The advancement in technology and competition in the market highlights the importance of customer experience. Applying this concept to healthcare, a service provider brings forth the value of patient experience. Particularly after the Covid-19 pandemic, transformative engagement has become vital. Hospitals and clinics streamlined their interactions for improving patient experience.
While other industries focused more on customer experience to stand distinctive in the market, the healthcare industry was long focused on just better health outcomes, diagnostics, and operational standards. But after the pandemic, there has been a marked shift in delivering superior patient care experience.The paradigmatic shift focuses on patients’ concerns, expectations, perceptions, and safety.
What has evolved in healthcare due to the pandemic:
Pre-care
65% of the customer indicates that their experience on the hospital website for scheduling the appointment, gaining information, and others are equal to the actual treatment. 80% of surveyed patients use online reviews as a significant deciding factor. Around 50% of the patients in a study assured that they are ready to change their insurance provider to choose a healthcare provider with better reviews.
Speed
The patients expect better experience, convenience, and a sense of accountability along with a closed-loop real-time approach. They want healthcare providers to offer quick service. Patients also expect service providers to use patient engagement technology to create a transformative effect. Automated tools like customer relationship management (CRM) and Electronic Health Records (EHR) build transparency, speed, and convenience. They also enhance communication and quality of patient feedback. For example, using deep learning and AI, a healthcare provider can analyze a CAT scan faster than humans by 150 times.
Shift to Virtual Care
The coronavirus caused a 70% cancellation of treatments due to fear of contracting the virus or other restrictions due to lockdown. According to an Accenture survey on 2700 patients, the results favor virtual care. 60% of the surveyed patients are planning to have treatment from home. Thus, if a healthcare provider cannot offer virtual care, there is a possibility of losing 60% of their customer base.
Personalised Response
47% of the participants of the Accenture study expect a personalized response. Almost half of them also want faster service. Since COVID-19 pushed several services, including transportation, into stagnation, people prefer all these from their home comforts. The only way for a healthcare service provider to offer such a service is by automation and machine learning. The use of technology could be as small as video conferencing for a consultation to remote monitoring tools with software interfaces.
To find out more about PatientMetRx and how we transform patient experience use the link below to book a demo.
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References:
Sinhasane, S. (2020) Improving Patient Experience Through Effective Digital Healthcare Solutions. Available at: https://mobisoftinfotech.com/resources/blog/improving-patient-experience-through-digital-healthcare-solutions/ [Accessed 16 March 2021].