The use of healthcare technology and intelligent automation can help close care gaps and even enhance patient outreach. Bridging care gaps is one of the biggest challenges faced by health systems and organizations in the United States.
First and foremost it is critical to identify care gaps and the possible use cases for intelligent automation. Healthcare providers need technology and automation solutions that are designed to meet their unique needs and the patients they care for.
What is automated outreach?
The use of automated methods or technology to proactively connect with patients, caregivers, or healthcare professionals is referred to as automated outreach in healthcare. It entails delivering individualized messages, reminders, alerts, or instructional content via various communication channels such as phone calls, two-way text messages, emails, or Patient Portal EMR Software.
The purpose of automatic outreach
The right automatic outreach strategy can help serve the following purposes:
- Appointment Reminders: Patient Scheduling EMR Software can send automatic appointment reminders and alerts to patients before their upcoming appointments. This helps to combat the issue of no-shows and maintains a steady revenue stream for the practice.
- Medication Adherence: Automatic outreach also helps to improve medication adherence. Automated reminders can encourage patients to take their medications at the right time, this can eventually enhance health outcome levels.
- Preventive Care and Screenings: Reminders for routine preventive treatment, such as immunizations, screenings, or follow-up visits, can be sent to patients via automated systems. This can increase early identification and disease prevention.
- Educational Material: Via the patient portal platform providers can send health educational content to patients. These can include health tips, personalized hygiene care, and self-care instructions to empower patients to take a positive role in their overall healthcare journey.
- Post-discharge Communication: Automated outreach can help with post-discharge communication by ensuring patients understand their discharge instructions, prescriptions, and follow-up appointments, lowering the risk of readmission.
How can automated outreach close care gaps?
- An automated solution can streamline the entire patient scheduling process. This makes it easier for patients to schedule appointments with their clinicians.
- Patients are more likely to show up for their doctor’s appointment when automated patient outreach is combined with digital patient booking. When patients book online they are more encouraged to show up and feel engaged.
- Care gaps can be closed when patients are given the option of scheduling an earlier appointment if one becomes available. Seeing the healthcare provider sooner can imply faster treatment and less possibility of a patient abandoning their care plan due to a long wait.
Quick tip for providers to ensure effective automated outreach
Automated outreach should not be seen as too impersonal or robotic. Patients appreciate a hint of customization. Staff members at the hospital can personalize messages and content. Also, the outreach process should be monitored closely, to ensure that you are maximizing your communication efforts.
