In the past year, we observed a significant decrease in foot traffic into stores, banks, as well as business, and healthcare practices. It is evident that we now live in a contactless era. The healthcare industry, as with other industries, has had to adapt quickly to the new digital landscape to ensure business continuity and market competitiveness. And there is a heightened need to improve patient experience as well.
The articles we selected give great insight into the current state of healthcare. Read about current digital transformation trends in healthcare; how to boost patient confidence with contactless customer communication and ways to improve patient experience.
Jason Pothen concludes with great advice on how Customer Communication Management (CCM) in healthcare can improve patient experience.
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Digital Transformation in Healthcare in 2021: 7 Key Trends
“In a recent survey, only seven percent of healthcare and pharmaceutical companies said they had gone digital, compared to 15 percent of companies in other industries.”
Digital transformation is a daunting task for many industries – and healthcare is no exception. While a myriad of digital technologies are available, change is always intimidating. Organizations must become more flexible and be willing to take risks, which entails letting go of their trusting legacy systems and processes, as well as getting buy-in from their staff and patients.
Examples of digital transformation in healthcare mentioned in this article are telemedicine, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled medical devices. These technologies offer many benefits to healthcare organizations. They streamline work processes, optimize systems, improve patient outcomes as well as improve patient experience, reduce human error, and lower costs by enabling enhanced web and mobile experiences.
Read further to learn more about the state of digital transformation in 2021, more specifically, the seven key trends that have been identified, namely: The rise of on-demand healthcare, the importance of big data in healthcare, treating patients with virtual reality, the growth of wearable medical devices, predictive healthcare, artificial intelligence and blockchain and the promise of better electronic health records. READ MORE
3 Ways to Boost Patient Confidence with Real-Time Contactless Communication
“A recent report from McKinsey found that physicians and other health professionals were seeing 50 to 175 times the number of patients via telehealth than they did pre-pandemic”
Healthcare practices were however still heavily impacted financially during the pandemic. The article mentions a “recent MGMA report, which found that 97% have experienced a negative financial impact related to the pandemic, and over half (55%) saw a decrease in revenue in the early months of the crisis.”
It’s evident that patient confidence is still at an all-time low. People are still fraught with fear, and thus hesitant to step into a Doctor’s consulting room. The article cites statistics from a recent report, which found that “64% of Americans are concerned about the risks of contracting COVID-19 while waiting in lines or crowded lobbies when getting any vaccine shot this season.”
Healthcare providers now need to find ways to boost patient confidence to increase foot traffic and it is noted that real-time, contactless patient communication will help them achieve this goal. The article identifies “three ways healthcare providers and the broader healthcare ecosystem can boost patient confidence” – they are: connect with patients through two-way messaging; design long-lasting channels for instant communication and create time for better patient-provider relationships. READ MORE
Accelerate Your Journey To Exceptional CX
We know that improving customer experience (CX) offers many benefits to organizations. By improving patient experience, healthcare organizations will see better patient engagement, improved care outcomes and reduced costs. However, this article notes that CX is lagging in healthcare and identifies the most common pitfalls:
- Have a limited understanding of customers’ wants, needs, and behaviors.
- Focus on digital channels at the expense of overall customer experience.
- Do not control the end-to-end customer experience.
It is suggested that healthcare create and leverage a “comprehensive CX measurement framework” as this will enable them to learn more about their customers and in turn, effectively address their issues and needs.
Read further to learn more about the “seven key initiatives that all healthcare organizations can focus on to get their CX program on the right track from the outset.” There is also an option to download Forrester’s complimentary guide for a more detailed overview. READ MORE
Improve Patient Experience With Customer Communication Management (CCM) in Healthcare
If healthcare providers had big plans to implement an improved patient experience in 2020, it is highly likely they were derailed by the pandemic. Fortunately, all is not lost. The pandemic acted as a catalyst for innovation in patient communication, driven by the necessity to continue doing business, as well as changing patient expectations.
Yet, when measured against other industries, healthcare still does not fare well when it comes to customer service. Due to their exposure to great customer experience in other sectors, patients expect digital, secure, self-serve access to their healthcare information.
Fulfilling these requirements, however, remains a challenge for healthcare providers. Strict regulations and complex workflow processes also impact their ability to focus on improving the patient experience.
But there is a solution –Customer Communication Management (CCM) technology is designed to solve many of these challenges.
- It provides tools, resources and a platform to manage all communications across disparate systems and teams.
- It gives you nimble, self-service tools to rapidly deploy communications. It enables consistent messaging across all the different channels including print, email, SMS, and web.
- It really facilities a seamless transition between print and digital communication channels.
CCM technology allows you to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to patient communications and digital adoption.
