How do healthcare organizations keep up to speed with patient expectations? How do they engage the right channels to connect to both consumers and their staff?
You only have to spend 1 minute in a hospital to understand just how much healthcare staff remains constantly “on the move.”
As nurses scurry from room to room, wing to wing, and doctors serve in multiple locations on any given day (or completely remotely), there are new waves of movement inside healthcare: Mobile clinics are on the rise, telehealth has exploded, and (perhaps most notably), the patient expectation has evolved.
According to Dynata, 80 percent of consumers prefer to use digital channels to communicate with healthcare providers and brands at least some of the time (online messaging, virtual appointment, text, etc.) On top of that, almost half of patients express interest in engaging with providers digitally, pre, during, and post-visit.
How do healthcare organizations keep up to speed with patient expectations? How do they engage the right channels to connect to both consumers and their staff? Healthy communication goes a long way toward enhancing the patient experience.
What is Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS)? Essentially, it’s an "all-in-one," cloud-based communications solution that unifies your many channels for communicating and conducting business — phone system, team chat and messaging, video conferencing, file collaboration, and more — under one manageable platform.
3 Ways Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) Enhances the Patient Experience.
1. Your patients want answers now... through the channel of their choice.
No one wants to wait on hold or be passed around to multiple departments when they’ve got an urgent question concerning their own personal health. With a single, integrated cloud communications platform, staff can handle any volume of inbound queries across multiple channels, supported by integrated phone, chat, text, video conferencing, screen sharing, and more.
- Engage patients through any channel: Engage patients or caregivers through their preferred channels, moving easily between integrated phone, chat, text, video, call center, email, and secure file sharing.
- Answer patient queries fast and effectively: Field patients’ queries quickly, and answer their questions the first time with effective call routing. Minimize wait times and transfers with interactive voice response (IVRs) and intelligent routing.
- Send timely reminders: Assist patients with proactive communications via dynamic notifications. Minimize appointment no-shows by setting up timely, repeatable appointment reminders, and delivering automatic prescription refill notices and other alerts – all via voice, text, and email.
2. Having a spread-out staff doesn't have to impact the patient experience.
The healthcare sector, like most other industries, has certainly embraced remote work as a means to heighten productivity and increase any given facility’s professional resources. Clinicians and staff (whether they’re in the office or conducting virtual exams from home) need to be empowered to connect with both patients and colleagues before during, and after each appointment.
- Work from anywhere: An integrated cloud communications platform enables your staff to stay connected regardless of location. Use a Mobile App to easily answer and route calls between admin functions and clinicians.
- Support virtual visits with video conferencing: Virtually interact with patients through easy-to-use high-definition video, screen sharing, collaboration features, and secure file sharing.
- Work smarter, not harder: With an integrated phone, chat, video conferencing, screen sharing, and file backup, your staff can switch seamlessly between communications channels and spend more time caring for patients and less time on administrative tasks.
3. Your patient data remains secure and compliant.
Have plans on expanding staffing? Moving locations? Interested in the benefits of UCaaS but concerned (and rightly so) about potential HIPAA Compliance red flags?
Investing in a cloud communications platform empowers healthcare organizations to dramatically increase operational efficiency while protecting data privacy and security. Scale in a budget-friendly manner without rewiring or purchasing new on-site hardware – and it’s secure and reliable for all your staff and patient communications.
- Operate with HIPAA-compliant security: A reputable UCaaS partner can strategically meet the privacy and security requirements for Protected Health Information (PHI), including HIPAA and PIPEDA compliance, HITRUST certification, communication and recording encryption, roles-based authentication, and more. Patient data is private and protected under the blanket of a secure cloud.
- Save money: Enjoy one flat rate for all calls nationwide with a range of services like internet fax and conference calling – without the complexity of multiple bills. Say goodbye to hidden landline costs for upgrades, maintenance, and support.
- Scale and flexibility: A cloud-based communications platform is easy to scale and manage. Add temporary staff during periods of higher call volumes and expand your talent pool to non-local markets. If you need to expand or move locations, it’s simple to create a new account, port numbers, and drop ship new phones — all from a central account.
Where people work, and how they choose to communicate, continue to transform. At Datamax, we're ready to help you embrace the evolution of how your patients expect to be treated, and how your staff expects to perform daily tasks. Interested in learning more about UCaaS? Let's visit!
SOURCE: Intermedia
