end. Q.: How do you view these characters? A.: There's no doubt there is an anti-hero vibe to them. Bukowski once said, "I have always admired the villain, the outlaw, the son of a bitch. I don't like the clean-shaven boy with the necktie and the good job. I like desperate men, men with broken teeth and broken minds and broken ways. They interest me. They are full of surprises and explosions." I share that sentiment and it is in that vein that I see the McCrays. They are not knights in shining armor, they are knights in dented, banged-up, blood-encrusted armor who cuss, drink too much, occasionally enjoy violence more than they should, but who are also brave, tough and not without a code of ethics though it is different than what a lot of people would consider ethical. Q.: It came as a shock when you killed off one likeable character in Tijuana Mean. Was that difficult to do? A.: It did give me pause toward the end of that book. When I started that novel, I knew the death of that character would set the stage for the next book. I was surprised though at how much that character blossomed, kind of stealing the show really. I did kind of regret having to bump them off, but I feel the character development added to the impact of the death and the novel. Q.: Home-grown drug-dealers, Mexican cartel gunmen, biker gangs--what's Missouri come to? A.: Contrary to most people's wholesome view of the heart of the Midwest, Missouri has always been overly violent in comparison to the rest of the country. A lot of people don't like to hear that, but it is a statistical fact and has pretty much been true for the state's history. We are the home of Jesse and Frank James, Bloody Bill Anderson, the Younger brothers, Belle Starr, and a plethora of St. Louis gangsters. St. Louis has consistently been dubbed the murder capital of America with more per capita homicides than any other U.S. city. In 2019 it was number five in overall crime with KC Missouri coming in right behind them at number six. There has also been a long tradition of Missouri outlaws and gangsters being resistant to outside forces. The James gang was born out of resistance to the railroad and carpetbaggers, the Irish gangsters continued to run St. Louis long after the Italian Mafia had taken over most of the other cities; they even repelled an invasion by Al Capone. National motorcycle clubs started in California like the Hell's Angels spread chapters all over America and even deep into Canada, but rural Missouri is still dominated by a local bike club whose name I'm smart enough not to mention in an interview. And all these local outlaws got heavy support from the locals who have always been more comfortable with the devil they know. The tension between local drug dealers and the newly emerging Mexican drug cartels was of course the inspiration for Missouri Homegrown. Q.: You've said you've known people like this, though not as violent. Are you writing an intensified social realism? A.: Yes, that term's perfect. The storylines are of course embellished for the purpose of drama, but most of my main characters are based on real people that I was or am very close to. I don't invent many personalities, I steal them. Q.: The McCray saga would make a heck of a TV series. Any nibbles? A.: There was a thrilling moment when someone who said they were connected to Lionsgate inquired about screen rights to Missouri Homegrown, but nothing came of it. I think the heavy action of the trilogy would fit very well into a series in the tradition of Sons Of Anarchy. Q.: What's next on the novel front? A.: I had started a novel about an ex-con who gets out of the joint and finds work on the music festival circuit. I put that on hold to do Black Hills Reckoning and have had trouble getting back in the rhythm of it. But very soon I intend to clear my schedule and throw myself into it. Q.: You've also written short fiction and poetry. A.: I have had a handful of poems and short stories published. Each is a quite different writing experience. Poems I never even think about writing unless I'm overcome with a sudden inspiration which, as cliché as it may be, usually only comes when I'm drinking. Short stories are the most planned out, I don't physically write an outline, but an outline appears complete in my mind before I start writing, I know every step that I'm going to take and I write the story straight through from beginning to end. Writing novels is by far my favorite and most rewarding experience. I usually have an idea where I'm going to start and where I'm going to end but getting from A to Z is a complete act of faith, the closest I've ever come to a religious faith. I will just start writing scenes, not in the order that they appear in the novel but just as they come to me. I feel like at some point this character will get into a fight with that character and I write the scene. At some point two characters will have a conversation and I write that. Each one of these scenes is like carving puzzle pieces, and you just trust that they'll not only fit together but fit together in a way that connects your beginning to your ending. And at a certain point when I think I have enough, I lay them out in front of me, put them in order and it works! Sometimes I will have to fill in a gap here or there, but for the most part, the pieces fit together, and the picture is complete. It is really amazing seeing it come together like that. I kind of feel bad for people who have never experienced it. The Big Thrill interviews Jesse James Kennedy


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Home > Census 2020
In March 2020, the United States will conduct its decennial census. An accurate count is essential for distribution of federal services and the allocation of representatives in Congress. It also serves as a resource for public and private sector analysts as they confront our nation's most pressing issues.
