Healthcare resources are precious.
Over-stretched hospitals; over-worked clinicians; every missed patient appointment a frustrating waste of time and money.
Indeed, healthcare systems all over the world are fighting daily battles to improve productivity and efficiency in ways which derive maximum value from investment and expenditure.
Communication technology can play a major role, with reminders driving down patient ‘no shows’ by up to 80%.
For healthcare organisations and their IT service partners, it is a case of a simple solution delivering disproportionately-positive outcomes.
“A major healthcare provider recently asked their patients how they could improve their service. At the top of the list was SMS appointment reminders – it seems so simple and yet, when it began to happen, the positive impact was immediate,” says Byron Yu, Product Owner at global enterprise-class provider ComputerTalk, whose ice Contact Center platform enabled the powerful alert functionality in question.
“Until recently, the preferred method of reminding patients about their appointments was by phone. But now some Patients prefer to interact via newer, more effective technologies and healthcare providers must keep pace with that demand or risk becoming increasingly inefficient.”
As well as issuing the actual reminder itself, patient SMS communications are effective because information contained within them remains easily accessible until the recipient chooses to delete it. As a result, messages can be read and re-read.
Each day, users of ComputerTalk’s ice platform simply align patient-specific reminders to lists of stored contact numbers to enable secure, automated sending. Clinics can then view reports showing delivery rates, open rates, and replies, such as confirmations or cancellations. Importantly, monthly KPI reports show a high-level breakdown of statistics such as the time saved by sending reminders l, and the cost savings achieved as a result of more appointments being kept.
“For Managed Service Providers or System Integrators, KPI reports can be tremendously helpful because they are able to demonstrate to healthcare customers that the solution works and delivers a return on investment,” says Yu.
“Showing that it is making patients happy, clinics happy, and that it is saving money gets a lot of traction.”
The cost-related benefits for healthcare providers are obvious. However, for patients themselves, not missing appointments also means their health and welfare is supported more effectively.
“It becomes much more than just a cost function,” says Yu. “Clinics have become very accustomed to patients showing up when they are expected, and patients feel more connected to their healthcare because they are receiving easy to access messages direct to their smartphone. As a result, frictions caused by missed appointments or a perceived lack of communication are significantly eased and the whole experience becomes a more positive one.”
To learn more about how ComputerTalk can help your or your customers’ healthcare businesses leverage the benefits of SMS, click here.
