Customer engagement is taking on more prominence than ever before and will continue to as more elements of the Affordable Care Act are implemented, according to research just released by TeleVox.
Patient outcomes is becoming more important than ever before. Beyond the desire of the physician for his or her patients to have good success, there’s also the added impetus from the Affordable Care Act and from insurance companies, according to Scott Zimmerman, TeleVox president.
As a result of the Affordable Care Act, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is tying payment to quality standards/patient outcomes. Similarly, insurance companies want to be able to show the best outcomes when selling plans to new patients or groups.
One of the biggest challenges health care providers have in keeping patients healthy is having them follow through on recommended treatments, including the taking of medicine, lifestyle changes (e.g., losing 10 pounds, getting regular exercise, etc.), Zimmerman says.
“Doctors are becoming increasingly concerned with the time and money it will take to perform screenings and other services required by incentive programs, and additional new mandates set forth by the healthcare reform law,” Zimmerman said. “More than half of doctors know that they need to move in this direction.”
Yet physicians have little time to go over such suggestions in an office or through follow-up communications if they or staff has to perform these duties.
“By transcending the in-office visit with digital technology, healthcare providers can finally begin give patients the quantity of communication and education their patients desire,” Zimmerman said.
Though automated texts or e-mails might seem to be an impersonal way of providing these essential reminders, these automated messages are well accepted by consumers as ways of improving physician-patient communication, according to the TeleVox research:
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A large majority, 85 percent, of United States healthcare consumers feel that high-tech communication channels such as email, text messages and voicemails are as helpful, if not even more helpful, than in-person or phone conversations with their healthcare provider.
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The digital communications left the following favorable impressions: Fifty-one percent of survey respondents reported feeling more valued as a patient, 35 percent said digital communication improved their opinion of their provider, and 34 percent reported feeling more certain about visiting that healthcare provider again.
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Of the 66 percent of patients who have received a voicemail, text or email from a healthcare provider, many reported a variety of positive outcomes.
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One in three U.S. consumers said that receiving text messages, voicemails or emails that provide patient care between visits would increase feelings of trust in their provider.
An earlier TeleVox study said that given the choice between a phone call, voicemail, email and text message, patients would most like to be contacted via e-mail. Email is the favored method of communication when receiving feedback following initial face-to-face visits with their doctors (59 percent), notices for seasonal health offers such as scheduling flu shots (55 percent), and payment reminders (56 percent).
According to TeleVox, the most requested automated communications are educational tips or information on how to live a healthy life (68 percent), feedback from initial face-to-face visit (59 percent) and payment reminders (56 percent).