Some of the largest programs that rely on Census data include:
Medicare Part B (supplemental medical insurance)
Highway planning and construction
Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers and Project-Based Housing Assistance
Grants to local education agencies
Special Education Grants (IDEA)
State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP)
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
Health center programs (community, migrant, homeless, public housing)
Low Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP)
Without an accurate count, states can miss out on vital federal funds.
Despite its importance, the Census faces a barrage of challenges this time around. On the surface, the cost of counting households has increased while response rates have decreased.
The census also faces a trend of staffing constraints.
This special series will delve into the importance of the census and the current barriers it faces to ensure that all Americans, regardless of income, region, or citizenship status gain the representation they deserve. A complete list of the pieces included in the series can be found below, in order of publication:
Why an Accurate 2020 Census Matters: Money, Power and Truth, written by Kyla Fullenwider, an Entrepreneurship Fellow at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and previously the first Chief Innovation Officer of the U.S. Census Bureau.
How the Digital Divide Could Affect the Accuracy of the 2020 Census, written by Amy Robinson, a masters in public policy student at the Harvard Kennedy School and JD candidate at Harvard Law School.
The 2020 Census: Facing a 'perfect storm?, written by Terri Ann Lowenthal, independent, nonpartisan consultant to philanthropy, civil rights organizations, state and local governments, and many other stakeholders on "all things census."
The Benefits of the Census Bureau: A Research Perspective, written by Nick Buffie, a masters in public policy student at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Lessons for the US from Australia's #censusfail, written by Izzy Borshoff, a masters in public policy student at the Harvard Kennedy School.
How the Citizenship Question Makes Vulnerable Populations Less Likely to be Counted, a Q&A with Esperanza Guevara of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights
Photo by Helloquence on Unsplash. Data visualizations by Hilary Gelfond.
Series created by Maggie Kadifa and Hilary Gelfond.


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Home Health Juan Santamaria Airport Receives Award for Promoting Health Security Measures
Juan Santamaria Airport Receives Award for Promoting Health Security Measures
TCRN STAFF
Costa Rica's main airport is the first institution in the country to register and obtain the "Ecological Blue Flag for the Promotion of Hygiene Protocols". This new category of the program promotes a culture of hygiene, as well as access to drinking water and sanitation services for minimizing the spread of infectious diseases.
The award is given within the framework of the return of commercial flights to the Juan Santamaría International Airport (AIJS). It is an effort that AERIS leads with the airport community and the companies that operate at this facility, seeking to provide a safe travel experience.
"This recognition strengthens the image of the airport as a safe space for all tourists who visit us. Also, it is a clear commitment of the terminal administration to comply with the health protocols that allow progress towards the recovery of the sector", said Rafael Mencía, Executive Director of AERIS.
The category for Hygiene Promotion was born thanks to an alliance between the Ecological Blue FlagProgram and the Sanitary Quality Seal Program of the National Water Laboratory.
"Given the current situation, we established a union to create the category that encourages hygiene, hand washing with soap and drinking water, as a permanent culture with or without a Pandemic, to avoid the transmission of enteric and respiratory infections in our population.
After a process of diagnosis and evaluation, the Juan Santamaría International Airport receives the first national award for "Hygiene Promotion", which is very significant in this stage of the gradual opening of international flights," said Dr. Darner Mora, Director of the AyA National Water Laboratory.
During the border closure, AERIS, the airport administrator, established measures to provide safe and comprehensive care for passengers, as well as for employees of companies that operate within the air terminal.
"Being the first place to receive this certification and in the middle of a return process from commercial flights, is part of our commitment to maintaining safe operations and environmentally responsible actions. Our participation in the program encompasses a series of efforts that for years have promoted sustainability and that today are strengthened with improved health security measures", said Adriana Bejarano, head of Environment, Health and Safety of AERIS.
After reviewing compliance with the mandatory and complementary certification parameters, the AIJS obtained the flag for Hygiene Promotion, with 3 stars.
Among the actions applied by the Airport Management are:
· Check the quality of drinking water available at AIJS and that it meets the parameters requested by the Ministry of Health.
