How Healthcare Providers Can Use Technology to Transform the Patient Experience

We do not associate cutting-edge technology with healthcare. Yes, they use advanced machines for MRI, CT scans, radiology. But that is pretty much it. Healthcare has stayed away from modern IT, thanks to regulatory compliance like HIPAA, HRRP, etc. But not anymore. They are catching up quickly to deliver the best possible care and experience for their patients.

Medicine has advanced significantly. The mortality rate has gone down. Patients stay admitted for fewer days than before. The safety of patients has certainly gone up. Digital services like appointment systems, telemedicine, bedside monitoring can only add to this, making healthcare a much better experience for the patients.

What Patient Journey Looked Like Versus What Patient Journey Looks Like Today

If you fancy a pizza, you can order it from your phone. When the pizza arrives, you pay using your phone. There is no need to step out of the house. There is no need to reach for your wallet.

But that was not the case with healthcare before it went digital and tech-savvy. The journey of a patient used to be arduous. Several challenges worried patients more than their actual illness.

• Which hospital?

• Will the doctor be available?

• How are the services there?

• Will I get an appointment?

• Where to get all the tests done?

• Searching for the prescribed medicines

• If admitted, will the nurses take proper care?

• What if I need help in the middle of the night?

The list goes on and on. And it plagued a lot of the patients’ minds.

Thanks to technology in healthcare, the focus has completely shifted to convenience for patients. The goal is how technology can provide the best care and treatment to the patients. And here’s where we can look at the scenario present-day.

Healthcare has become as convenient as ordering a pizza online. You see the doctor’s schedules. You can book appointments when it suits you. You no longer need to step out of your home to get basic health tests done, and you can opt for online consultation too.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Healthcare Is Thinking Like a Service Sector Industry.

Saving patients from diseases and curing them was always the goal of the industry. But it barely cared about the way patients felt about their treatment experience. According to the report by NRF, 83% of customers prioritise convenience more than anything else while shopping. And this reflects in the way we approach all the services that we want, including healthcare.

The Healthcare industry has adapted to this lately by developing its digital service platforms. Not only that, they are putting in efforts to make the experience of a patient as smooth and hassle-free as it can get in the hospitals. They want to make sure their patients see themselves valued by the hospitals, something which drives the service sector.

How do you gauge if your services satisfied a patient or not?

Healthcare is a vast, unique, and complex industry. Feedback here is not as straightforward as a cafe or a salon. And it is not just about accurate diagnosis and treatment anymore. To check if your services satisfied the patients, here are a few checkpoints.

• Ease of finding the right specialist online

• Positive online reviews

• Ability to smoothly and quickly book an appointment online

• Least possible time waiting in electric queues at the hospital

• Quick diagnosis by the doctor and immediate treatment

• Welcoming and caring hospital staff and environment

• Modern amenities and high standards for hygiene

If a hospital scores well in these checkpoints, it did a stellar job at making the patient feel valued and satisfied. But with online consultations and remote diagnosis, hospitals can create a better experience without stressing out their staff too much. And it is a step in the right direction.

Issues That Will No Longer Plague the Industry With the Advent of Technology

Making changes in an industry like healthcare is a challenge. It is a sensitive field as patients’ lives are at stake most of the time. It will demand a lot of forethought to install technologies like IoT, AI, and other convenience systems like bedside monitoring, patient mobility tracking, etc.

There is no doubt that tech can improve the experience patients have at the hospitals. There will be fewer hiccups in processes like billing and updating health profiles. Let us look at how we can solve the existing problems by deploying technology and digital systems.

1. Lucid Administrative Processes for a Trouble-Free Experience

Undoubtedly, the long time-consuming administrative processes in hospitals frustrate people. This study proves that.

What the study particularly highlights are the woes - tedious appointment scheduling, delayed consultation, elaborate insurance claim processes, so on. When a patient is tangled in such paper trails, switching healthcare providers is an obvious decision.

Here’s where healthcare apps and digital patient portals can help.

There are apps where you can book appointments with doctors. There are apps to get your health reports done from the comfort of your home. With better IT infrastructure and connectivity throughout the hospitals, queues move faster with better data management and storage. Patient portals can make long paper trails digital.

2. Less Time Spent in Clinics

Let us face it, nobody wants frequent visits to a clinic. And nobody wants to be stuck for hours in a clinic. We hear these quite often - the doctor is on his way, there is a power cut, there are few more appointments before you, there is an emergency.

None of these are excuses. They are genuine reasons. But the patient sees it as a delay. And when there is a delay, they do not want to go back to that clinic. It does not matter even if the treatment is on point. In an era where we define services by the words like instant and quick, healthcare falls short.

Telehealth and telemedicine can change that.

With reliable and fast internet, smartphones and apps, you can now consult a doctor remotely. Text, video calls, or audio calls, whatever suits you. You have the luxury to start your treatment without stepping out of your home. The pandemic has only boosted the adoption of this.

3. Managing Patient Data Better

AIIMS Delhi solely treated 4.4 million patients during the year 2019-20. Now just estimate the number of patients across India visiting hospitals annually. And this number will only go north. Scary, huh.

Managing bucket loads of data about patients and their medical conditions is a pain. Healthcare facilities should aim for systematic processing, analysis, and storage of data. This will help them create medical profiles of all the patients that visit the hospital.

Electronic Health Records and Electronic Medical Records are the solutions.

Smart and efficient data centers with robust connectivity and processing power can help install these features. This way, the data will never get lost. It will stay organised, and will be available whenever the need arises.

4. A Comfortable Amenities-Rich Stay for Patients

People talk about the experiences they have. And a two-night stay in the hospital is not an experience to cherish for a patient. They just wanted to be in their homes as soon as they were discharged from their wards. But not anymore.

Smart TVs, virtual assistants, welcoming caregivers, and posh amenities make patients feel at home. Patients feel more empowered and informed with features like nurse calls, health monitoring systems, electronic health records, treatment records, etc.

Hospitals now care about the way they treat a patient beyond medical treatment.

Conclusion?

More and more people are going digital. And they look for the same when they enter a hospital or a clinic for treatment. They look for an experience they have in other industries every day - food delivery, hotel booking, UPI payments, flight bookings.

Going digital for a healthcare facility can be a daunting task. But Netcon Technologies can help. We have developed a wide array of services specifically for healthcare. We aim to transform healthcare and provide lasting experiences for your patients. Consult us, and we would be happy to give you a tour!