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
When was the last time you had a truly outstanding patient experience? For my family, two healthcare facilities located hours apart recently teamed up to make our lives significantly more convenient. Without modern technology, however, our new reality may never have been possible. Let’s start from the beginning.
A few years ago, my family member suffered a heart attack that caused a traumatic brain injury. He was treated at a major facility about two hours away from his home for speech therapy, occupational therapy, neurological care, cardiologist support, and more. After a year of hard work, he was discharged from the hospital and was able to move back to his home town.
Unfortunately, his community hospital was not equipped to provide the specific care he required. So for the next two years, he and his wife, who is now his primary care giver, commuted to the city multiple times a week to ensure he received the care he needed.
Eventually, we all wondered the same thing: Isn’t there a better way?
After many meetings with the facility that treated my relative and our local hospital, we started discussing how digital health experiences and virtual care could augment my family’s patient and caregiver experience. We were determined to find a solution that provided care options and choice, and allowed them to continue receiving the necessary care without the exhaustion of “living on the road.”
A recent study by Accenture said it best: “Finding the best combination of traditional in-person services and making those same services available virtually can offer consumers the choice they want in deciding when and how they receive care and support.”
Fortunately, we learned that our local hospital was equipped to provide virtual care. However, many patients had not yet taken advantage of these technologies. After some coordinating between facilities, we were able to set up ongoing virtual appointments. These appointments enabled my family member to receive care in a much more convenient setting.
With virtual appointments, they can even:
- Easily schedule virtual appointments
- Participate in the appointments from the comfort of a boardroom at the hospital
- Consult with the first hospital’s specialist and also an in-person care facilitator
- Receive follow-up health reminders and education directly after the appointment
Now, almost half of his appointments have transitioned to virtual appointments. And my family is not the only one taking advantage of this care capability. Recent research explores the many reasons why healthcare consumers are making this virtual shift:
- One of the top three reasons why consumers tried virtual health was convenience. 37% said it was more convenient than traditional, in-person health services
- 76% of people would have a follow-up appointment (after seeing a doctor or healthcare professional)
- 74% would get virtual follow-up care services in their home after being hospitalized
- 73% would discuss a specific health concern virtually with a doctor or other healthcare people and
- 72% would be open to getting virtual daily support to manage an ongoing health issue
Consumer willingness to demand choice and becoming more involved in their health is rising. Like my family, more patients are ready to collaborate with clinicians, embrace new technologies, and explore digital health experiences that can help manage our health and create more convenient and engaging patient experiences.
Learn more about how Stericycle Communication Solutions is helping create the optimal patient experience through a combination of human and tech-enabled communication services. Check out our service overview here!
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
