With the unprecedented arrival of a global pandemic, the healthcare industries have been dealing with the demanding and enormous task of battling a novel virus. Even as the front-line health workers struggle with limited resources and increased work hours, the patient experience continues to be an important parameter of their service. Being a service industry, customer experience in the healthcare industry is naturally of paramount importance in the times of COVID 19 – more so than ever before.
Need for Optimized Customer Experience in the Healthcare Industry in the Time of COVID-19
In these stressful times, patients are not only desperately hoping to be treated for a speedy recovery, but they are also looking for some semblance of positivity in the abyss. This is possible only when their customer experience in a healthcare facility is optimized. As both the healthcare officials and customers tread in unchartered territory, a little empathy can boost up the latter’s experience significantly.
By focusing on the patient experience and feedback, the service providers can figure out how to best meet the needs and requirements of the customers. With the help of a patient feedback software that records customer feedback and data digitally, the healthcare industry can focus on improving operational efficiency. The healthcare officials can plan and prepare on how best to deliver their services to future patients. In fact, in the times of COVID-19, lacking in customer experience in the healthcare industry, can have life-threatening implications for patients.
Ways to Improve Customer Experience in the Healthcare Industry
A healthcare facility is by default a customer-responsive industry. As such, a global health crisis is the right time for the industry to up their patient experience game. Following are a few important ways in which a healthcare facility can improve its customer experience significantly:
- Streamlining Processes: A patient or a customer in a healthcare facility is naturally troubled and worried about some sort of ailment and difficulty. In such a situation, making him/her/them fill in loads of paperwork or wait in a queue for an appointment is a negative experience for the patient. As such, hospitals should streamline these processes with the help of digital platforms, software, and applications that are compatible with multiple devices. Patients can then simply submit their information on the software and it will get stored on the cloud for future references. Automating basic processes, especially in these critical times of a pandemic, is an effective way of remaining organized and saving every body’s valuable time and energy.
- Minimizing Service and Wait Times: It is highly likely for healthcare facilities to face chaos and confusion during these times. However, if the patients have to wait for long before any service provider checks upon them, or diagnoses them, the customer experience will be extremely poor. As such, health clinics and offices should always be efficient and professional, and actively try to minimize wait times as well as service times.
- Create a Personalized Experience: It is very easy for patients to feel like another statistic in a hospital. As such, the health officials should try and provide a personalized experience to the patients. This means that they should listen to their concerns and queries, and address them patiently. The health officials should also have access to all the data like personal details, blood reports, and previous diagnoses and treatments so that the patients can know that they are valued and cared for.
- Procure the Right Tools: A hospital that does not have the right facilities and tools to treat its patients automatically loses credibility. For instance, in the current scenario of COVID 19, both health officials and patients should be given proper facilities, meals, and protective gear. Having the right tools can help them feel safe and secure in these uncertain times.
- Get Feedback: Feedback from patients can help healthcare facilities improve their services significantly. The customer feedback will reveal to the service providers their strengths as well as their weaknesses. With the help of patient feedback survey software like the one provided by piHappiness, patients can rate the services and their experience in a hospital or clinic. The administration at the hospital can then use multiple feedback’s from patients to compare and analyze the data on customer experience software, and consequently, work towards improving patient satisfaction levels.
Conclusion
Because of the challenges posed by COVID 19, the healthcare industry is functioning under tremendous pressure. In order to meet the requirements of patients and optimize their experience, health officials can incline on customer experience software like piHappiness. With the integrated data about multiple patients from several locations, the healthcare facilities can focus on providing an end-to-end experience to customers without fail.
