It's an understatement to say that today's health care industry is not architected in a way that is conducive to efficient workflows – and that's a problem for consumers, health care professionals and even payers intent on improving the health of their communities.
Something as fundamental as making an appointment often becomes a frustrating barrier for patients rather than a touchpoint for creating a good patient experience. And the cost is high. Seven percent of patients have switched healthcare providers as a result of a poor customer experience, which contributes to a loss of more than $100 million in annual revenue per hospital, according to a recent Accenture report. Efficient workflows mean better access to care, more effective care delivery and quality trading partnerships between health systems and payer entities.
Consider this scenario: you pay a visit to your primary care physician after experiencing recurring pain in your knee. Your doctor orders an x-ray, yet instead of scheduling the appointment on the spot or allowing you to self-schedule online, the doctor lets you know that his staff will contact you to schedule an appointment and suggests that you contact the scheduling department yourself if you don't get a call within a week. There are two obvious problems with this scenario: first, it shouldn't take a week to schedule a routine procedure, and second, the provider's office should have the tools available to schedule the procedure during the appointment. More importantly, when healthcare workflows, such as scheduling appointments, are put in the hands of consumers – only after health systems fail to act – the process becomes cumbersome and very often, patients fail to follow through. Sadly, this scenario may sound all-to-familiar to most of us.
In today's on-demand, service-oriented culture, waiting for a call back is hardly grounds for repeat business. And yet, it is unfortunately the status quo in health care – subjecting patients to needless waiting, worrying and stress – or worse, an "out of sight, out of mind" mentality where gaps in the care delivery process begin to form. Why is it possible to order dinner, transfer money, hail a ride or consume countless other goods and services in mere seconds with only a few clicks – but scheduling health care appointments for consumers is an often manual process that isn't supported by modern-day technology. Consumers also question the gap in expectations: 77 percent of patients say the ability to book, change or cancel appointments online is important; yet only 2.4 percent of appointments in the U.S. are self-scheduled.
Consumers want their health care experience to mirror the personalized, on-demand experiences they have with other businesses and services, and they have no tolerance for slow, cumbersome processes. Scheduling workflows are best addressed in real time, with on-site, in-the-moment scheduling tools – or as a self-scheduling process where patients are clear on their responsibility to coordinate their own appointments through self-scheduling portals. What's more, as consumers increasingly take the reins on their health care purchasing decisions (as well as taking on more of the out of pocket costs), advocating for lower cost options, better outcomes and higher value experiences, they're paying closer attention to health system value propositions – and they're doing business with organizations that think and act like other, more tech-savvy industries. Those health systems built on smart technologies will lure consumers with services and providers that meet their new high standards.
There is hope, however, for providers and health systems looking to create efficiencies in their workflows and deliver a better patient experience. New engagement models and processes built on easy-to-implement, cloud-based technologies put patients in the driver's seat when it comes to managing and advocating for their own care, and close the gap between consumer expectations and reality – they make the patient's role clear that they are in the driver seat regarding care coordination. Today's emerging workflow solutions:
• Improve patient care coordination by giving everyone equal access to services, democratizing care options via easy-to-use scheduling portals – avoiding cumbersome manual-based patient access activities
• Enable the same real-time scheduling experience that patients are accustomed to in their "on demand" lives, making scheduling an activity that consumers willingly engage in at their convenience, 24/7
• Provide a closed-loop experience that removes the burden of follow-up from the patient and keeps them informed of their upcoming appointment, reducing costly missed appointments
Improved patient workflows would make the scenario described above much less cumbersome and painful. Instead of waiting a week for a phone call, then following up to schedule, the patient could schedule online quickly and easily, with just a few clicks – in many cases without even having to go through the onerous process of registering as a new patient.
Forward-thinking hospitals and health systems will increasingly leverage these types of tools and technologies to make it easier for patients to do business with them – creating efficiencies, competitive differentiation and facilitating stronger patient engagement in an increasingly digital world.
Author Bio
As Chief Marketing Officer at SCI Solutions, Jamie Gier is responsible for leading brand strategy, corporate communications, product marketing and demand generation.
Jamie's distinguished career encompasses over two decades marketing cutting-edge healthcare technologies, including electronic health records, information exchange solutions and clinical decision-support software. She has extensive experience working with leading provider and payer organizations, as well as healthcare policy groups.
Prior to joining SCI, Jamie held executive-level positions at a number of companies, most recently leading corporate marketing for Edifecs, one of the fastest growing healthcare companies. She was also responsible for building and managing brands at Microsoft, GE Healthcare, IDX Systems Corporation and several private healthcare and medical device companies. Jamie co-led marketing integration for two major industry acquisitions, including GE/IDX and Microsoft/Sentillion.
Jamie graduated summa cum laude from Washington State University with a bachelor's degree in Communications.
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