information technology
Chapter 2: Personalize every patient interaction N O V 1 0 , 2 0 2 1 . 7 . 5 M I N R E A D
Patients managing health issues often feel vulnerable. Personalized attention and easy
access to care are of the utmost importance.
When clinicians and support staff have the information they need at their fingertips, they can
deliver the best care possible, which builds relationships, deepens trust, and translates to
better health outcomes. From agents handling inquiries to doctors discussing care plans,
everyone has full visibility into the situation to personalize the patient experience. Here’s
how:
T A I L O R P A T I E N T C O M M U N I C A T I O N S
Keeping patients on track with communications tailored to their health journeys can support
positive behavioral change. Proactively sending messages about upcoming appointments,
lab results, and wellness- and disease-management programs can improve patient
satisfaction, promote care plan participation, reduce costs, and ultimately help lead to better
health outcomes. When data is integrated from EHRs and other systems of record, you can
personalize marketing communications. The system identifies, segments, and delivers
targeted communications to patients on their preferred channels.
A U T O M A T E P A T I E N T J O U R N E Y S
CRM helps administrators determine how well their communications are working. If patients
don’t read or respond to certain emails or text messages, administrators can update those
communications with messaging that better captures patients’ interest. Automate journeys
so that long-COVID or hip-replacement patients receive relevant communications at the
right point along their health journey to recovery for greater engagement and adherence.
E M P O W E R E V E R Y P A T I E N T
With tools like HIPAA-compliant self-service portals, you can support every patient on their
health journey. Patients can complete tasks like making appointments, checking test
results, and settling bills, managing logistics when it’s convenient for them. If they need
additional guidance, they can reach out directly for support by phone, email, text, or through
the app or portal.
U S E D A T A T O I M P R O V E C A R E
Identify social determinants of health to help patients beyond medical care. For example,
Piedmont Healthcare, which serves more than 2 million patients across Georgia,
uses Health Cloud to gain a complete view of each patient. That includes information about
their living conditions which lets in-home care providers know which patients might need
healthy meals or transportation to their appointments. Addressing these issues improves
care outcomes and reduces rates of hospital readmissions.
Piedmont also uses data to encourage patients to adhere to their care plans between
appointments. Health Cloud delivers personalized appointment reminders and prescription
refill notices through an automated process that securely accesses electronic health
records.
When the pandemic hit, they adapted the system to handle an influx in patient calls. They
trained 80 new triage nurses and call center agents on new COVID-related call scripts and
flows and used dashboards to monitor symptoms and outcomes. Whenever information or
guidance changed, they updated the system and pushed out communications to internal
teams and patients so everyone had the latest visitor policies or social distancing
guidelines.