MedCity Influencers, Health Tech

Quality Scheduling is Critical to a Positive Patient Experience

We recently commissioned a survey that found that a majority of providers say the quality of scheduling is an important factor in delivering a positive patient experience, and nearly half say it’s the most important factor.

We recently commissioned a study conducted by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) that found provider staffing challenges and burnout appear exacerbated by sub-optimal use of automation technology coupled with rising consumer expectations.

Tellingly, the survey demonstrated that a quality patient experience, leading to strong engagement and satisfaction, relies in large part on the quality of the scheduling processes, and by extension, the technology providers use. The study showed that while most provider groups leverage outbound communication technology, such as email and SMS reminders, patients still rely heavily on human-driven interactions—whether by phone or at the front desk—at a time when the overwhelming majority of executives say they are facing administrative staffing challenges.

The study identified three primary characteristics of patient scheduling and engagement that are critical to provide a high-quality healthcare consumer experience. These three areas are also prone to cause trouble if providers do not manage and monitor them carefully:

– Patient scheduling relies too heavily on human interaction. Today’s providers recognize that patient scheduling is a critical part of the overall care experience. About half (47%) of provider organizations rate patient scheduling as their organization’s “most important” patient experience function; 75% rate quality of patient scheduling and communication as “very important.”

But in large part, patients still pick up the phone to make an appointment: 84% of providers say patients schedule appointments with the front desk, and a bit more than half (58%) say patients schedule through a call center. (The use of call centers was most common for provider groups with 100+ physicians.)

Managing provider preferences is the top scheduling challenge, according to 31% of executives surveyed. Notably, 58% rely on internal staff knowledge (vs. intelligent rules) to navigate the issue—a high-risk problem when staff turnover occurs.

Other top priorities for improvement include optimizing online scheduling for a better patient self-service experience, improving ability to fill available appointment slots, reducing no-shows and cancellations, reducing manual workflows with intelligent rules, managing provider preferences, and decreasing call center wait time.

– Patients still rely primarily on phone calls. Most provider groups are leveraging outbound automated communications (text, human call, automated call, or email). Yet even with these tools in place, 73% of patients are still calling to cancel or reschedule, which requires a human touch. Notably, those providers who do leverage automated appointment reminders report lower no-show rates.

Some 60% of organizations surveyed send mass patient messages, and about half (52%) send targeted/segmented messages. Most providers (96%) are not yet utilizing chat enablement to reduce the burden of inbound patient communications.

– Staffing shortages and labor dependencies impact the patient experience. A full 87% of executives say they’ve faced administrative staffing challenges over the last 12 months. Of those, over one third (35%) found those staffing challenges have had a negative impact on staff morale, and almost one in five (18%) noted it has led to longer wait times for patients.

About one in six (16%) providers add that staffing shortages have had a negative impact on the patient experience in their organization. Almost four in ten (39%) providers report it takes more than four weeks to onboard new staff.

Planning a response

Provider groups are divided about how to best address their challenges. Executives cite contact center scheduling (24%) and online patient self-scheduling (23%) as their biggest priorities.

The price of a solution is cited by most organizations (44%) as having the most significant impact when making a buying decision. After cost, the most significant impact on provider purchasing decisions is the ability to integrate with practice management solutions or an EMR (25%).

Forward-thinking providers are exploring comprehensive scheduling and engagement solutions that use the same configurable automation rules and logic to support both patient self-scheduling and contact center scheduling, as well as the associated patient communication (confirmations, reminders, follow-ups, recalls, etc.).

The good news is there are modern technologies designed to both improve patient engagement and operational efficiency. These solutions can help ensure patient appointment volumes remain high even amidst an economic downturn.

A note on methodology 

The survey was designed to discover three things about patient scheduling and communication: first, identify the top challenges providers face; second, assess common strategies used to meet these challenges; and finally, better understand current technology adoption.

The survey took place in August 2022. A total of 359 individuals in C-suite, executive, and other senior positions were invited to take this survey, and 217 of them responded with completed questionnaires.

Looking forward

We can expect providers to continue to focus on doing more with less. Economic concerns prevail: 82% of executives cited economic pressure as having the highest impact on their operations related to patient scheduling and communication, while 76% cited consumerism.

Since many respondents indicate scheduling is the top factor in establishing a positive patient experience, solutions such as intelligent online self-scheduling, connected contact center scheduling, and chat-assisted scheduling are poised for significant market adoption in 2023.

Provider groups will also continue to leverage automated outbound communications, such as appointment reminders. In doing so, provider groups should evaluate better ways for patients to ask questions, cancel, or reschedule appointments in an automated channel to reduce staff burden.

Source: Nuthawut Somsuk, Getty Images


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Jeff Gartland

Jeff Gartland is the CEO of Relatient Inc., a SaaS-based patient scheduling company that utilizes a mobile-first approach to improving relationships between providers and consumers leading to increased revenue and engagement.

This post appears through the MedCity Influencers program. Anyone can publish their perspective on business and innovation in healthcare on MedCity News through MedCity Influencers. Click here to find out how.

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