The phrase “Consumerization of Healthcare” has been around for several years, but only recently has it begun to fulfill its promise by meeting the needs of a wider audience. While consumers have demanded and received more detailed information about health plans online for over a decade, the latest shifts have allowed patients greater access to medical professionals themselves through contact centers, social media technologies, and other outreach services, driving providers to either respond with a stronger digital experience or lose customers altogether.
Today’s best practices require what my colleague Melody Smith Jones calls a “retail strategy for healthcare,” drawing on customer data and cloud technology to engage and retain customers. Instead of just an Amazon.com-like shopping site for health plans, organizations are integrating features and tools also associated with tech titans such as Skype, Facebook, and various membership programs. Drawing on this digital transformation of customer care, healthcare providers are able to build and strengthen relationships with patients in various locations and at different stages of a consulting and treatment process.
Recently KP On Call, a division of Kaiser Permanente of Southern California providing nurse triage and advice to 4 million KP members, participated in a webinar with Perficient to describe their success using Oracle Service Cloud as part of their Web Self Service & Nurse Chat program. Available on demand, the presentation includes an actual demo of a patient-provider online interaction. Check it out at: Leveraging Technology to Empower Patients and Reduce Healthcare costs.
