December 10, 2024
Year in Review: The Healthcare Digital Imperative Has Only Just Begun
As the year winds down, most organizations pause to review and reflect on their achievements in preparation for setting goals for the year ahead. In 2024, this blog explored how digital solutions help healthcare organizations meet important goals such as controlling costs, decreasing the high cost of collections, supporting patients coping with increased financial responsibility, and addressing staff challenges—always with an eye on the patient experience.
Here are some key highlights of our most popular posts in 2024:
Empower patients with effective and painless financial engagement
When patient financial engagement is easy and accessible, providers see self-service rates increase, faster time to payment and an overall increase in payment rates, all leading to more satisfied patients and a healthier bottom line.
Make patient payments easier for them and you
As patients increasingly bear more financial responsibility for their healthcare costs, it’s in the best interest of providers to make the payment process easy. Using data analytics and smart digital solutions to meet patients wherever they may be along the digital payment continuum provides a clear pathway to positive patient engagement, increased self-service, higher yield and greater patient satisfaction.
Connected patient experiences start with vendors that make integration easy
When “plug and play” healthcare information solutions are designed with integration in mind, connectivity not only is possible, it is powerful. In this scenario, your existing EHR system functions like a hub with integrated solutions plugging in from a variety of trusted vendors. Things really hum when all vendors share the goal of connectivity and help streamline integrations with interfaces, APIs and automated processes.
Individualized communication means eliminating data silos to see how patients respond best
Not only does individualized engagement deliver better results, it reduces wasted spending and unnecessary complexity or “noise” for patients. Rather than overwhelming patients with too many messages delivered in ways they do not respond to, your communication is precise, targeted and individualized. It also offers multiple opportunities for patients to make payments at many junctures throughout their healthcare journey, driving better financial results for your organization.
Harnessing the power of less in healthcare
While healthcare is complicated, patient engagement and payments doesn’t need to be. Offering convenient self-service options for patients—comparing prices, making, changing and remembering appointments, registering, and paying for care—are excellent places to begin. Sophisticated technology makes these types of patient self-service solutions easy to integrate and simple to use. And it eliminates administrative burdens for staff, freeing them to focus on more important issues.
Empowered patients empower employees too
Healthcare organizations must put strategies in place that make self-service—and ease of service—possible from the moment a patient requests a price estimate all the way through an episode of care and final payment. Not only does this please patients, it makes life easier for staff while increasing efficiency and decreasing costs for your healthcare organization.
Create work environments that make employees feel valued
Sophisticated software exists to give patients the self-service control they need, while reducing the tsunami of patient payments handled needlessly by employees. Technology also has revamped patient billing statements to ensure they are easy to understand (and pay!) at a glance. These smart statements are personalized with custom messaging and layouts that are clear, concise and ready for immediate patient action, such as with QR codes that link to payment portals. Self-service also frees employees from tedious tasks and allows them to focus on more engaging work.
Technology’s growing role in improving the patient experience
Emerging technology is helping many providers improve the patient experience. These technology solutions are making it easier than ever to understand and engage with patients in ways that are consistent and compassionate—while also empowering healthcare organizations and the people who work for them to achieve key business objectives.
The power of data can only be realized when it is secure.
Digital information must be protected from unauthorized access, corruption and theft throughout its entire lifecycle. A robust healthcare data protection program must go beyond mere compliance with government and industry standards. Insist that all vendors with a legitimate need to access your patient and company data demonstrate a commitment to the most stringent data security practices.
That’s a wrap on our look back on 2024! We look forward to continuing to share information and our perspective on ways digital technology can help you engage and activate modern healthcare consumers in 2025 and beyond. Happy New Year!
