Nov 9, 2018
Chatbots bring the right mix of automation and human interaction
In today’s experience economy, consumers expect to be delighted. According to Becker’s Hospital Review, seventy-eight percent of the more tech-savvy consumers say the healthcare digital customer experience needs improvement, and 50 percent said they would leave their current physician for a better digital customer experience. It’s important for healthcare organizations to give consumers what they want and what they expect as technology continues to evolve.
The healthcare industry has shifted from volume to value of care and faced the evolution of data, mobile and cloud technologies. It has also moved from a provider- and health system-driven model to one that’s more customer-centered. While doctors and researchers push the boundaries of medicine, advances in technology are changing the way providers and health plans engage with consumers.
A complete overhaul of healthcare’s digital user experience to enable innovative care and a better consumer experience is a huge undertaking. There are undoubtedly challenges including regulation and compliance, however, user experience expectations are being shaped both in the industry and beyond. Reducing wait times for accessing information and providing quicker access to convenient care seem like a natural progression in the experience economy.
Gartner forecasts that by 2020, over 85 percent of customer interactions will be handled without a human. The future of the consumer experience in healthcare depends on a delicate balance between automation and human interaction, which is why chatbots have an important role in organizations’ digital transformation roadmaps.
Think of a chatbot as an assistant that communicates with individuals through text messages, a virtual companion that integrates into websites, applications or instant messengers and helps organizations get closer to customers. Such a bot is an automated system of communication with users.
Chatbot Applications in Healthcare
In the last years, smart algorithm-powered, text or voice-based interfaces have multiplied, and they are also taking their place in healthcare. There are countless cases where a chatbot could help enable a better patient/member experience.
Before & After Care
- Provide an online virtual assistant that helps patients quickly find what they are looking for on a website
- Provide a single place to get all relevant phone numbers with multi-level questions through a global directory
- Simplify existing processes of appointment setting and registration and reduce latency
- Enhance experience around referrals and chronic condition management and drive more referrals from physicians
Point of Care
- Integrate with hospital systems from scheduling to real-time clinical alerts
- Use role-based communications to contact dynamic roles such as a charge nurse or on-call radiologist without referring to a schedule
- Enable on the go approvals with workflow-driven tools
- Reduce fatigue and noise within the hospital with targeted alerts
Care Management
- Integrate with a Population Health Management system from scheduling preventive check-ups to real-time clinical care alerts
- Contact dynamic roles such as a case manager or on-call nurse without referring to a schedule using role-based communications
- Enable on the go approvals with workflow-driven tools
- Improve member/patient engagement and health outcomes with targeted alerts
As the healthcare industry follows the playbook of restaurants and hotels, airlines and banks have all been pressured to evolve, emids can assist you in developing a consumer experience that blends the right amount of automation and human interaction. Contact us today to learn how we can help.