Tag: patient engagement
As of January 1, 2019, thousands of hospitals in the U.S. are being required to post an online list of the cost of their services due to a new requirement by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). However, amid growing confusion about which fields are required or what format the list of standard services needs to be in, many health systems feel this new law will only create confusion among patients. One health system described the new requirements as, “It would be like walking into a car dealership looking at a new car, asking the salesman how much the car was going to cost and having them hand you the parts catalog. Obviously, when you have the parts catalog, you don\'t know what parts are in your car or which ones you\'re going to use or how much labor is going to go into making the car.\" While posting the list of prices is required by CMS, some health systems have invested in the needed technology to make it easy for patients to shop online for care. For example, in an interview with Modern Healthcare, El Camino Hospital explains they “launched a consumer self-service tool in May 2017, after about a year of development work with Experian Health. Since then, more than 3,000 people have visited the hospital\'s website, selected one or more of about 90 medical or surgical services they were interested in, entered their insurance information, and received an instant out-of-pocket cost estimate the hospital claims is 95% to 99% accurate.” Health systems like El Camino Hospital know that patients want to avoid costly surprises, and they should be able to understand their financial obligations upfront, including deductibles and copays. In fact, McKinsey research found nearly three-quarters of participants were worried about healthcare expenditures. Legislative help The new CMS requirement is only one of a few initiatives in the works from a legislative standpoint. In an effort to help patients, some members of Congress are trying to bring attention to the topic. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators in 2018 wrote a letter to healthcare stakeholders and experts requesting information in an effort to learn more about price transparency as they considered possible legislation on the matter. Also in the letter, the senators cited the lack of state laws and regulations requiring healthcare providers to make that information available to patients. More than 40 states were cited by the Catalyst for Payment Reform and the Health Care Incentives Improvement Initiative in 2016 because they were deficient in healthcare transparency legislation. And that same report found that some patients were paying thousands of dollars more than others for the same procedures, depending which healthcare provider they used. Alleviating patient stress Transparency in billing creates more satisfied patients because they know how much they will be paying for services, which makes it easier for them to budget. Going to the hospital is usually a stressful time for patients and their families. An easy way for healthcare providers to alleviate that stress is to help patients understand their costs upfront Most healthcare organizations already have the basic data they need to use automated technology to construct estimates for basic services, including claims data, real-time eligibility and benefits information, payer contracts and charge description master (CDM) information. Experian Health has the technology to help healthcare organizations convert this information into patient costs through Patient Estimates. This kind of transparency provides several benefits to both providers and patients. Online estimates published on healthcare provider websites give patients access to the information any time, including late at night and on weekends. And these estimates can be obtained confidentially, so patients who may be uncomfortable asking about certain procedures can find that information on their own. And that helps them be more relaxed about making appointments and scheduling treatments because they have confidence they won\'t face billing surprises. This feel-better result of having prices at their fingertips has a clear benefit for the healthcare providers as well. Patients are able to plan and pay for services, decreasing unpaid balances for hospitals and other healthcare providers. Ability to budget for healthcare costs Patients who know what to expect can budget wisely and actively take charge of their healthcare bills. They go in with their eyes open, which leads to improved revenue cycle management. In the end, both the patient and the hospital get what they want. With Congress and state legislatures looking at transparency in healthcare, providers can expect to see more of these rules. Healthcare organizations can get ahead of them with software like Experian Health\'s Patient Estimates. Healthcare consumers don\'t like surprises in their billing. Price transparency gives them the information and peace of mind they need to secure healthcare services and be assured that they know what they will be paying for them. Learn more about how Experian Health can help you achieve price transparency for your patients.
