Chatbots, machine learning, cloud technology — what do all of these new features (and many others) mean for patients and for healthcare organizations? In a November Healthcare IT News article, Dr. Rowland Illing, director of international public sector health at Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers up ways that this new tech is being deployed in the healthcare world to create better patient experiences.
Prioritizing the Patient Experience
As telehealth becomes mainstream and patients have an even greater choice of providers, the patient experience with services becomes especially important. Dr. Illing speaks to how telehealth plays an important part in eliminating hassles associated with healthcare – travel, long wait times, and cumbersome forms to fill out. Some of the newest technology developments designed to enhance the patient experience are:
- Automatic speech recognition and natural language understanding applications
- Translation services that allow providers to support tele-visits in multiple languages, including other processes like medical transcription and HIPAA compliant online forms.
- Personalization services that send relevant information in the form of email, SMS text, and other methods.
Organization like CMS and AHRQ are recognizing that telehealth patient experience is the newest area to be measured. In an article titled “Why 2021 Patient Experience Will be Tied to Telehealth Success” from Managed Healthcare Executive, found that telehealth usage is no longer driven by safety concerns, but by convenience and patient experience.
“To remain competitive in the value-based, tech-driven healthcare environment, organizations will need to demonstrate that they are prioritizing patient experience.”
Competitive telehealth programs will need to stay on the forefront by making smart use of recent technologies, especially those that enhance ease of use and the patient’s overall experience, to initiate continuous improvement. Telehealth has joined the suite of available services for most Americans and will continue to be a competitive market. Standing out from the competition depends on learning from patients and implementing solutions that provide true benefits.