· Promote access to water services for human consumption, managed safely, that is, with disinfection.
· Promotion for the use of cleaning chemicals free of toxic chemicals.
· Evidencing that all wastewater generated by Airport operations is treated in an adequate Wastewater Treatment System.
· Adequate application of hygiene protocols and handwashing established by the Ministry of Health.
· Installation of hand washes basins and alcohol gel stations in different sectors of the Airport, to ensure the availability of handwashing supplies, both for passengers and employees.
· Management and timely separation of different types of solid waste.
The correct and timely application of these sanitary protocols at the Juan Santamaría International Airport seeks to offer a safe space. This recognition pays for the efforts that AERIS, hand in hand with the authorities, has made for a successful return that allows continuing connecting Costa Rica with the world and contributing to the economic reactivation of the country.
VIAGuillermo
SOURCEAERIS
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Pay Attention to Your Children's Mental Health during the Pandemic
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First vaccinated citizens against COVID-19 in Costa Rica will begin to receive second dose on January 14th


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SpeechStorm and Cyara Collaborate on Customer Experience Testing; 'S-Connect for Cyara' ensures IVR systems deliver optimum customer experience
(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Belfast and San Francisco – Leader in mobile and voice customer service, SpeechStorm (www.speechstorm.com), has collaborated with automated customer experience testing software provider, Cyara (www.cyara.com), to develop 'S-Connect for Cyara'. The new product leverages the power and capabilities of both SpeechStorm's and Cyara's respective platforms to generate customer experience test cases for Interactive Voice Response (IVR) call flows directly from SpeechStorm calls.
Companies using the combined solution will rapidly build touchtone and speech-enabled IVR capabilities in SpeechStorm's environment then simply and quickly generate a complete set of test cases to automate the entire testing lifecycle of the final customer experience, using the Cyara platform.
IVR test cases generated by S-Connect for Cyara precisely mimic the behavior of real callers, can be generated quickly and easily, and imported directly into the Cyara platform for use in performance testing, load testing and on-going production monitoring. By dramatically reducing the human effort required to produce test cases and eliminating the risk of human error, S-Connect for Cyara allows organizations to efficiently validate a much wider range of customer calling scenarios.
For customer service organizations, automated testing is essential in ensuring that supporting systems are functioning to deliver the desired caller experience. It ensures that those systems can cope with high customer demand and peak call loads, and that callers who require assistance are delivered to the correct advisor groups, whether navigating with speech or key presses.
"You wouldn't buy a new car without taking it for a test drive first," said Oliver Lennon, CEO of SpeechStorm. "So, when it comes to your caller experience, the best way to make sure it's performing precisely as you want it, is to call it and find out. And that's exactly how organizations can use S-Connect for Cyara – leveraging the power of an automated testing platform to mimic real customer call scenarios and ensure the right experience is being delivered." Using traditional methods, creating customer experience test cases is a laborious and tedious task. With S-Connect for Cyara, however, test case creation is quick, simple and intuitive, delivering an end-to-end test of customer experience from the telephony network right through to the adviser's desktop. Whenever a change is planned for the IVR, a new test case can be generated immediately, simply by placing a test call to the SpeechStorm platform and capturing the new interaction. (See notes for editors).
"Comprehensive, automated, customer experience testing allows organizations to move more rapidly, enabling their service and sales experiences to keep pace with customer expectations and changes in the business," said Alok Kulkarni, CEO of Cyara. "Through our collaboration with SpeechStorm, Cyara customers can innovate even more rapidly toward delivering a dynamic and personalized customer experience, confidently, knowing that they've virtually eliminated the risk of customer-impacting issues. We are proud to partner with innovative companies like SpeechStorm. This is really clever stuff and I know our customers will love it." Oliver Lennon concluded, "Working together with Cyara on S-Connect has been exciting and thoroughly enjoyable. We have a growing list of common customers who have independently selected our technologies, and some of those were involved with us in the development of this important test-case-generation product. We are driven to always bring greater value to our customers and S-Connect for Cyara is an example of this innovation. We believe it holds tremendous value for all companies striving to deliver a differentiated caller experience." Notes for editors IVR Testing and S-Connect for Cyara Using traditional methods, creating customer experience test cases is a laborious and tedious task, involving the detailed mapping of each step in the call flow, noting each message and menu option played to the caller and the selections required to navigate the system. These are then input in a specific format to create a call script for the automated test tool to follow. All of which is both time-consuming and error prone, with significant re-work required when even the smallest change is made to the system.
