Predicting the Top Patient Engagement Themes of #HIMSS18

The following is a guest blog post by Brittany Quemby, Marketing Strategist for Stericycle Communication Solutions, as part of the Communication Solutions Series of blog posts. Follow and engage with them on Twitter: @StericycleComms

Brittany Quemby - StericycleWe all have different motivations in life – and when it comes to your health, it is no different. Motivation strikes us all differently, especially regarding eating well, exercising, maintaining good health, and engaging in our healthcare.  Have you ever thought about what motivates you when it comes to your healthcare?

For instance, I love carbs. So, my motivation for exercising is the reward of being able to eat pizza and pasta without feeling guilty. When it comes to my relationship with my provider, I want to be able to conveniently schedule an appointment without waiting on hold for over an hour. With this in mind, I’ve been thinking about some of the ways the industry is starting to close communication gaps in an effort to improve patient experiences, and how these trends will influence focus at the HIMSS18 conference in Las Vegas.

Below are some of the themes to keep a look for at HIMSS18 that are driving more strategic engagement amongst patients and providers.

Convenience

As consumers, we drive trends and change in the market. As patients, we do something similar in the healthcare market: drive our healthcare experiences.  Consumers and patients alike want convenience and quality and will choose care providers accordingly.

Take those aged 18 to 34, or millennials, as an example. They are now the largest generation in the U.S. labor force right, surpassing Gen Xers according to U.S. Census Bureau data by Pew Research.  Convenience for this generation is a top motivator. Millennials, for example, find it inconvenient to see their physician and find scheduling preventative visits and booking appointments to be a chore. A survey from Salesforce and Harris Poll showed that 71 percent of millennials want to be able to book appointments through mobile apps.

And I think I can speak for the rest of us by saying that convenience is at the top of list for everyone else. According to Accenture, 64 percent of all patients will book appointments digitally by 2019. Tapping into the convenience card is essential for establishing lasting engagement with patients while delivering an optimal user experience.

Access

It’s time to say goodbye to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. support. Unfortunately for Dolly, these days it is no way to make a livin’. Consumers have grown accustomed to instant gratification and are looking for constant accessibility. In fact, a recent EMC report found that patients want faster access to services. The report found that a whopping 45 percent wanted 24/7 access and connectivity and 42 percent wanted access on more devices.

For most, patients’ craving more access shouldn’t be a surprise. Whether it’s through portals, apps, phone, email, chat, or text – we want it! Patients have become much more comfortable with new technology and are constantly seeking new tools that make accessing and engaging with our providers easy.

Personalization

You know that feeling when the barista calls out your name when your coffee is ready? You strut up to the counter, grab the cup with your name on it, and enjoy the hot brew that was made especially for you. The same sentiment can be created in the healthcare space, and can lead to enticing results. Personalized patient engagement correlates with better care outcomes. The more involved and invested a patient is and feels with his or her healthcare, the greater the likelihood for successful outcomes.

An EMC report showed that 47 percent of patients want “personalized” experiences. The key for healthcare providers is the same as the barista: know your customer. Not all patients are the same, and treating them as such deters them from taking part in their health. Utilizing data and preferences, healthcare organizations can tailor interactions with patients, including what doctor a patient prefers, their health history, how they like to communicate, and potential other health issues, allowing treatment options to become easy, delightful, and accessible.

Conclusion

As the industry goes forward to improve upon strategic patient experience improvement, research from PwC suggests that the solution is systemic: 73 percent of provider executives say balancing patient satisfaction and employee job satisfaction is a barrier to efforts to improve the patient experience. But with the right technology-based tools and human support, this barrier can be lifted, helping eliminate employee hardships and improve the patient experience by delivering on each of the above trends.

If you’re going to be at HIMSS18, come and stop by the Stericycle Communications Solutions booth #859 to share your ideas and perspectives on patient engagement.

The Communication Solutions Series of blog posts is sponsored by Stericycle Communication Solutions, a leading provider of high quality live agent services, scheduling solutions, and automated messaging solutions.  Stericycle Communication Solutions provides unified human & tech-enabled communication solutions for optimized patient experiences.  Connect with Stericycle Communication Solutions on social media: @StericycleComms

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  • “Consumers have grown accustomed to instant gratification and are looking for constant accessibility.” Yet customer satisfaction is constantly dropping and resolutions are negligible. More has become the new less. There is no magic wand in medicine or in any other service profession. Yes, we are impatient and we do demand instantaneous results, can we deliver them too? Don’t do to others as you wouldn’t have others do to you. Having egregious demands placed upon you is a call to fight back, not just push back. As I have always demanded of my CSRs, use your experience on the help desk to become a better customer. If health care is going to become a consumable, then health care needs better customers.

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