Improve the Patient Experience with Secure Texting

Texting is a fast, efficient, convenient, and highly adopted method of communication. Mobile devices can receive messages from virtually any location. HIPAA-secure messaging solutions support the sending of audio and video files, images, and other file attachments via secure text. Approximately 90% of patients aged 50+ use personal technology to stay connected and roughly 85% of smartphone users prefer mobile messages to emails or calls.

 Optimizing the patient’s experience contributes to patient retention and loyalty, both increasingly important as retail disrupters expand the options to address care needs and capture growing market share. Read here for the business case of why investments in patient experience are critical.

In our earlier blog, we discussed the benefits to staff as HIPAA-compliant secure messaging expands from provider-to-provider communication to include two-way communication with patients. In this blog, we will discuss the benefits to patients of embracing two ways to digitally engage patients:

• Staff to patient secure texting
• Conversational chatbot to patient secure communication for more routine communication needs

“Whenever we share outcomes with the organization, we do our absolute best to speak in numbers ─ and not in anecdotal evidence. To quote Professor Aswath Damodaram of New York University Stern School of Business, ‘Without data, all we have is fairytales.’”

─ Tarun Kapoor, M.D., MBA, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Transformation Officer, Virtua Health

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1. Convenience:  It's hard for working people to access healthcare because most services are only available on weekdays. Long phone hold times are common as healthcare organizations struggle to hire enough staff. Who has time to sit on hold to schedule an appointment or ask a question? Who is willing to sit on hold to cancel or reschedule an appointment or procedure

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1. The approach must be patient-centric - Organizations share information they think is important, but it may not match what patients find important or want to know.

Organizations share information they think is important, but it may not match what patients find important or want to know.

So, what does this mean and what exactly is patient-centric care?  Efforts should be seen from the patient's perspective. They should be relevant to them.

The efforts should not just meet their needs but also encourage their involvement. Otherwise, providers miss opportunities to touch patients in more meaningful ways, moving them from passive to active.

1. Key actions to viewing healthcare from the patient’s perspective 
2. Start by creating a simple and straightforward working definition of the patient’s journey from the perspective of the patient. Include all steps in the journey regardless of where they o
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• Start by creating a simple and straightforward working definition of the patient’s journey from the perspective of the patient. Include all steps in the journey regardless of where they occur.
• Use digital tools, e.g., conversational chatbots, to better connect and gather insights from personalized interactions

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