AI meets conversational care at HIMSS 2024

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is a trusted global advisor to the global health industry, with a vision to reform healthcare through information and technology.

It’s also responsible for the world’s largest annual gathering of healthcare technology professionals, the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition. And in March 2024, Cisco was proud to attend as a guest and exhibitor, sharing our connected vision for patient-centered communications in Orlando, Florida.

With more than 30,000 healthcare professionals in attendance, HIMSS offered a vital opportunity to glean firsthand insight into the global trends helping shape the future of healthcare technologies. And the challenges and opportunities that underpin them.

In this blog, we’ll unpack the three themes that came through the loudest at the event and how the right communications solution can help you respond to drive competitive advantage.

1. AI accelerates the shift to patient-centered care

Patient-centered care focuses on providing the best possible experience at every touchpoint to help them become active participants in their care journey. Patient satisfaction and wellbeing are priority number one—nurtured through data-driven personalization and proactive communications.

As we demonstrated at HIMSS 2024, the right combination of AI-driven insights and a cloud communications platform can help you deliver engaging interactions that improve patient outcomes and even aid operational efficiency.

Take Deep Medical, for instance. The digital-native startup is on a mission to minimize patient no-shows, a significant issue for many healthcare organizations.

Its AI-driven personalization capabilities enable healthcare organizations to analyze massive sets of patient data to predict and preemptively mitigate no-shows. When combined with Webex Connect, our cloud communications platform, it can trigger automated, personalized messages to patients’ preferred digital channels. This helps them fit healthcare into their lives by offering things like reminders, alternative appointments and remote access to relevant resources.

Not only does this help patients feel looked after, but it massively reduces the financial impact and wasted resources associated with missed appointments.

SpinSci delivers AI-enhanced care every step of the way

SpinSci, an AI-driven healthcare solutions provider, uses our Webex Connect platform to orchestrate personalized interactions across the entire patient journey. By integrating its deep patient intelligence with the latest digital channels, organizations can trigger alerts and conversations in response to scheduled events and contextual triggers. This includes automating routine patient access center (PAC) interactions, such as referrals, appointment scheduling, prescription refills and more.

2. Advanced call-deflection tactics maximize digital care

In our recent survey, 76% of respondents felt digital communications improve the patient experience. But how do you ensure they can access vital information and services in the right place, at the right time?

Our time at HIMSS affirmed it as a common challenge, with many healthcare organizations still managing large PACs to handle inquiries through traditional channels. And when organizations do offer digital services, patients may still phone in when they can’t find the right information quickly enough.

In response, healthcare organizations must acknowledge the benefits of intuitive, AI-powered self-service tools and advanced call deflection tactics.

Combining AI-powered chatbots with other call deflection methods can minimize the administrative demand on your support staff and healthcare professionals. Let’s take a look at how this might work in proactive and reactive use cases:

Understanding proactive and reactive call deflection

Proactive alerts: May include referral updates and changes to surgery opening hours, while chatbot interactions may cover general queries, such as post-care catchups that collect feedback and share best-practices for continued home treatment.   

Reactive interactions: Let patients contact organizations and resolve their inquiries in-channel using automated chatbots. This may include prescription requests, appointment and account management, and even symptom queries for more efficient triage.

Interactive voice response (IVR) systems: Powered by speech recognition technology can also help redirect callers to self-service tools such as a patient portal or chatbot before they reach a human agent. But should an interaction prove too demanding for your AI algorithm, it can always escalate the conversation seamlessly to a qualified staff member.

3. Back-office integrations create new efficiencies

The best cloud communications platforms integrate the latest digital channels with back-office systems. And as we heard at HIMSS, this is having a hugely positive impact on efficiency and productivity.

For example, Webex Connect integrations let everyone access the insights needed to automate timely patient interactions using drag-and-drop tools in a simple visual journey builder. This includes integrating electronic health records (EHR) systems, like Epic and Oracle Cerner, to inform proactive patient communications and enhance collaborative decision-making.

Plus, integrated AI communication tools can help automate internal processes through intelligent, omnichannel interactions.

This includes using AI chatbots to handle basic queries around shift scheduling and payroll, and sharing proactive updates that help teams organize their day more effectively, helping to alleviate strain on employees. Organizations can also use conversational AI to accelerate recruitment and onboarding by personalizing candidate interactions and delivering on-demand support across multiple channels.

Get closer to HIMSS 2024 with Cisco

Get in touch to learn more about how healthcare organizations are using AI and cloud communications platforms to drive patient engagement and realize new internal efficiencies.

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