Changing traditional channels to be more effective

Photo: Tezos

Most industries including healthcare have long used standard, traditional means, and channels of communication. Furthermore, a lot of clinics, all over the world have standard, frequently used ways of scheduling appointments and communicating with patients. However, changing some traditional channels can greatly help your clinic become more effective. In this article, we are going to take a look at some of the traditional channels that are long due to being replaced. Additionally, we will examine new channels and means of communication and other patient interaction with which we can replace older channels.

The need for change

In the world of healthcare, things are beginning to change rapidly. Due to an increased number of patients, especially during the early stages of the pandemic, clinics around the world have started looking for new means of increasing their communication with patients as well as new ways of increasing their outreach. The constant development of technology has presented healthcare systems with means of increasing their effectiveness in ways in which it has never been achieved before. However, in order to do this, clinics have to first replace the older, traditional channels. Let's take a closer look at which of these channels should be changed, upgraded, and replaced as well as how this can be done.

Appointment scheduling

A great number of clinics around the globe have a certain system for scheduling appointments. For example, one of the most traditional ways of scheduling is using your phone. You dial your clinic's number and you get in touch with their representatives ie their agents in a call center. However, this is one very ineffective way of scheduling appointments. Over the years, people have become increasingly dissatisfied when using phones and call centers as means of scheduling appointments. Furthermore, call centers are not only disliked by patients but the clinics themselves have begun to realize their great inefficiency. Why is this the case exactly?

Well, to begin with, call centers are inherently expensive to set up and operate as well as maintain. In addition to this, call centers require several agents. These agents need to be well-trained in order to operate the call centers properly. Training agents and providing them with means of communication is also expensive and time-consuming. Call centers cannot operate 24/7 and therefore, patients also cannot access the needed information at all times. In addition to this, call centers often have long waiting times and patients are sometimes constantly switched from one agent to another. This can greatly decrease patient satisfaction and leave them frustrated and without the information they required.

Appointment scheduling this way is not effective and many clinics have tried creating online agendas where you can see the doctor's agenda on the website and then schedule your appointment. However, when a doctor is busy or unavailable for that appointment, the patient still needs to contact the call center in order to reschedule or schedule at a different date and time. So, the channel can be optimized and improved however, this is not enough.

Chatbots as another traditional channel that needs upgrading

So, to optimize the online calendar, clinics introduce chatbots that can quickly respond by saying the doctor is or is not available. If not, however, the patient again has to use the phone and call the clinic and go through the call center process. There are many more problems that come with the use of regular chatbots. For example, while chatbots do instantly reply to your question, it is important to say that chatbots are very limited. The conversation between a chatbot and a patient is more of a FAQ kind of conversation. This limited number of responses a chatbot can provide is another reason why patients do not like conversing with regular chatbots.

So, any other potential upgrade or optimization to this channel is only an additional cost. A solution is to install a system that finds a cheap, cost-effective solution that solves the problem of appointment scheduling and improves communication with patients.

New, innovative solutions for improving the efficiency of your clinic

To truly optimize the old, traditional channels and make them better, installing a new system works best. With the constant development of technologies and digital tools in the world around us, clinics have received powerful new tools in form of AI which can greatly enhance the clinics' work and outreach. AI is built 100% for human interactions with a natural processing engine and machine learning can efficiently communicate with patients and perform administrative tasks. The AI has the ability to work and operate fully 24/7. This kind of AI can communicate with patients and they will feel as if they are talking to a real person. Patients will be able to receive the information they need on time and can also ask any other additional questions as well as this kind of conversational AI is not limited to a given set of answers.

New digital services can also help clinics' to improve their appointment scheduling. Through services such as confirmation of appointments, it is far easier to manage and remember appointments and/or shifts, with the possibility of re-scheduling when necessary. Increased conversion of medical appointments, exams, and treatments is achieved and absenteeism is greatly reduced. , as well as their doctor's agendas from the comfort of their homes and*,

With less dependency on personnel and lighter equipment, the clinic can save money while at the same time improving its effectiveness. Furthermore, With these kinds of digital services such as confirmation of appointments, patients can schedule, reschedule, and check their appointments as well as their doctor's agendas from the comfort of their homes and get real-time, accurate information that they require.

So, in summary, old, traditional channels such as chatbots and especially call centers, need replacing in order for clinics to improve their effectiveness. Innovative solutions such as the ones provided by Eniax have enabled clinics to improve their communication with patients, introduce new systems of scheduling and provide new digital services, and most importantly, increase patient satisfaction.