As the saying goes, “You can’t make a second first impression”. In any industry, first impressions are not as important as healthcare.
Healthcare providers have a big demand from their patients—they demand that patients trust them to manage their most precious resource: their health. So the impact of the first contact goes well beyond that interaction — it affects how patients feel about the health care system and how likely they are to remain loyal or seek more personalized care elsewhere.
In addition, it affects the patient’s perception of the actual quality of care received.one clinical research Patients who indicated that they had a good first impression of their provider had more positive judgments about how they communicated, while a negative first impression was more likely to inhibit future interactions.
We operate in a new environment for healthcare providers – one where poor first impressions have more dire consequences and the rewards of pre-loading a seamless and personalized patient experience are greater, whether immediate or long-term.
The effects of first contact, whether through a web page, voice call, text message, or face-to-face interaction, can build or decrease affinity and loyalty in an instant. This means providers have a new mandate: to create the best possible “digital front door” through pre-care engagement to ensure that first contact is purposeful, meaningful and contextual.
First, let’s look at some of the emerging factors that make initial impressions in healthcare even more important:
Industry consumerism on the rise
Even before the pandemic, individuals had greater control over their health benefits and healthcare decisions, prompting healthcare executives to place greater emphasis on patient engagement. The pandemic has brought this trend to a climax, with an explosion in the way health care is delivered and the breaking down of geographic barriers to health care. Additionally, we’re seeing an increasing “app-ification” of healthcare services — that is, the healthcare industry replicates the easy and seamless experience of patients interacting with brands through consumer-grade apps and interfaces in other industries.
A wealth of choice and an industry with a strong focus on experience means that when patients first approach a healthcare provider, they now have more agency and confidence to switch gears and find a provider that truly fits their lifestyle and preferences.
The lasting impact of deferred care
Hospital admissions for non-Covid-related illnesses during the pandemic A sharp decline, even though it is unlikely that the actual incidence of these diseases, such as appendicitis, will change. New and existing health conditions have the opportunity to develop and deteriorate as patients miss appointments out of fear of contracting Covid-19 in a hospital or doctor’s office.
While some patients feel safe enough to return to a healthcare provider for screening and other elective procedures, more than two years of inertia from countless other patients needs to be overcome. We’ve seen hospital capacity strained by non-Covid cases, many of which are preventable conditions made worse by care errors. To prevent a problem from turning into a crisis, providers need to leverage pre-care outreach practices to build engaging and trusting relationships with patients.
employee burnout
For almost everyone in the medical community, the past two years have been the most challenging in memory. At the height of the epidemic, over one-third of nurses Weakened, medical professionals have left the profession, leading to a historic shortage of staff in hospitals across the country. Earlier this year, A full 22% of hospitals Report severe staffing shortages.
This results in fewer resources for patient admission and pre-care outreach, often resulting in a failed patient experience.
So, to recap: Healthcare systems grappling with unprecedented staffing shortages must deal with a growing public health crisis driven by delayed care—while meeting a fundamental shift in customer expectations to remain relevant and competitive. Regardless, it’s a tough task.
Solving the first touch problem with technology
Rigorous or not, it’s clear that the early stages of the patient journey are the most important when it comes to building affinity and loyalty. To meet this need, leading hospitals are harnessing the power of effective upfront care engagement to automate, personalize, and smart initial touch wherever possible. What’s more, by using a seamless, multi-channel approach that not only caters to the patient’s location, but also collects and digests conversational data, providers are able to optimize touchpoints at all later stages of the care continuum.
So what does effective pre-care engagement look like? It should include at least the following core elements:
- Appointment confirmation and reminder: Automatically send messages at pre-appointment and pre-scheduled times, ensuring patients are aware of their appointments and can easily import them into a calendar of their choice. This information should also prompt patients to confirm, reschedule or cancel appointments a few days before their appointment to reduce no-shows.
- Appointment Arrangement: Allowing patient self-service (via text or web link) in terms of appointment scheduling enables patients to control their own schedule based on their own conditions and leisure time, while further reducing no-shows.
- Pre-Care Screening and Data Collection: Providing screening surveys and patient forms to fill out and import into record systems prior to appointments can reduce registration time.
- Dialogue function: Conversational engagement through chat functionality on various channels can add a new level of personalization to the initial interaction.
- Appointment and program preparation: Telling patients when they can arrive, if there are any special safety protocols in place, and if they need to take any specific preparations before their appointment not only reduces check-in time, but also makes patients feel more prepared and comfortable.
The long-term effects of a good first impression
The trio of growing consumerism, employee burnout, and delayed care is a fundamental and new challenge that every healthcare provider in the country must overcome. Tools and solutions for problem-solving are simultaneously needed to address these problems throughout the care process. But solutions need to start at the very beginning of the care journey, when patients are still having opinions about their providers and the care they may receive.
That’s why pre-care engagement, by its very nature, is much more than the sum of its parts. Not only does it set the tone for the patient experience, but it also becomes a valuable first opportunity to understand the patient; gleaning insights from conversational data to personalize and enhance every subsequent interaction.
Photo: Mykyta Dolmatov, Getty Images
