A lot has changed in the patient experience (PX) world since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the nation went into lockdown and clinicians looked to reduce unnecessary face-to-face contact, digital interactions became far more common.
These changes highlighted a need to improve one and two-way communications by opening up an array of new channels across the healthcare space. Beyond email and SMS, organisations are now looking to enable digital channels.
Digitising the patient journey
Whether booking or rescheduling an appointment outside of regular business hours, or seeking expert advice from a clinician, patients across all demographics want a quick resolution to their enquiry.
However, with resources increasingly stretched across the healthcare sector, knowing how to meet this demand has been a long-standing challenge, whilst ensuring appropriate use of resources and increasing patient access. Now, AI-powered technologies are offering a viable solution.
For many years, clinicians in the UK have found themselves unable to access key information due to system integration errors, making data sharing a challenge. Meanwhile, patients have felt frustrated at the lack of personalisation reflected in their interactions on existing channels.
In fact, recent global research conducted by Talkdesk found that 63 per cent of patients did not believe that their healthcare provider was capable of offering an excellent experience in a completely digital way.
On the surface, making a few process changes to create a more personalised patient experience may sound like a fast solution. Synthesising and leveraging such a vast quantity of ever-evolving data, however, is by no means a straightforward process.
Organisations trying to achieve a more seamless patient communications experience often find they are having to overcome a number of hurdles – from data privacy to operational challenges and, in some cases, even resistance from the patients themselves.
A changing mindset
For decades, booking an appointment for medical care was traditionally done by phoning the local GP surgery and speaking to a receptionist, whilst all appointments with clinicians were managed face-to-face.
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, only absolutely essential appointments were permitted to continue in person across the UK.
The nation was forced to experience medical care in a completely different way, with GP’s offering video or telephone consultations and digital communication becoming the norm, not a novelty.
Even though this abrupt operational shift was not entirely by choice, it has provided an opportunity for many patients to experience first-hand the potential benefits of automated and AI-powered solutions – like chatbots or virtual assistants – as helpful components of a more efficient and effective way to collaborate with their care providers.
The role of the contact centre
With patient expectations transformed by the pandemic, providers are recognising the importance of an easy to navigate ‘digital front door’ where patients can access advice, their care schedule and appointments.
Talkdesk research found that among PX professionals:
- 69 per cent view positioning the contact centre as a ‘strategic asset’ as a high priority.
- 57 per cent say on-premises systems limit their ability to improve PX.
- 83 per cent would like to see better technology and tools designed to support supervisors and managers being deployed.
- 66 per cent believe more automation/AI will help improve PX.
There is a clear opportunity to evolve the role of today’s healthcare contact centre from simply answering questions and resolving issues to holistically guiding patients through the healthcare experience.
When deployed well, AI-powered solutions can keep track of a patient’s diagnosis, results, treatment, and prescriptions, as well as provide proactive recommendations built on best practice – all via the patient’s preferred communication channel.
As healthcare providers leverage their contact centres to engage with patients across channels and with varied touch points, a wealth of data can be collated around patient feedback and satisfaction.
Over time, these insights can help organisations develop a more robust PX strategy – one that aligns with both patient and clinician needs.
