These days it can be difficult to find a healthcare organization with a singular patient engagement solution. So many organizations have fallen trap to purchasing multiple solutions in an attempt to service their customers. They will often buy multiple software solutions (e.g. patient bill pay software, event management, patient education, medical records access, etc.) in an effort to solve their patients’ problems. This action achieves short term mitigation, but trends towards long term issues. Here we are going to discuss the advantages of switching to a single patient engagement solution.
Respecting Patient Opt-In Preferences
It is very difficult to respect a patient’s messaging preferences when using a multiple patient engagement solution. This is mostly due in part to the lack of interface between various systems, such as an organization’s Patient Messaging System, patient scheduling software, patient portal, etc. Patients want full autonomy over whether they opt-in or opt-out of receiving specific messages from a healthcare organization. With a multiple patient engagement solution, it is nearly impossible to honor a patient’s wishes when it comes to this because the systems are not in sync. This can be frustrating for patients and it also brings up serious legal risk for an organization if they do not respect a patient’s decision to opt-in or opt-out of messaging. With a single patient engagement solution, a customer can easily select their exact messaging preferences.
Improved Communication with Patients
When an organization employs multiple patient engagement solutions, it is impossible for the systems to communicate with each other, and this is reflected negatively when it comes to notifying the patient. Consumers are particular about how they receive notifications from organizations. When the systems are not interfaced it leads to problems and frustration for the consumer. A patient may prefer SMS over an email notification, or if a patient gets a new phone number the account would have to manually update this change for all the systems involved. A patient may receive multiple messages pertaining to the same subject or they may receive messages at inopportune times. A single patient engagement solution mitigates this frustrating process and leaves patients content and willing to receive specific and important messaging from an organization.
Simple Interfacing
A single patient engagement solution grants one simple interface to an organization’s source systems. With a multiple patient engagement solution, you are allowing each individual system to gain more access than is needed. All of these systems need to be interfaced with the EMR, PM, or other source system. So whether it is patient intake software, scheduling reminders, patient education, or another system, it is being allowed too much unnecessary access. This greatly increases the risk potential for an organization.
Saving Money
A single patient engagement solution yields much greater ROI than a multiple patient engagement solution. A single solution may cost more upfront, but the cost of maintaining multiple systems from various vendors end up being much greater in the long run than that of a single solution.
Go to Bridge to learn more about the ease and advantages of implementing a single patient engagement solution today.
