Consumerism in healthcare is a fast-growing trend, and adaptation begins within your organization. Healthcare organizations need to equip themselves with the right people and technology that can support their initiatives.
Healthcare consumerism is a fast-growing trend, and patients now expect the same convenience, options, and value for healthcare that they expect in other areas of their lives. They seek personalized experiences from physicians and other healthcare providers, and want to be heard and given clear directions.
As part of this trend, consumers are getting more actively involved in the decision-making process about their healthcare. With the abundance of information available online (including the ability to rate and read reviews of physicians), they have more avenues to find providers that consistently give them a good experience. Increasing out-of-pocket costs like copayments and deductibles add to the importance of finding the best provider at the best price.
In response, the healthcare industry is increasingly focused on protecting and promoting the interests of its consumers and building relationships with patients based on trust and reliability. And as healthcare organizations focus more on population health, they’ve found that establishing long-term patient relationships is directly tied to hospital revenue, which means an organization’s ability forge these relationships impacts its bottom line.
But there’s more work to do. A survey from Kaufman Hall and Cadent Consulting Group of more than 100 provider organizations shows that while patient experience is one of the most important areas of healthcare consumerism, it’s also one of the least understood. More than three-quarters of respondents said patient experience was important to understand, but less than one-sixth said they currently have the capability to achieve that understanding. A Deloitte report, “The Value of Patient Experience,” provides some clarity into this issue, finding that a highly engaged staff likely boosts patient experience, and higher patient experience ratings are associated with increased profitability.
Employee engagement is difficult to achieve when your employees are operating on outdated, clunky systems.
Yet many providers are not equipped to build better relationships with their patients because they haven’t built the right foundation to effectively engage their employees, which includes having the right systems and processes in place to support them.
Employee engagement in healthcare is difficult to achieve when your employees are operating on outdated, clunky systems. Responding to the healthcare consumerism goes beyond improving the patient experience to how healthcare organizations can optimize the employee experience with the right technology.
However, many providers are still operating on legacy ERP systems that lack the visibility, flexibility, and speed needed to meet the challenges of the changing marketplace. A unified system delivered in the cloud gives organizations a holistic view of the business across financial, talent, and operational data so hospital staff can better manage resources, control costs, and adapt to changing regulations—creating a more efficient back-office and shifting their focus from administrative burdens to the patient experience.
In today’s competitive healthcare talent market, it’s also essential for organizations to match the expectations of job seekers by providing technologies that demonstrate a progressive and technologically advanced workplace. With more engaged employees, organizations can provide the quality of care consumers expect. Healthcare providers need to employ an HR system that provides a single source of truth and manages the talent lifecycle from recruitment to career development to retirement.
As the healthcare industry continues to evolve into a consumer-centric model, adaptation needs to begin within your organization. Healthcare organizations need to equip themselves with the right people and technology that can support their initiatives now and into the future.
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