With S-Connect for Cyara, test case creation is quick, simple and intuitive. To create a new test case, the user simply has to place a call to the SpeechStorm platform and interact with the system as a customer would. The SpeechStorm platform captures the 'conversation' between the system and the caller so that it can be viewed on-screen and, with a couple of mouse-clicks, converted into the precise format for import to the Cyara test tool. Tens, or hundreds, of different test cases can be generated in just the time it takes to make that number of calls to the platform.
Once imported to Cyara, the test cases can be run directly, or combined with other elements, to create an end-to-end test of the customer experience from the telephony network right through to the adviser's desktop.
Whenever a change is planned for the IVR, a new test case can be generated immediately simply by placing a test call to the SpeechStorm platform and capturing the new interaction. This is particularly important for more advanced IVR solutions, which use information about the customer, context of his/her call and the capacity of the contact center to deliver a personalized and dynamic caller experience, and ensures automated test plans are always up to date About SpeechStorm – www.speechstorm.com SpeechStorm helps organizations of all sizes make everyday tasks easier for their customers. We provide pre-built IVR, speech self-service and mobile apps that reduce waiting times for customers and reduce call handling times in the contact center. Our solutions are quick to implement and easy to manage, putting the business in control of the customer experience.
About Cyara – www.cyara.com Cyara is the leading provider of automated customer experience testing software for organizations around the world. The Cyara platform allows contact centers and online channels to rapidly and continually optimize the customer experience while cutting the risk of exposing customers to a poor experience. Every day, millions of flawless customer interactions are delivered by organizations utilizing the Cyara platform.
For more information, please contact: Damian Kelly, VP Product, SpeechStorm Limited, Elmwood Exchange, 90, Lisburn Road, Belfast.
BT9 6AG Tel: +44 28 9094 3100+44 28 9094 3100 E: [email protected] For SpeechStorm media enquiries, please contact: Tim Guest, Managing Partner, ATROPOS Communications Tel: +44 (0)7956 257069+44 (0)7956 257069 E: [email protected] For Cyara media and analyst enquiries, please contact: Amy Fisher, Sr. Director, PadillaCRT for Cyara Tel: +1-612-455-1773+1-612-455-1773 E: [email protected] SMSAdd to SkypeYou'll need Skype CreditFree via Skype .


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"M" is for Malice
"M" is for money. Lots of it. "M" is for Malek Construction, the $40 million company that grew out of modest soil to become one of the big three in California construction, one of the few still in family hands.
"M" is for the Malek family: four sons now nearing middle age who stand to inherit a fortune—four men with very different outlooks, temperaments, and needs, linked only by blood and money. Eighteen years ago, one of them—angry, troubled, and in trouble—went missing.
"M" is for Millhone, hired to trace that missing black sheep brother.
"M" is for memories, none of them happy. The bitter memories of an embattled family. This prodigal son will find no welcome at his family's table. "M" is for malice.
And in brutal consequence, "M" is for murder, the all-too-common outcome of familial hatreds.
"M" is for malice...and malice kills.
"Polished, heartfelt work from Grafton..."
"Grafton...cannot write Kinsey Millhone mysteries as fast as her fans can read them..."
—Amy Schwartz, Washington Post
"One can only marvel at Grafton's seemingly endless stock of adventurous and inventive plots and hope that a finite alphabet won't limit her to just 26 mysteries."
—Emily Melton, Booklist
"Grafton's sense of plotting and timing is so assured that it overcomes a growing weariness with the character of Millhone (And, of course, it's a compliment to Grafton that she has created a character so real that she has the ability to irritate)."
"Atmospheric and appealing, 'M' Is for Malice' works on all levels, emotional and whodunit. We are heartened as Kinsey learns that being independent is not the same as letting go of the past."
"This is a subtle and swiftly moving novel, pleasantly unpredictable, with an agreeable overlay of smoldering romance, as fellow PI and former lover Robert Dietz reenters Kinsey's life. Grafton's heroine—more introspective, yet still feisty and surefooted—leads this finely tuned and at times electrifying tale to a thoroughly satisfying conclusion."