The nation’s top healthcare executives are embracing digital transformation and cutting-edge digital healthcare solutions en masse.
That’s because research is showing that a seamless digital experience is essential for patient satisfaction and hospital growth–with 72% of healthcare CEOs ranking “digitally enabled services” as one of their top three priorities for 2022.
Furthermore, research by McKinsey shows that technology-driven innovations like patient engagement platforms (PEPs), electronic health records, and data analysis will create an additional $350-$410 billion in value for healthcare organizations by 2025.
However, embracing digital transformation is not just an executive and marketing priority–accelerated digitalization also improves patient care and is an essential tool for medical practitioners.
A July 2021 survey of physicians found that 59% of doctors believe that software interoperability, a concept at the heart of digital transformation, will allow doctors to “identify high-risk patients.” Just as importantly, the same survey found that a full 95% of doctors agree that improved systems integration will “ultimately improve patient outcomes.”
This article will explore the most common PEP features and investigate the most important benefits for healthcare executives.
Patient Engagement Platform
PEPs are a relatively new type of healthcare technology, which only became a standard tool for medical practices in the past decade. Despite their recent introduction, PEPs have quickly become indispensable assets for improving the patient experience and reducing the administrative workload associated with patient care.
This type of digital healthcare solution includes patient self-service features, electronic health records storage, bill pay, and serves as a patient-provider communication platform. These features are so valuable because they eliminate technological barriers between the patient and their provider–while using systems integration to seamlessly connect the PEP with off-the-shelf legacy software to eliminate transcription errors and transfer data in real-time.
This new type of software also provides a huge range of benefits for healthcare organizations. It helps them improve patient care, reduce call center staff, enhance data privacy, and improve patient satisfaction and care metrics.
Features
Modern healthcare PEPs combine multiple different processes, like electronic health records, prescription ordering, and accounting into a single digital healthcare solution–while also allowing patients to take control of their health and medical care through self-service options.
Appointment Scheduling
The most important aspect of the modern PEP is the self-service appointment scheduling option. By integrating appointment scheduling into this patient portal, digital transformation agencies like I-ology are streamlining the patient experience and reducing the front office workload at healthcare organizations.I-ology specializes in developing custom scheduling applications that use API integration to provide patients with real-time appointment openings at all locations throughout their city. Even more impressively, this scheduling application integrates with Google Maps–giving patients a street-grid view of the doctor’s offices, laboratories, and imaging locations closest to their home or office.Patients can also request prescription refills, order lab tests, and request doctor’s notes for schools and employers using this integrative PEP.
Executives who embrace online scheduling will see improved patient satisfaction metrics as a result of this initiative. That’s because modern patients overwhelmingly prefer to schedule their medical appointments online.
Electronic Health Records & Testing Results
Attempting to access medical records from doctors’ offices was once one of the most frustrating aspects of American healthcare. Before the introduction of the PEP, these records were stored on internal hospital systems–and could only be accessed by patients if they submitted a formal records request.This process was time-consuming and frustrating.However, PEPs like those built by I-ology are designed to integrate seamlessly with hospitals’ electronic health records and other off-the-shelf software. This gives patients access to their entire medical record in real-time–and through a secure, HIPAA-compliant systems integration process.
By providing patients with real-time access to their electronic health records and laboratory results, healthcare organizations ensure that they comply with the interoperability requirements imposed by the 2016 21st Century Cures Act.
Accounting Services & Bill Pay
Another beloved feature associated with PEPs is the self-service bill pay option. Patients love having the ability to view their balance ledger, look through individual line items for specific visits and treatments, and pay their bills without having to contact an accounting department.This feature also saves countless call center hours. That’s because patients no longer have to call to ask questions about their bill or provide their credit card information over the phone–they can simply enter their payment information and print out a receipt with just a few clicks of their mouse.In addition, the bill pay option reduces the accounting department’s workload and the number of transcription errors. That’s because digital transformation agencies like I-ology use systems integration to seamlessly transfer data between the internal accounting system and the PEP
In Summary
Modern PEPs are an essential tool for healthcare organizations seeking to accelerate digitalization and meet patient demands for a seamless digital experience.
Savvy executives are embracing custom PEPs as a way to improve patient satisfaction metrics, offer more self-service options demanded by consumers, enhance data privacy and analytics, and improve patient care through better provider communication.
That’s because this type of digital healthcare solution empowers patients to take control of their health through self-service options and instant access to crucial medical information
In addition, this robust patient portal offers benefits for front office staff, medical practitioners, marketers, executives, and patients alike–helping them reduce their administrative workload and removing technological barriers between practitioners and their patients.
To learn more, please contact us at healthcare@i-ology.com
