According to a survey, in the first few months of the pandemic, more than 40% of patients surveyed skipped medical care. A recent study Researchers at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. Among those in need of care, 58% missed scheduled preventive care.Similar trends are in Cancer screening, Breast cancer, colorectal cancer and cervical cancer appointments-in some cases, compared with 2019, March and April 2020 decreased by about 80%-90%. Diagnostic test The incidence of some cancers has plummeted, as has HPV vaccination.
These trends are not unexpected: COVID-19 is forcing medical institutions to cancel or reduce services, while fear of infection and financial worries discourage many patients. However, because most services are again operating at near-normal capacity and vaccine programs tend to reschedule care, preventive services are still lagging. Despite the health risks associated with delaying treatment of potentially serious diseases, many patients are still reluctant to participate in screenings and health visits.
Re-establishing preventive care procedures is essential. For patients, getting back on track through early diagnosis means more timely treatment and better recovery opportunities. It promises to provide patients, payers and providers with better financial prospects, and they will all bear higher costs when their medical conditions escalate. Suppliers hope to get their daily business back on track, so as to eliminate the severely disrupted work flow and revenue cycle last year.
The provider must reassure the patient that it is safe and necessary to return to care. Compassionate and personalized support will be the key to ensuring that patients receive the right care at the right time. Automated patient outreach strategy Building on comprehensive patient data can help reverse the trend of giving up care.
How can data and automation support personalized patient service?
Kelly E. Anderson, one of the authors of the Johns Hopkins University study, said, “Doctors can try to reschedule care by actively contacting patients who missed care, so as to alleviate some of the long-term harmful effects of such abandonment of care. In person or through telemedicine. .”
The combination of automated outreach and a simple patient scheduling platform can help providers identify and invite healthcare consumers to get much-needed preventive care appointments back on track. E.g:
- Automation makes scheduling of patients easier, and providers are more efficient
Online scheduling platform Allow patients to reschedule missed appointments at a time and place that suits them. A targeted outreach list of patients most likely to need screening (for example, based on age, lifestyle, or health risk factors) can be used to send automatic booking reminders and reminders via text messages or interactive voice response (IVR). It is simple and convenient for patients and reduces the pressure on call center staff. In addition, it generates a lot of useful real-time response rate data to identify areas for improvement.
- Using the correct data, the provider can direct the patient to the appropriate service
For patients who are unable or unwilling to go to conventional medical institutions, directing them to telemedicine services or other places may be a good choice. Similarly, patients with a medical history or family history that indicate a higher risk of cancer should be screened first. But you can only do this if you know who these patients are and what they need. Social determinants of health It can be a powerful tool to help providers determine a holistic view of patients’ clinical and non-clinical needs.
Consumer view Collecting consumer data from more than 300 million individuals, covering a variety of demographic, psychological, and behavioral attributes, so providers can learn more about lifestyles and interests so that they can effectively resonate and participate.
- Data helps create a better patient financial experience
Since many patients worry about losing their health insurance, outreach work may also include providing appropriate financial support to the patient. When socioeconomic data shows that patients are financially troubled, providers can quickly check for missing insurance coverage, provide tailored payment plans, and help get charity care when needed.
Automation Outreach It can also provide up-front information about healthcare pricing that many patients require, and provide simple payment links through text and IVR activities to help employees collect patient payments more quickly.
- Consumer data can inform compassionate patient communication
Since most patients choose not to make an appointment due to concerns about COVID-19 exposure, any invitation to reschedule care should provide adequate assurance for hygiene procedures. Some patients may need a nudge to reschedule the appointment, so if you can help them feel comfortable when visiting the facility and tell them what will happen, they will be more likely to return.
It will be even more important to provide additional assurance and support to communities that have traditionally underserved health care services or have been hit by COVID-19. The best way to contact, Social determinants of health insight Ethnic insight can support efforts to promote screening to groups that may face additional care barriers.
With the right data, you can go beyond compassionate information and choose the right communication channel that suits consumers.
One thing that COVID-19 does not hinder is the trend of healthcare consumerism. The patient can choose which provider to use. Proactively supporting patients to make up for missed care is a reliable way for providers to stand out as a simple choice.
Learn more about how Experian Health supports personalized and proactive patient outreach.