In healthcare, patient-facing technology and electronic health records are meant to improve the overall patient experience. Yet, in a recent Black Book survey, the limited use of these technologies by some organizations has diminished the experience for 89 percent of their younger patients. More specifically, 69 percent of respondents said that dissatisfaction was due mainly to the discharge and billing process. A lack of transparency, confusion about what the total costs are, and borderline harassment from third-party collections agencies can ruin otherwise great experiences. What’s lacking? To achieve the level of engagement and transparency that consumers demand, hospitals need to offer more than just electronic records. In Black Book’s survey, 78 percent of hospitals aren\'t prioritizing investing in the IT necessary to offer more. That number is shrinking, though, as hospitals depend more on payments from patients. A brief prepared by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology showed a 10 percent jump in the use of IT, such as patient portals, between 2014 and 2017. However, 24 percent of patients won’t view their EHRs despite being offered access. Many cite privacy concerns, others see no need, and some just don’t know how. While confusing and unclear billing processes can negatively impact the patient experience, the opposite is also true. When organizations make it easy for patients to understand and pay their bills, their patients are more satisfied with their experiences. That requires revamping both billing and customer service — the two most important avenues of engagement. 3 areas to improve To achieve that goal, more healthcare organizations and hospitals are turning to online patient portals. They not only give patients access to their records, but also consolidate doctors’ and hospitals’ bills into single, easy-to-understand statements. This increases a patient’s ability and willingness to engage, as well as reduces a hospital’s risk of uncompensated care. Still, patient portals don’t automatically translate to better engagement. They offer a wide range of features and interactions, but they can do little to positively impact the patient experience until organizations become more adept at optimizing them. In many cases, that means changing their approach to these three main obstacles: 1. Limited use A recent Healthcare Financial Management Association survey revealed that 94 percent of organizations that use patient portals only use them to collect payments from patients. This is an important feature of a portal, but it’s only one of several equally important ones designed to create an entire experience for patients. Most portals offer the ability to schedule appointments, receive accurate patient estimates, research and select different payment plans, communicate with care team members, and more. Organizations can use them not only to collect payments, but also to help patients be active participants in the administrative side of their care. 2. Limited interoperability For a healthcare organization to make full use of patient portals and other health IT solutions, large amounts of data must be gathered from many different sources. For a single patient, that data can include financial information from credit bureaus, health histories from other institutions, and data from personal medical devices. Limited interoperability makes it difficult for providers to centralize disparate sources of data, which hinders their patients’ ability to make full use of a portal’s features. By creating a portal around a more comprehensive IT infrastructure, organizations can improve their interoperability and, therefore, their patients’ overall experience. 3. A lack of self-service In the HFMA survey mentioned above, 86 percent of organizations that responded admitted that a portal’s most valuable contribution is creating an intuitive, self-service environment for patients. The ability to schedule appointments and payment plans means organizations don’t have to cold-call patients to remind them of upcoming visits or past-due bills. When hospitals make full use of a patient portal’s features, they can help patients manage their own accounts from home, work, or the doctor’s office. This level of self-service empowers patients to engage in their healthcare, reducing the likelihood of missed appointments, uncompensated care, inadequate patient experiences, and poor health outcomes. The fact that more healthcare organizations are offering patient portal access is encouraging, but low patient interaction means they could do more to optimize that access for maximum engagement. Fortunately, the pieces are there; organizations just have to learn to adapt the rest of their operations to make it all fit together. Start engaging with patients today.
Healthcare consumerism, which describes the ability of patients to shop around for the best value of care, has affected every aspect of the industry. Keeping up with those changes has challenged most institutions as patients become more savvy about healthcare costs and their choices. But the freedom for patients to choose is only one side of the coin. The other is wrought with financial pain points that come with making the traditional billing model fit the new healthcare consumerism. For instance, organizations have to give patients precise cost estimates, but when patients change insurance coverage or companies change their policies and practices, providers struggle to keep those estimates accurate. And patients who are hit with unexpected costs after they’ve received treatment are less likely to be able pay their bills. Hospitals and providers suffer from uncollected bills, which is compounded by claims denials. Fortunately, the idea of healthcare consumerism inherently provides the solution to the pain. Emulating consumerism that\'s present in other industries, such as retail, means offering accurate and transparent pricing, eliminating uncertainty, and offering patients convenient and comprehensive financial options. Like other industries, healthcare already has a wealth of IT tools to make that possible. Headaches for patients and providers Simplifying financial pain points requires one significant change — hospitals and providers must deliver clear, simple information about what factors into their pricing. The first step is ensuring your system can keep up with the constantly changing details of insurance policies, supplier contracts, and everything else that affects those costs. An automated IT solution can collect up-to-date insurance data, claims history, a patient’s financial situation, your organization’s price, and more before generating an estimate. When this data changes, estimates are no longer accurate, which is why healthcare pricing is so complicated. Therefore, tracking them and updating your system automatically can make it easier. Most of the industry already uses analytics to some degree. Combined with automated financial data-gathering tools, those analytics can help organizations identify patients who are financially at risk and might qualify for additional funding options. Along with clear and accurate estimates, patients highly value a provider that cares enough to offer affordable financing options. Alleviating those pain points Keeping up with policy and other financial changes as quickly as they occur makes healthcare consumerism as beneficial for hospitals and providers as it is for patients. For example, Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers was able to reduce claims denials by 27 percent after implementing payer alerts and patient estimate solutions. The same strategy helped the College of Medicine at Baylor University collect nearly $4.2 million in underpaid contracts, which it would have missed otherwise. Both organizations have also significantly boosted patient satisfaction with their financial processes, which has led to more positive experiences and reviews. You can also alleviate financial pain points for patients and your organization by seeing healthcare consumerism as an opportunity instead of a burden. Patients demand the same level of cost transparency and certainty from every other industry. Healthcare organizations now have the incentive (and the means) to prove that they can offer the same level of service.
