Intelligent Automation: Meeting Patient Expectation

Key Points:

1. The administrative burden on the provider is what translates into poor patient experience.
2. Many big tech companies going into the healthcare business are finding it challenging because they do not have a proper understanding of how it works
3. There is a need for alignment between patient needs and what healthcare providers are offering in terms of digital engagement

On the “Highway to Health Podcast,” Host David Kemp chatted with Carle Falk, the Head of Research at Notable.

They discussed:

1. Patient’s expectations of engagement and delivery of services from healthcare providers
2. Improving the experience of caregivers and patients
3. The integration of AI into digitalization for automation in the healthcare system

“We conducted a survey that evaluated patients’ satisfaction with the digital tool provided by caregivers. The results indicate that about 63% of patients are not satisfied with it,” explained Falk. This has created lots of frustration because the digital communication channels are not satisfactory. For example, patients may try to schedule appointments through the provider’s portal. However, due to several issues, they have to resort to the traditional method- phone calls. Another case is attempting to check medical records. Instead of the process being automatic, they still have to send their provider an email and await their response, which may take weeks.

“The problem with the delivery of services is that we just took the paper-based system and made it digital without any thoughts of automation,” noted Falk. Many people own smartphones; the pandemic has forced us to do things from our phones. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for satisfactory self-service in the digital healthcare system

Many tech companies are trying to get into healthcare. Some are more successful due to their understanding of how healthcare works. Notable has an edge because at least one person on each team has in-depth knowledge on the healthcare system. Notable is also invested in the provision of automation, which can improve the experience for the health care team and patient.

Automation in payment increases customer positive experiences, as it is transparent. In addition, it saves the financial department the stress of sorting paperwork. In addition, it is better from an outcome and revenue standpoint, which is critical to operations.

The main problem with digital engagement is poor alignment between the needs of patients, care providers, and vendors. Most times, care providers allow vendors to dictate their investment in the digital engagement. Research by Notable groups highlights the four top needs of the patients:

1. Registering and check-ins for an appointment digitally
2. Scheduling or rescheduling appointments digitally
3. Obtaining prescription refills digitally.
4. Paying fees online, which is the only need aligning with what providers are adopting.

Finally, Carla defined intelligent automation as bringing together two different concepts- AI and automation (using software to run programs for various processes). One of the main problems is providers focus on digitalization instead of automation. Intelligent automation makes the job of care providers faster and more efficient.