If You Can’t Deliver High-Quality Digital Services to Patients, Another Provider Will

Healthcare has always been about serving people, but the modern customer experience has drastically changed. Read on to learn how no-code can help healthcare providers rise to the challenge.

Once upon a time, before cell phones and review sites, doctors were most often discovered through word-of-mouth referrals. Perhaps you had a neighbor across the street who passed on her dentist. Perhaps your uncle knew someone, who knew someone, who could connect you to the nearest dermatologist a few towns over. Fast-forward a little, and you may have perused the yellow pages to locate a chiropractor near you.

Now, the game has changed. Today’s consumers have many ways to find out more about a prospective healthcare provider and they’re not afraid to do their own research or shop around. As such, healthcare providers must re-examine all aspects of their practice to ensure they’re putting their best foot forward, starting with the consumer experience. 

How the healthcare consumer experience has changed

The healthcare industry has always been people-centric, but consumer experiences and patient journeys have drastically evolved in this new, digital age. How people discover suitable practitioners serves only as one such example. Not too long ago, patients exclusively found new healthcare providers via word of mouth or referrals from their current doctor. Now, the use of referrals has declined by 44% since 2018. Today’s patients remain almost twice as likely to turn to online resources than provider referrals when finding a doctor.

The selection process for patients has also changed. Landing on the right doctor has become less about simply finding one, and more about “shopping” for the person who’s the right match. 56% of patients will consult at least three different online sources while researching a doctor. Before making a final decision, 88% of patients will read reviews about a provider even if they’re already been referred. The digital age has made almost every industry “shoppable,” and the healthcare industry is no different. As a result, providers must make sure they’re offering superior consumer experiences to stay competitive.

The use of referrals has declined by 44% since 2018. Today’s patients remain almost twice as likely to turn to online resources than provider referrals when finding a doctor. 

What patients prioritize today

According to PwC Health Research Institute Analysis, 49% of healthcare providers say customer experience will remain a top strategic priority over the next 5 years. What do today’s patients really want? A good healthcare consumer experience can be broken down into 5 key categories:

1. Convenience

Today’s customers don’t want staying healthy to be a challenge. They want 24/7 access to a healthcare provider, accessible locations, and the ability to schedule appointments or check-ins without leaving their homes. In an era where “convenient” has become synonymous with “digital,” healthcare providers must offer a wide range of services online to retain patients and stay competitive. This includes online bill payment, online registration, and telehealth options. 

2. Quality

Convenient healthcare shouldn’t come at the expense of quality healthcare. Customers want their provider of choice to have a strong and trusted reputation, clean and comfortable state-of-the-art facilities outfitted with the latest technologies, and clinicians who draw on the most cutting-edge research. As far as administering treatment, testing, prescriptions, and procedures should be performed only as needed.

3. Support

How can healthcare providers support patients? Something as simple as providing general assistance in navigating the healthcare system goes a long way, but customers respond well to providers who go the extra mile to make healthcare as accessible as possible. You can provide free transportation to appointments, maintain community partnerships, and offer financing options and insurance help to reduce healthcare expenses as much as possible. Healthcare organizations should also offer guidance and social support for caregivers and families of patients with chronic illnesses.

4. Personalization

High-quality healthcare support goes hand-in-hand with personalized healthcare. Practitioners should meet patients where they are and take different factors—race, ethnicity, socio-economic status—into account. Personalization also includes remote monitoring, timely healthcare reminders via a communication style that works for the patient, and smart recommendations based on future services the patient might require.

5. Communication

Clear and transparent communication ties first-rate healthcare delivery all together. Patients want to know their care team and for their care team to know them in return. The medical practices with the best customer service ratings have doctors who collaborate with their patients on treatment plans, tell patients what they should expect from appointments and procedures, and clearly explain out-of-pocket expenses. Online portals can also help foster free and open communication by allowing easy access to health management tools.

More technical concerns such as compliance, security, and ease of use have grown with the rise of telehealth and remote care. Consumers crave security and expect personal health information and payment information to remain secure at all times. 

For healthcare providers, offering customer services on-demand matters. Web applications, digital front doors, and self-service portals provide patients with 24/7 access to the healthcare services they need, in the way they prefer to access them. 81% of payer executives say they’re specifically increasing technology investments in a bid to improve the consumer experience. Unfortunately, building these solutions with code can be expensive, buggy, and time-consuming. With no-code, there’s a better way.

How Unqork’s no-code platform can help

It’s true that 49% of consumers believe the healthcare customer experience to be satisfactory, but that still leaves plenty of room for improvement. Unqork’s no-code platform focuses on giving patients more of what they want, and that’s high-quality web applications, reduced friction, and enhanced consumer experiences. 

If you want to reduce your administrative burden, enhance patient satisfaction, and increase productivity, our healthcare solutions make accomplishing those goals fast and easy. In our Member Services Portal, services and patient information can be found in one unified location, giving members 24/7 secure, HIPAA-compliant access to a wide array of healthcare services including benefits, coverage, telehealth, treatment options, and claims. Our personalized Member Services Portal leaves generic healthcare offerings in the past, right where they belong. 

Watch a demo of Unqork’s Member Services Portal in action!

Our Digital Front Door integrates legacy systems with existing clinical workflows to empower patients to independently manage their treatment and remotely engage with healthcare professionals. This minimizes back-office intermediation, boosts patient satisfaction, and enhances transparency across the board. Unqork’s Automated Prior Authorizations solution also speeds up the identification, submission, and tracking of prior authorizations.

All of our healthcare solutions are created with a human-centered approach to design thinking. We’ve found that allowing empathy to guide our initiatives from the beginning of the build helps us solve the most pressing healthcare challenges without losing sight of what really matters—patients. 

To learn more about how no-code can help revolutionize your practice, schedule a personalized demo today! Also, sign-up for the Unqork newsletter to keep up-to-date on the latest in the world of no-code.