Empowering the Patient With Self-Service Patient Technology

What would a perfect patient journey look like? That might depend on who you’re asking. For patients trying to navigate their healthcare journey in an increasingly complex environment, the perfect journey is one where they feel empowered to make informed decisions with convenient solutions. Empowering the patient in their healthcare journey has never been more important.

Not until recently has healthcare technology been created with the patient’s perspective in mind. Of course, that’s not to say technology has not advanced to improve patient care or perception of care in the past. But in today’s new health economy, technology is truly advancing with the patient journey in mind. Self-service patient technology has become the new norm in encouraging patient engagement and optimizing the patient journey from beginning to end.

This can be attributed in large part to the evolution of the healthcare consumer. The patient consumerism movement has propelled patient expectations into the spotlight. Healthcare leaders are able to better understand these expectations and find new solutions to meet them.

Understanding the New Healthcare Consumer

3 Pillars of Patient Expectations

1. Transparency
2. Convenience
3. Confidence

When you break it down, patient expectations are rather simple. They want to feel confident in their healthcare experiences with transparent and convenient solutions available to them to better manage them.

Self-Service Technology Built For the Patient

With over 165,000 mHealth apps available for download, patients have a lot of options to help them better manage their health-- something that clearly has not gone unnoticed to healthcare technology leaders.

Leading the self-service patient technology movement are solutions that are built for the patient, with their expectations in mind. Self-service patient check-in kiosks and mobile smartphone apps are at the forefront of this health tech evolution.

How do these tools empower patients in their healthcare journey?

Patient Check-In Kiosks

Patient check-in kiosks are revolutionizing the waiting room experience. A typical workflow used to consist of a patient checking in for their appointment at the front desk, updating insurance and personal information, and potentially finding out how much they owe for their visit. This process was outdated and inefficient for staff and patients.

With self-service kiosks--usually iPad or other tablet devices--patients are able to check-in for their appointments, update their information, and manage and pay their bills simply by logging in. This technology streamlines the entire patient check-in process, delivering benefits across the board. Let’s look a little closer at the benefits of self-service patient kiosks.

Patient Check-In Kiosks: Benefits To Patients

• Streamlined check-in process reduces wait times
• Patients are given transparency into the financial management of their health
• Patients feel involved in their care and are better able to make informed decisions

All of these benefits ultimately lead to higher rates of patient satisfaction and retention.

Patient Check-In Kiosks: Benefits To Provider Groups

• Reduces bottlenecks in the patient check-in process
• Cost savings associated with reduced wait times, reduction in errors
• Improved revenue with higher patient net collection rates
• Higher rates of patient retention
• Competitive advantage with self-service technology options

Mobile Apps

Mobile apps are becoming more intertwined in a patient’s healthcare management. Aside from the multitude of mHealth apps available for download, apps that mirror the capabilities of provider group systems are now being utilized more often. For instance, that same patient check-in kiosk software that allows patients to manage their care while in the office can also be used on a patient’s smartphone.

This is giving new meaning to convenience from self-service patient technology. With mobile apps, patients can access their medical bills and other healthcare information on the go. When a question arises, they can simply open their app to find the answer. This level of convenience and transparency is exactly what the new healthcare consumer is looking for. These are the reasons patients feel confident in their healthcare experience and are empowered to make better decisions about care.

Self-service patient technology is leading innovations in the delivery of patient care. Helping patients navigate the complexities of healthcare is how patients become empowered to make better decisions. The result? Increased levels of patient satisfaction and retention, improved patient care, reduction in administrative tasks and errors, cost savings, and increased provider revenue. Thanks to continued advancements and accessibility of patient-facing technology, these benefits can now become a reality.

More information about the healthcare consumer, their expectations for transparency and convenience, and an overview of patient check-in kiosks is available in the New Strategies For a New Health Economy below.