The TL;DR version: Patient expectations have evolved. They prefer texting. It can be an integral part of your clinical practice. But, go beyond the basics and think about how you can use SMS to deliver a phenomenal patient experience.
We’ve seen a monumental shift in patient communication strategies in healthcare in the last few years. While health tech is always a bit of a laggard (hello, fax machines!), a global pandemic, lockdown, and a new way of running healthcare operations forced some adaptation.
It’s estimated that telemedicine grew 4300% in March 2020 when telehealth services could be used during the initial days and weeks of the pandemic. Suffice to say, it’s here to stay. So, as patient interactions shifted, so has the way we expect or prefer to be communicated with. Enter SMS and text messaging.
With the global proliferation of mobile devices across generations, consumers now use texting and messaging to receive and send information that’s beyond a simple SMS to friends and family.
In fact, Twilio, a global leader in cloud-based communications platforms, estimates that 8 out of 10 consumers not only want to receive info but also reply to or engage with a business in conversation.
In healthcare, many practices have dipped their toes in healthcare tech with appointment notifications and confirmations. At Vital Healthcare, we’ve built texting into all of our practice management solutions. Some of the basics include:
- SMS appointment reminders
- SMS appointment confirmations
- SMS appointment no-shows follow-ups
- SMS telemedicine appointment links
- Patient feedback and survey requests.
Most of these are automated and sent directly from EMR/EHR data, which is great, but patients are wanting more. Not necessarily more texts, but more ways to engage through messaging platforms. Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, SMS… whatever channel it is, the optimal experience is delivered through the ability to quickly and easily message two ways. People are human and they want to have a conversation. But, most healthcare platforms using SMS fall short of that.
We’ve built broadcast functionality into our practice management suite. In addition, we’ve built the ability to easily communicate TWO-WAY with our patients via text with a simple communications dashboard and texting engine found inside the Vital OpenEMR.
No longer does a patient just receive a non-personalized text. And if they respond, it doesn’t land in la-la land. With Vital OpenEMR, texting is captured inside the patient’s chart/record. The entire back and forth between patient and office is recorded providing several advantages including:
- Patient communications history
- Action item review if needed from the front desk
- Communication quality checks and audits for practice management
But, more importantly, bi-directional texting with patients is more HUMAN. It allows patients’ questions or concerns to be answered by a real person. While automation is awesome, getting to a real person is still one of the most important ways to differentiate the patient experience. And personalized, two-way texting does just that.
In part 2 of this blog series, we’ll address common concerns related to HIPAA and security.
