Improve patient experiences with healthcare IT solutions

Healthcare IT solutions are shifting the way we think about healthcare. From managing appointments to communicating with doctors and healthcare facilities to refilling prescriptions. Similar automation technologies are already used in the business-to-consumer sector and today’s patients expect the same timely communications they receive from big-name companies like Amazon and United Airlines from their medical providers.

Automated healthcare communications help please patients faster

Automated healthcare communication solutions enable a patient to find answers with self-service tools. These tools allow for a quick and easy experience that patients expect. Digital innovations help administration and care staff save hours of time with tools that work 24/7 including:

• Chatbots to guide customers digitally
• AI to help intelligently automate communications
• Natural language processing (NLP) to translate customer needs

Automated reminders and appointment scheduling without the need for staff or patients

Depending on a patient’s health, checkups should be scheduled every one to three years. (Edward-Elmhurst Health, 2022) Scrolling through a database or printing a calling list is tedious, at best, for healthcare provider staff.

Automating the communications eliminates the manual process of looking up and contacting patients who need an appointment. In addition, these systems can identify and record the patient’s preferred method of communication – whether it be text or phone call.

From there, the patient automatically receives communications to set appointments, reminders for upcoming appointments, and, if needed, the flexibility to reschedule appointments. If the patient doesn’t respond or complete the scheduling process, a communication workflow trigger can be set to automate a follow up on a different time and day.

This workflow can be adjusted if or when a patient has a new diagnosis requiring more checkups with a specialist at a different cadence. The whole process can be set up in minutes instead of hours to remind, track, and call patients.

Have confidence during emergencies with agile communications

People need fast and accurate healthcare information before, during, and after any unexpected event. Unfortunately, it’s impractical and expensive to have staff dedicated to emergencies on standby for every hospital.

But with communication workflow automation, fast and accurate messages can be sent to those who need it most in a crisis. And IT teams can create and update communications that inform patients of the most important and common questions pertaining to the crisis at hand. Set up can be done in advance, so your team is prepared to implement it at a moment’s notice and the script can be revised with the most up-to-date information as developments occur.

For ongoing or long-lasting emergencies, an automated communications application can adjust to high call volumes (known as call handling) and disperse incoming calls to different locations. This practice helps ensure that no one location becomes overwhelmed with inbound calls.

Provide better care, with less effort, when patients leave your doors

Caring for patients doesn’t stop when they leave the doctor’s office. Many patients walk away with a prescription, bills, and overall opinion of their experience. Manually handling these interactions can be time-consuming for office administration. Communication workflow automation can help in this instance as well.

Some patients may need or want a reminder of their new prescription drug directions or side effects. Easy Smart IVR navigation can guide callers through a directory of medications – allowing them to read SMS or listen to pre-recorded voice instructions and side effects without needing to interact with a live person.

It’s always good practice to follow up and gather a sense of the patients’ experience. Voice surveys can help collect post-visit information, and AI can detect patient sentiment to help your team understand customer satisfaction and improve their experience.

Fast, easy, and secure solutions for healthcare communications

While communication workflow automation can be complex, IntelePeer offers a fast and easy way to set up some of the most popular use cases. Low-code and no-code tools, like those found in Marketplace, can be implemented by both non-technical staff and developers alike. What used to take weeks or months can be achieved in minutes with the ability to realize a rapid return on investment. These HIPAA-compliant apps quickly improve processes, enhance the patient experience, and help free up time for staff.

And with tools like IntelePeer’s Insights, you can monitor and improve the patient experience. Increase patient retention rates and provide better communications with real-time analytics to help create and inform your decisions.

From routine patient care to ongoing scheduling and emergency preparedness, a communication platform can help your healthcare IT team handle most repetitive communications in less time than you might expect. And you can continue to aid and improve patient care in and out of healthcare facilities. If any of these benefits sound like something your IT department is looking for, check out our eGuide for more information.