Not every healthcare organization embraced electronic medical records (EMRs) at first. But the incentives and regulations put in place by Meaningful Use and the Affordable Care Act have made it necessary to implement them. Now, organizations are not only embracing EMRs, but also making it easier for their patients to access and manage them through remote portals. According to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, approximately 63 percent of patients who used portals did so at their doctors’ recommendation. Despite the growing popularity of patient portals, there are still more than 25 percent of patients who refuse to use them for fear of jeopardizing their data. Considering the sensitive nature of their protected health information (PHI), along with the nearly 5.6 million health records that were compromised last year, those fears are more than reasonable. What can providers do? Hackers have honed in on the healthcare industry for two main reasons: the treasure trove of valuable information in medical records and a sometimes dated approach to cybersecurity. In fact, between 2009 and 2016, more than 30 percent of all big data breaches occurred within healthcare systems. Without proper encryption methods, login redundancies, and detection tools, portals are almost as easily accessible to hackers as they are to authorized users. As their usage grows, that lack of security will become an exponentially greater threat to patients’ PHI and identities. “Many of us are accustomed to keeping the same name and password with our accounts, and as we know, that information is very lucrative to the right individuals,\" says Victoria Dames, Director of Identity Management for Experian Health. \"While it\'s our due diligence to constantly change them, there are certain scenarios where maybe we forgot to change them or we don’t regularly login and that password may sit idle. When that happens, you want to make sure that you have the right technology in place to be able to catch somebody potentially logging in, trying to impersonate a patient.” Providers can’t lower the value of PHI to make it less attractive to hackers, but they can protect it more effectively with up-to-date cybersecurity measures. These four tips can help organizations bring their patient portal security up-to-date and keep their networks safe from unauthorized access: 1. Automate the portal sign-up process. Automating the initial sign-up process can stop false enrollments into the portal at the source. When implemented correctly, the automation will only require the patient to enter a few pieces of information, and then the software can confirm the user’s identity on the back end. 2. Leverage multilayer verification. After patients have signed up to access the portal, using multilayer verification can ensure all future sessions are equally secure. For example, two-factor authentication adds additional protection on top of conventional login credentials. In addition to a password or PIN, users also have to provide something personal such as a cell phone number, ZIP code, fingerprint, iris scan, or more. If the user’s device, account ID, and/or password are compromised, two-factor authentication can ensure the organization’s network remains safe. 3. Keep anti-virus and malware software up-to-date. Multilayer verification protects users’ direct access to portals, but there are other, more frequent vulnerabilities that also need attention. For instance, HIMSS Analytics recently found that 78 percent of providers experienced ransomware and malware attacks last year. Email is the avenue of choice for malware, and these attacks constantly evolve to slip past conventional security measures. If anti-virus software is outdated, it remains vulnerable to every new iteration of malware that attacks the network. Most solutions allow for automatic opt-ins so updates are downloaded and installed as soon as they’re made available. 4. Promote interoperability standards. When primary care physicians, specialists, and healthcare payers talk to one another throughout the course of a patient’s care, it isn’t always through email. When their systems aren’t compatible, they can’t communicate as clearly and securely as they need to. Interoperability makes it possible for disparate systems to share medical histories and patient data while making that data easily understandable on either system. Because interoperability is essential for improving the continuum of care, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provide standards for healthcare organizations to promote it. More patients and providers are optimistic about using technology to improve the healthcare experience. However, one in five patients remain so suspicious of healthcare data security that they refuse to even divulge some information to their physicians. Fortunately, with the right tools, organizations can effectively strengthen portal security and boost the confidence their patients have in them.
