The Digital Front Door – Why Does Your Health Facility Need One?

Unlocking the Door to the Best Healthcare Experience

The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted our lives and has transformed the way we operate. Some of these changes are here for good and are bound to change how we operate.

The pandemic also left a profound impact on every organization globally, but no other industry has been as affected by the pandemic as the healthcare industry. In fact, the landscape of the healthcare industry pre-pandemic is very different from the industry we’re experiencing today. Along with the landscape, the ever-growing consumer expectations have changed too.

What is a Digital Front Door?

Digital Front Door is a modern strategy that emerged during the pandemic. A well-planned digital front door strategy focuses on engaging patients at every critical touchpoint in their healthcare journey. Common healthcare interactions are carried out with simple tools & technology. A well-executed digital front door strategy thus offers a seamless, frictionless, integrated experience for patients and hospitals alike.

Using the digital front door, patients can effectively discover options for care, identify new providers, easily schedule appointments, get clear breakdowns of costs and enhance their care delivery. Providers, on the other hand, can use these digital tools to create better patient experiences through facilities such as online registration, patient wait time alerts, etc. They can further take a digital-first approach to offer services such as e-bills and different modes of payments for the patient.

In short, a digital front door strategy offers more convenience and accessibility to patients and providers right from the very first interaction.

Why Does Every Healthcare Facility Need One?

The modern-day consumer accesses most of their required services through digital platforms, and the health sector is no different. Regardless of the need for the service, be it researching the right provider or analyzing the different health plans, hospitals & health systems are vying with each other to deliver exemplary customer experience.

Implementation of a digital gateway can drastically enhance the patient experience. Here’s how the digital front door can help healthcare facilities:

Streamlined Patient Admissions

While staff shortages are not new in the healthcare industry, the coronavirus has turned the situation into a dire crisis. Now is the time when hospitals need to ensure that their staff is efficiently managed so as to deliver positive patient outcomes. What if your entire front office could go digital? With a digital front door strategy, a healthcare provider can streamline the hospital referral and pre-admission process for its patients by leveraging different digital tools. Thus, your employees would be able to focus on high-value tasks that help in achieving positive patient outcomes.

Let us now understand how a touchless front-door solution like CoverMe works.

• CoverMe enables the front office to generate a link to the patient’s mobile phone.
• The patient uses the portal to fill in all their information.

CoverMe’s AI-enabled solution will then help you accomplish the following without having to hire additional staff and in a matter of a few minutes.

• Identity Verification
• Insurance Validation
• Eligibility determination
• Auto-fill application forms
• Enroll in financial assistance programs
• Digital payments

Simplified Appointments Scheduling
A report by Accenture claims that 68% of patients are more inclined to choose a healthcare provider who offers a holistic digital approach to patient care.

An online appointment scheduling software enables patients to schedule appointments from wherever they are, and from any device of their choice. This ultimately eliminates phone calls to schedule appointments, thereby saving time and resources for the patients and the providers.

A digital appointment scheduling solution also allows patients to keep track of every information regarding their visit at any point in time. Automated schedule management software also eliminates the challenges of double-booking and other manual errors, thus simplifying the entire process.

Also Read: Proven Strategies to Improve Patient Collections at Your Healthcare Facility

Easy, Fast Payment Options

Patient collections are at an all-time low. Confusion over bills, a lack of information about services costs, and a limited number of payment methods are all contributing factors.

A 2019 consumer survey stated that due to the lack of digital options to pay bills, 49% of patients were frustrated. Additionally, 45% rated the post-visit experience, which includes the billing, insurance, and follow-ups, as the worst aspect of the patient journey. Furthermore, it is found that consumers aged 18-34 were likely to switch providers due to a poor online experience.

It is, therefore, crucial to offer a variety of convenient payment methods if you wish to increase collections and improve the patient payment experience. In fact, offering patients with flexible and easy payment options like online transactions in patient portals will encourage them to pay portions of their bills. These can additionally include cash, visual checks from their savings or checking account, or debit or credit cards.

On the other side of the spectrum, healthcare organizations can leverage digital front doors to influence patients to pay, by sending automated reminders to patients to settle their bills in fewer installments and by creating awareness through automated health campaigns.

Build Your Digital Front Door With CoverMe

A digital front door strategy is aimed to help healthcare organizations function more efficiently and provide better service for their patients. Patient satisfaction is at the forefront of digital front door strategies. Increasing touch points and cultivating relationships help provide the patient with a seamless experience, resulting in enriched health outcomes.

Get started on your digital front door strategy with CoverMe touchless eligibility solutions. Witness an increase in your productivity and get ready to offer a superior patient experience. To learn more about our solution, schedule a demo with us!