There is no question the global shift which occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every industry, and none more so than the Healthcare industry. Pressing rewind and thinking back to the beginning of 2020, had you ever experienced a telehealth or virtual care visit?
Prior to the pandemic, had you ever downloaded an app that provided virtual care with a doctor from the comfort of your home, or filled out a symptom checker online before your appointment? If this has taught us anything, it’s that there is a recognized demand to intertwine technology within every step of the process.
With over 4.66 billion active internet users, and with 4.28 billion of those users having unique mobile internet access (DataReportal, 2021), we have established the fact that we are continuously redefining digital resiliency. In the age of consumerism, customers now have access to everything they need at the tips of their fingers. It only makes sense that of those consumers who are searching for a doctor, 42.9% would prefer communication by phone and 25.1% by email (MGMA, Rivet Webinar).
This shift towards a digital world is prevalent and we have already seen the top leading healthcare organizations adapting themselves to meet digital transformation initiatives. Those organizations that create a digital access point for consumers will be the ones that separate themselves from the rest.
This is where your digital front door strategy takes place.
There are many different definitions, but at face value, the digital front door provides a simple and convenient entry for healthcare organizations to have their first engagement with patients by providing digital touchpoints to help the patient along their medical journey.
By offering easy access points such as booking an appointment, selecting a provider, and providing a clear price coverage breakdown, this digital front door will lead to more than just consumer ease and convenience; it will also result in greater consumer satisfaction.
Many patients desire digital health because it simplifies their access to medical care and healthcare information. Offering the consumer more power in the process will lead to better outcomes for the patient and the provider.
Reinventing the patient intake process requires connecting the applications and systems to the patients’ data. There are many cutting-edge technologies that can help streamline your process and help analyze the data throughout the process. Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) play an important role in accelerating efficiency through operations while increasing the frequency of patient touchpoints, both before and after appointments.
Using AI can help gather patient data that is relevant by guiding the patient through an automated virtual journey and then selectively escalating each case to a skilled clinician where they can pick up the interaction without losing data in the process.
With the increase of clinician shortages across the United States, this is the time to take advantage of AI-driven tools that can help health organizations create the patient interaction digitally, freeing up short-handed resources for other tasks. This allows for more proactive communication when scheduling, which will then increase schedule density while lowering the complexity of communicating with chronic condition patients. This automated process also removes the variation that can take place when a task or process changes hands from shift to shift and person to person, resulting in more clear consistency that reduces waste, optimizes all of your resources, and drives toward your financial goals.
The digital front door is not necessarily about replacing in-person care; it is really about creating a best-in-class experience for not only the patients but also the providers. At Vee Healthtek, our developers work diligently to ensure your center has the latest technological advancements so we can provide and build your center a custom cutting-edge solution.
Across the digital transformation spectrum, we’ve made advancements in Artificial Intelligence, Clinical Natural Language Processing and have helped many of our clients overcome major industry challenges. By creating this digital front door for your patients, you will be better suited to streamline your operations and enhance patient satisfaction while increasing your bottom line.
(McKinsey & Company 2020 Year in Review)
https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Industries/Healthcare%20Systems%20and%20Services/Our%20Insights/McKinsey%20on%20Healthcare%202020%20Year%20in%20Review/McKinsey-on-Healthcare-2020-Year-in-Review.pdf (DataReportal, 2021)
https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2021-global-overview-report
(MGMA, Rivet Webinar)
Watch: Delivering an upfront patient experience (rivethealth.com)