Today, two-thirds of hospitals and other healthcare providers in the United States use a medical call center in-house and outsourced. The reason behind the growing popularity of healthcare call centers is their numerous benefits.
The healthcare sector has seen a massive transformation in the past few years. Besides the introduction of virtual patient care and telehealth services, there has also been a massive change in patient behavior. Patients today increasingly have a consumer-aligned mentality, sometimes demanding higher-quality healthcare experiences. Therefore, healthcare facilities today are opting for a value-based approach, in which the focus is on preventive care and patient wellness.
To survive and thrive in this new situation, healthcare providers must improve operationally and clinically to improve their return on investment. That is why, today, more and more healthcare providers opt to outsource some parts of their operations to HIPAA-compliant healthcare call centers. Patient communication is one such area. Besides improving patient satisfaction, it also can help healthcare providers improve patient management:
What is patient management?
Patient management is the term used to refer to the set of activities that healthcare providers and practices use to manage and deliver on patients’ rising expectations. Patient management is an approach that focuses on fostering strong patient relationships instead of just treating illnesses. Patient communication is an integral part of patient management that helps promote strong relationships between patients and healthcare providers.
How can outsourcing patient communication help healthcare providers to manage their patients better?
As the adage goes, communication is the key to every relationship. Patient-provider relation is no exception. To focus on patient wellness, a healthcare provider must prioritize communication and follow-ups. A healthcare call center can help these providers and practices pursue advanced follow-ups, which are proven to have the highest success rates.
With the changing patient mentality, healthcare providers must strive to deliver a superior patient experience in every interaction. However, with the volume of interaction rising and their expectations changing, it is challenging to do so with an internal patient helpdesk. Therefore, providers can only ensure patient satisfaction in most interactions by using patient communication experts to enhance their patient communications.
Why is outsourcing patient communication imperative for healthcare providers’ success?
Many thriving healthcare facilities, from modest group practices to multi-hospital operations, are teaming up with healthcare call centers to improve administrative efficiencies in the new healthcare climate. Outsourcing healthcare call center services related to patient communication allows them to do more with less and focus on administering high-quality patient services.
What healthcare call center services related to patient communication can be outsourced?
Patient communication is the key to patient satisfaction and a superior patient experience. Most of these communication services can be outsourced to a healthcare call center specializing in patient management. Some of the vital patient communication services that can be outsourced include:
- Inquiry handling: Handling patient inquiries around the clock is challenging for healthcare providers. On the other hand, outsourcing inquiry handling to a healthcare call center can ensure that all patient calls get answered and their queries are resolved quickly. For example – if a patient has questions about their healthcare claim processing or whether a particular treatment is covered in their policy, a healthcare call center agent can promptly answer their queries and, at the same time, offer them a superior experience. Also, inquiry handling is often the first interaction between a healthcare provider and its patients. Outsourcing this communication to a professional team of patient communication experts ensures a better experience. After all, a first impression can create a lasting impression.
- Claim management: Besides verifying and validating all insurance information, a healthcare call center specializing in processing claims can communicate the claim submission and approval amount to the patient for a hassle-free medical billing experience.
- Appointment setting: Outsourcing appointment-setting services to a healthcare BPO can help a medical facility streamline its appointments and make appointments more manageable. Besides patient appointment scheduling, a call center can also offer appointment rescheduling services.
- Appointment and prescription reminder: Reminding patients of their appointments and prescription refill dates is essential to communication. With this service, it is possible to ensure that the patients appear for their appointments and prescription refills; if they cannot, the appointments can be rescheduled. A patient appointment scheduling call center can help healthcare providers with reminder communications and rescheduling.
- Awareness campaign: Since modern healthcare facilities focus on patient wellness, they can use a healthcare BPO for a healthcare awareness campaign to keep their patients aware of the precautions and prevention methods to keep diseases at bay. Besides improving patient satisfaction, it can also strengthen patient-medical facility relationships in the long run.
- Post-care communication: Post-care communication is essential to ensure a long-term patient-business relationship. Once the patient is released from the hospital or medical facility, the healthcare provider must receive regular updates regarding their health and recovery. They can hire a HIPAA-compliant healthcare call center with outbound capabilities for patient care communications. Professional services from these healthcare BPOs can ensure better patient-provider relationships and superior patient experience.
- Post-care survey: Besides providing the proper care, it is also essential for medical facilities to focus on patient experience. Hospitals and other medical facilities can conduct a post-care survey to know patients’ experiences and opinions on the care provided during their stay. Such a survey can offer them insights into the patient’s pain points and areas of improvement. Again, hiring a healthcare call center to do these surveys can be efficient and cost-effective.
Why is it better to outsource to a HIPAA-compliant healthcare call center?
A HIPAA-compliant healthcare call center adheres to HIPAA regulations and takes patient information security seriously. These call centers have strict information security protocols to prevent healthcare information breaches and HIPAA-compliance violations. By hiring these call centers, healthcare providers can minimize the chances of HIPAA-compliance violations and the need to pay the hefty fines associated with it.
Ending note:
To sum it all up, high-quality patient communication is the key to business success for most healthcare providers. Therefore, hiring a HIPAA-compliant healthcare call center with adequate experience in patient care management is essential. A multichannel, multilingual BPO partner can help medical facilities offer better patient communication and enhance patient experience and satisfaction. In the age of evolving patient expectations, having an experienced multichannel, multilingual HIPAA-compliant healthcare BPO like Fusion CX as a call center partner can help medical facilities enhance patient communication and, subsequently, patient management practices.
