5 Ways to Provide Connected Care to Patients

Healthcare is among the noblest of industries, ensuring that people’s physical and emotional needs are met. The word “business,” on the other hand, usually brings to mind a separate array of concepts — profits, sales, bottom lines, and self-interest. On the surface, it seems like business and healthcare are ideologically opposed. However, business is simply a way to organize a practice so it achieves the best possible outcomes.

That’s why treating healthcare like a business can benefit everyone involved — doctors, nurses, record-keepers, patients, and medical equipment manufacturers. The best part, though, is that when the business of healthcare is done well, it doesn’t actually feel like business at all. Patients keep visiting a provider if they have a good experience, and a surefire way to provide that is to place the patient above everything else with connected care.

Technology has made this easier than ever. Here are five ways providers can use a connected healthcare solution to improve patient engagement.

1. Create connected patient journeys.

According to Salesforce Research, the majority of healthcare consumers want easy access to their health records. And they want the ability to schedule and change appointments without having to contact their doctors’ offices. 

In the digital world, an intuitive and well-constructed website allows patients to create their own accounts. And cloud-based systems and blockchains that store patient data enable providers to improve efficiencies and the entire patient experience.

2. Improve communication between departments.

The various medical departments that coordinate quality healthcare can be more productive with a connected care solution. In healthcare, a customer relationship management (CRM) instantly and easily keeps all employees in touch with each other with access to the same information in the same place. This enables collaborative care.

Cloud-based, employee-focused connected care solutions make this a possibility. Integration across systems of record guards against losing patient records and allows care to run more smoothly. Improved coordination helps providers perform their duties better, which in turn makes patients more likely to stay with their current provider.

3. Be open to patient feedback.

It’s crucial to let patients know they can approach their healthcare providers with any questions or concerns about the quality of their care. The more that patient feedback is specific and honest, the better medical professionals can become. At the same time, easy communication between doctor and patient creates relationships built on trust (rather than on dollar signs).

This is another function for connected care. Just keeping patients involved in the processes — like sending out emails to the patients after they’ve kept their appointments — can go a long way toward encouraging their perspectives and making them feel valued.

4. Train employees in best practices for patient engagement.

Studies are constantly conducted about the best ways to treat medical patients, not just physically but emotionally and psychologically. Bedside manner remains a vital aspect of healthcare. It’s important to ensure that employees are always kept up to date regarding the intricacies of patient support. 

With connected care, employees instantly provide updates or small pieces of advice about how medical professionals of any type and level can look after their patients’ needs.

5. Keep patients connected with healthcare apps and patient portals.

In today’s world, smart technology is practical. Apps have quickly become an efficient way for everyone to organize their lives. For patients, an effective healthcare app can connect them with their providers, schedule their appointments, and provide easy access to their own health records. With patients wanting medical help that is only a few clicks away, you would think that connected care would be adopted widely.

However, that’s actually not the case. Only 20% of patients access self-service portals to communicate with providers, making portals the fourth most-common patient-provider communication channel. 

That could change soon, though, since 52% of consumers now expect to find whatever they need from a company in three clicks or less. In other words, the majority of patients would likely choose a doctor with a healthcare app over a doctor without one. It won’t take long for providers to catch on, and the earliest birds will certainly get the most worms.

Connected care and healthcare apps show patients that their needs and preferences are taken into consideration, which makes healthcare feel less like a business and more like the service patients expect.

Look no further for a connected care solution.

A CRM platform reimagined for healthcare gives providers what they need to create satisfying patient experiences. Salesforce Health Cloud connects to existing systems of record to surface detailed information about patients in a single place that’s easily accessible to medical professionals and patients. Patients securely communicate one-on-one with professionals, answer personalized assessments, and leave feedback, while providers discover everything they need to know about a patient’s medical history with actionable insights — all from one connected care system. And, because Health Cloud is fully mobile-compatible, patients and providers can access the data they need on any channel and device.
Health Cloud is redefining healthcare by keeping the focus entirely on the patient, leaving little room for anything other than satisfaction. That leads to the best possible outcomes for everyone — which is what business is all about.
 

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