YOUR HEALTH SYSTEM WILL SEE YOU NOW: OPENING THE DIGITAL FRONT DOOR

YOUR HEALTH SYSTEM WILL SEE YOU NOW: OPENING THE DIGITAL FRONT DOOR

Consumerism is growing in healthcare, placing ever-greater emphasis on convenience, affordability, and transparency. Healthcare consumers expect seamless, intuitive experiences in addition to clinical excellence. These expectations are ushering in a fresh wave of digital innovations designed to augment the person-to-person services offered by traditional contact centers.

The term for these innovations is a “digital front door,” and it refers to a first point of contact for consumers seeking healthcare services that provides on-demand information to aid decisions about when, where, and how to access care. Whether that information takes the form of ratings, reviews, pricing, quality, or symptom triaging, the central idea is to create welcoming, brand-conscious care experiences aimed at acquiring and retaining patients and improving overall satisfaction.

RE-IMAGINING THE PRIMARY CARE EXPERIENCE

The digital front door’s main value is clear: It allows healthcare organizations to extend the patient-provider interaction and delivers a seamless, user-friendly, front-end experience with instant access to patient information while supporting the immediate fulfillment of needs. Building a brand based on responsiveness and access is a significant step toward preventing loss of revenue as new, non-traditional providers seek to win patients away. It increases employee productivity and engagement and decreases operational costs while also providing obvious benefits to the consumer.

Giving patients the ability to browse for providers, further understand symptoms, or seek appropriate care allows them to take ownership of care into their hands and independently find what they require based on their needs.

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THE CHANGE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGE

Like so many digital initiatives, the change management aspect is critical to successful implementation. As HIMSS President and CEO Hal Wolf put it: “We have to prepare our workforce for change," and learn to "fail fast." There’s no magic wand to wave that will automatically enable patient and system benefits once a system or capability is unveiled. Total buy-in from everyone – consumers, clinicians, executives, and front end staff – is essential to a smooth transition. 

But inevitable barriers exist. Change management can be burdensome, data portability poses real challenges, and it can be difficult to see the long-term revenue gains from short-term investments. But digital transformation isn’t slowing anytime soon and, thus, the digital front door will continue to remain wide open.

Patients want the same user experience with their healthcare that they have in other industries. The digital front door allows for that. To discuss your digital strategy or patient access challenges, please contact Cindy Garrett or Jennie Chansomphou.

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