Healthcare organisations are facing significant pressure to transform and adapt to a new age of customer service. In both the public and private healthcare space, organisations are beginning to realise just how crucial good customer care can be.
Failure to deliver support according to patient expectations doesn’t just reduce revenue opportunities for private health providers, it can also lead to significant problems with community wellness and disease prevention. Investing in the right CX technology provides healthcare organisations with more opportunities to delight their patients, empower their workers, and even leverage the power of data.
If your healthcare company’s CX solutions are becoming outdated, now could be the perfect time to start building a business case for a new solution. Here are the steps you can follow when proving the value of CX technology to your shareholders and leaders.
Step 1: Focus on Preparing for the New Age of Healthcare
The way companies deliver patient care and support has evolved drastically in recent years. Once, the concept of interacting with your primary care physician entirely through a video call was something only a handful of people had heard of. Yet, in 2021, 84% of physicians were offering virtual visits, and 57% said they wanted to continue delivering virtual care post-pandemic.
Investing in CX solutions is one of the ways today’s healthcare brands can make sure they’re connecting with the widest range of patients, in the right format. With a CCaaS ecosystem, it’s possible for administrators, specialists, and other healthcare professionals to connect with users across a range of channels, from chat to video.
Not only do these tools give healthcare customers more options on how they access service, but they can be extremely beneficial for care leaders too. With the ability to support customers via digital channels, organisations can reduce the time and expense associated with in-person visits.
The right CCaaS solutions can even open the door to offering various kinds of new services remotely. For instance, XR technologies could allow healthcare providers to deliver rehabilitation training and counselling sessions in a virtual environment.
Step 2: Explore the Potential of Data
Data has always been an important tool in the healthcare landscape. But the majority of businesses aren’t taking full advantage of the information they collect each day. According to Harvard, only around 57% of healthcare providers are accessing the data they collect to improve their CX interactions. Yet studies show healthcare leaders harnessing customer insights are 5 times more likely to increase their revenue.
CX solutions like CCaaS systems, and CRM tools can provide businesses with behind-the-scenes insights into the needs and journeys of their patients. This allows for the creation of a more personalised level of service. It could also help emergency healthcare providers to ensure the right patients are prioritised when appointments and support are requested.
CX insights can also go beyond simply improving the patient experience. They can provide organisations with insights into geographical trends, demonstrating when epidemic issues are rising in certain parts of a region, and prompting public health announcements. The right tools can even improve business efficiency. WFM tools can provide reports which help administrators to ensure the right number of staff members are available to handle changes in demand.
Step 3: Support and Align Healthcare Teams
Employees in the healthcare industry are notoriously overworked, and more prone to burnout than many other specialists. These individuals are under significant pressure to work according to strict deadlines, in demanding environments, where life and death can often be on the line.
Ensuring employees in the healthcare sector are properly supported and empowered should be a number one priority for any organisation. Fortunately, many of the top CX tools on the market today don’t focus exclusively on customer experienced – but employee experience too.
For instance, CCaaS systems don’t just ensure you can reach your customers on their channel of choice. They also provide business users with access to all the knowledgebase resources, data, support, and tools they need in an aligned environment. This allows for a more streamlined workflow.
CX technology combined with Workforce Optimisation and Management tools can help business leaders to reduce the strain on their employees, by assisting with training, support, and scheduling strategies. Some tools can even help business leaders to keep their finger on the pulse of staff engagement, reducing the risk of talent turnover.
Step 4: Look for Ways to Optimise Efficiency
Part of empowering healthcare employees to work more efficiently in a high-octane healthcare environment, is implementing tools to enhance your team. CX solutions have the power to improve workflow efficiency in a number of different ways. CCaaS solutions keep team members aligned around the same information, no matter whether they’re in the office or in the field.
Many of the more modern tools designed for healthcare CX are also equipped with automation and AI tools, specifically built to reduce the strain on workers. For instance, virtual assistants and chatbot tools can accelerate the search for information in a knowledge base, to help employees finish tasks and manage data more effectively.
Self-service tools can also be implemented within the contact centre environment to give consumers more ways of managing their own requests. Healthcare brands can set up automated appointment booking systems, or create bots to answer common questions, reducing the strain on the administrative team.
Investing in next-level technology within the CX environment can help to reduce the number of repetitive tasks employees need to complete on a daily basis, giving them more freedom to focus on the challenges which really matter to a healthcare community.
Step 5: Highlight the Cost Savings
Finally, like many industries, the healthcare sector is constantly dealing with limited budgets, and a demand to reduce costs. Leading service providers and vendors need to make sure they have the cash in their budget to invest in innovative new technology and solutions, which often means finding ways to cut costs elsewhere in the ecosystem.
CX solutions can significantly lower costs in the healthcare space in a number of different ways. CCaaS solutions can help organisations to reduce the costs of maintaining, cleaning, and managing offices by allowing doctors and healthcare providers to meet with patients remotely through video. The right self-service tools can allow business leaders to hire a lower number of administrative professionals to work on booking and managing appointments or requests.
CX systems can even provide behind-the-scenes insights into efficiency issues within the workforce, so companies can determine the most effective methods for facilitating growth.
