Empowering healthcare providers to improve patient outcomes
Improve patient outcomes and empower them to become active participants in their care with modern communication channels.
Kenny Bloxham
3 minute read
Contents
Healthcare organizations have long aimed to practice preventative medicine, a proactive approach to patient care designed to avoid disease and illness. However, achieving this goal has been challenging due to communication barriers that make it difficult for patients to receive proper medical care and hinder efficient interactions between patients and providers. Issues such as long wait times and confusing paper trails can leave both parties feeling frustrated.
To address these challenges, Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) technology offers a centralized platform for managing HIPAA-compliant real-time communication, digital patient engagement, and personalized automated interactions. This technology allows healthcare providers to create smarter, richer patient experiences.
To ensure positive patient outcomes, healthcare organizations must make personalized and relevant communication a priority. Recent research by OpenNotes found that patients who have immediate access to their provider's appointment notes are 60% more likely to adhere to their medication regimen, highlighting the importance of transparent and open communication in healthcare.
By implementing automated notifications, healthcare providers can remind patients of essential instructions related to their care.
Even seemingly small measures such as utilizing SMS messaging can significantly improve outcomes. By implementing automated notifications, healthcare providers can remind patients of essential instructions related to their care, including fasting, reducing liquid intake, and accessing post-operative care guidance videos. Proactive communication between providers and patients not only ensures that patients are adequately prepared but also reduces the risk of complications, resulting in shorter hospital stays.
In this blog, we will explore several healthcare use cases to demonstrate the possibilities of using CPaaS solutions to manage patient interactions.
Appointment reminders and rescheduling
CPaaS technology streamlines appointment management through automated two-way digital channels, including appointment reminders and rescheduling solutions that integrate with patient data through Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems. By automating the rescheduling of new/existing appointments in a DIY capacity for patients, providers can save time.
Proactive appointment reminders reduce missed appointment rates by up to 27%, which is significant given that missed appointments are the largest financial drain on the healthcare sector. Providers can also elicit attendance confirmation or cancellation from patients, diminishing no-shows.
CPaaS technology can cut costs, improve operational efficiency, and increase customer satisfaction through one and two-way messaging and integration with preferred scheduling systems, enabling patients to receive appointment details in advance via SMS and check-in online.
FAQ chatbots/virtual assistants
FAQ chatbots and virtual assistants are becoming an increasingly popular way to provide patients with instant access to health information. CPaaS solutions empowers healthcare providers to create intelligent AI chatbots that allow patients to self-serve and digitally interact with the hospital 24/7. This reduces inbound calls to providers which can improve productivity by 30%. Patients can quickly and easily find the information they need, reducing the burden on healthcare providers.
Feedback surveys
Gathering patient feedback is vital to improving healthcare organizations' quality of care. CPaaS solutions offer digital survey channels, which can capture up to 60% more feedback than traditional paper surveys. With automated deployment through digital channels, patients can easily provide quick post-care feedback, allowing healthcare providers to promptly address any concerns and improve patient satisfaction. By leveraging CPaaS solutions, healthcare organizations can optimize their feedback collection process, ensuring that patient experiences are continuously improving.
Automated digital check-in & pre-appointment health assessments
Amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare facilities are faced with the challenge of protecting both patients and staff from the spread of viruses. To limit occupancy inside healthcare facilities, many healthcare providers have had to rethink their operations and implement new solutions to streamline the check-in process. CPaaS has emerged as a vital tool for enabling healthcare providers to extend the check-in process to messaging, allowing patients to answer health questionnaires and be added to a queue from the facility's parking lot. This not only reduces the number of people inside the facility at any given time but also minimizes wait times and enables providers to optimize their resources.
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) deflection
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems have been a traditional method for patients to communicate with healthcare providers. However, voice systems have recently become a frustrating channel for patients and providers, as long wait times and high costs are associated with them. This has led to the adoption of CPaaS technology to drive patients to more convenient, quicker response messaging channels. CPaaS solutions provide more convenient and positive communication experiences for patients, enabling them to interact with providers through digital channels.
CPaaS technology also enables healthcare providers to offer video telehealth appointments between patients and clinicians on the same thread. This means that patients can now have video consultations with their healthcare providers from the comfort of their own homes, which can reduce unnecessary in-person visits and improve access to healthcare for remote and underserved populations.
Empowering patients to take control of their health is crucial, and providing them with digital tools to communicate with their healthcare providers can help make that happen. By prioritizing patient communications with CPaaS technology, healthcare providers can enhance the quality of care they provide and achieve better outcomes for patients.
Learn how Webex CPaaS solutions can help you level up your patient communications by visiting our healthcare solutions page or get in touch with one of our experts.
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