Consistently underlined in this blog is the importance of quality customer service. Even with technology evolving at an increasingly fast pace, individuals still desire the type of care that comes with human interaction. Partnering with an answering service can help many organizations achieve this goal, especially those in the healthcare industry.
For example, when patients are able to reach a live representative 24/7 to find out information about scheduling options or their personal healthcare, they are more likely to continue going to a particular medical facility.
A Maryland-based vendor decided to take the idea of quality care and use it for interactive patient-care technology.
GetWell Network was designed to increase patient engagement across the country, while also helping medical facilities and hospitals meet meaningful use stage 2 requirements. Having more engaged patients will help decrease readmission rates and improve the overall safety and quality of care offered in healthcare organizations.
Founder and CEO Michael O’Neil told InformationWeek Healthcare that 10 years ago he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After surgery and four cycles of chemotherapy, O’Neil found himself cancer-free but had reservations about the quality of care that he and his family received from doctors and nurses.
“Throughout our journey, [my family and I] felt like we were on the outside looking in; care was being done to us as opposed to care being done with us,” O’Neil told the news source. “So we began researching and writing about this new concept of interactive patient care.”
O’Neil explained that there are 30 pathways available through GetWell Network, including one for discharging patients, which helps providers and patients better prepare prior to a patient leaving the hospital.
The same way that interactive portals better connect doctors and their patients, a medical answering service uses phone, email and text messaging services to keep open communication between individuals and their healthcare organization.
