In a post- or protracted COVID world, no hospital concern will loom larger than patient experience
Improving the patient experience will top the list of hospitals’ strategies for winning and retaining patients in 2021. Not far behind will be facilitating access to care.
Those aims were named by, respectively, 90% and 81% of 68 hospital patient-access leaders in a survey conducted by the care-automation supplier Lumeon to find out how the COVID crisis is affecting planning for these professionals.
Trailing behind the top two: attracting top clinical talent (62%), offering patients more services (40%) and adding new services lines (33%).
Lumeon released the findings in a report issued today. Other notable numbers from the publication:
- 57% of patient-access leaders believe fragmented processes and technology are preventing them from meeting patient access goals.
- 72% of providers still manually call waitlisted patients to fill cancelled appointments.
- 88% of health systems are now offering telemedicine—and more than 75% believe it offers an excellent patient experience—but more than half believe there’s a long way to go before the technology seamlessly meshes with conventional care delivery.
Further, patient-access leaders anticipate in-person doctor visits will comprise 60 to 70% of the visit mix next year, with video telehealth encounters holding steady at current levels, which are in the range of 20 to 30%.
Lumeon CEO Robbie Hughes comments in a press release that the most successful patient access departments will be “the ones who can unify and coordinate today’s fragmented hybrid patient experience—tapping into automation, virtual care and decision support tools—to eliminate fragmentation and deliver truly meaningful experiences that ultimately drive better outcomes.”
Click here to download the full report.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.