The world of healthcare, as everyone knows, can be complex. And in such a complicated system, solutions that simplify, automate, and reduce busywork can make a real difference in both patient satisfaction and workplace efficiency. Although healthcare is, by its nature, a high-touch field, there are several opportunities to allow automated software solutions to handle the basic processing tasks associated with patient management. When routine interactions with patients are automated, medical and administrative staff members can devote more of their time to the cases that need the most attention. Automated workflow solutions also simplify and reduce busywork to make a noticeable difference in patient satisfaction and workplace efficiency. Obviously, that outcome is desirable for all parties involved. It reduces costs, improves morale, and results in satisfied patients. In an ideal workflow environment, employees can personally attend to problem cases and resolve certain issues manually while an automated system handles the run-of-the-mill cases that cause administrative backlogs. Experian Health has worked hard to develop just such a system. We call it eCare NEXT®. Introducing eCare NEXT The eCare NEXT platform, using an approach called Touchless Processing™, is able to offload a number of key patient processes, including scheduling, preregistration, registration, and admissions. Touchless Processing is an exception-based system, meaning that it automatically flags patients who require manual follow-up with staffers. The system updates data in real time, and users can interact with it through either a work queue system or by responding to triggered alerts. Healthcare organizations using the system can automate up to 80 percent of human intervention in the patient management process — allowing healthcare staff to focus on larger, more important initiatives to improve the patient experience. And Touchless Processing doesn\'t just free up staff time; patients see immediate benefits as well. One of the biggest frustrations in a patient\'s experience is the inability to get a reliable estimate for how much a service will cost. The eCare NEXT system sorts through all the complex factors that affect healthcare pricing — which are often too complex for hospital billing departments to accurately estimate on their own — and quickly determines accurate cost estimates for both the patient and insurance. Efficiency results in lowered costs — and happier patients The eCare NEXT system cuts costs in other ways, too: by reducing staff training needs, by ensuring compliance, by enforcing transparency, and so on. The benefits of an automated patient management system can manifest themselves in all sorts of ways. Blessing Health System, based in Quincy, Illinois, implemented eCare NEXT and found that it reliably increased efficiency and accuracy in patient management: \"Experian Health provided our staff with a reliable, real-time registration error-alerting process. Our overall registration accuracy rate has improved significantly since implementing eCare NEXT. We now have the tools we need to be successful in one user-friendly application.\" Blessing\'s employees found that eCare NEXT improved dashboard capabilities and made it easier to view critical data, including missed estimates and copays. It was a clear upgrade over Blessing\'s previous system, in which employees manually calculated patient estimates. After adopting eCare NEXT, Blessing\'s point of sale collections increased by over 80 percent, its clean claim rate increased from 63 percent to 90 percent, and denials went down by 27 percent. And because the process had become so much more accurate and efficient, the average number of days an account spent in accounts receivable decreased by 28 percent. There’s no need to labor under an outdated administrative system that\'s certain to cause backlogs, errors, and intense frustration for patients and staffers. By offloading patient management work to the eCare NEXT system, healthcare providers can do what they do best: help people. For more information, contact Experian Health or check out our Touchless Processing whitepaper.
In the healthcare industry, transparency is everything — you want your patients to be as informed as possible every step of the way. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen with pricing, leaving both patients and providers unsure what the final bill is going to be. That’s where Experian Health’s Patient Estimates tool comes in. With this solution, you can provide your patients with timely, accurate projections of the costs of their care either before or at the point of service. By better preparing patients for their bill, Patient Estimates helps you avoid the underpayment problems you’re likely all too familiar with, leaving you more time to focus on providing the care that really matters. The power of accuracy The pricing process in healthcare is complicated. Constantly translating the shifting policies of insurers, suppliers, and partner organizations requires a level of attention that healthcare providers are rarely able to spare. But unless you thoroughly understand all the details that go into a pricing estimate, the only thing you can really offer is speculation. And patients are stressed enough as it is; the last thing they want to worry about is whether their costs are going to unexpectedly skyrocket once the bill comes. Each projection that comes from the Patient Estimates tool undergoes several data-gathering stages before delivering any results. Patient Estimates collects information from the patient’s insurance provider, including claims history and payer contract terms, as well as the hospital\'s chargemaster price. This data is automatically posted to a centralized work list, which can be customized by a healthcare provider depending on its needs. Imagine you need a price estimate for a patient who needs a common procedure or you’re trying to pinpoint the costs of a very specific procedure. You can narrow your search in the Patient Estimates platform to match your patient’s unique situation, and then you can easily pull that pricing information back up at any time. Most importantly, this data is equally accessible for your patients — you can print estimates in a variety of languages or customize scripts for your staff to read. As altruistic as this all sounds, Patient Estimates isn’t just a way to fulfill an ever-increasing obligation of state mandates for price transparency. Getting accurate pricing estimates slashes the time you’d spend manually updating pricing lists and scrambling to create an audit trail for a patient. By automating this grunt work and providing accurate upfront information, Patient Estimates can make your collections process easy and efficient — not two words you typically associate with collections. “The tool is really behind a lot of our success with billing and quick client payments,” says the Baylor University College of Medicine’s director of patient access. “Partnering with Experian Health has allowed us to be an advocate for our patients while also protecting our bottom line.” Patient Estimates isn\'t just a useful resource for patients; it\'s also an efficient tool providers can use to avoid age-old payment problems. After all, your organization runs on payments, and you’d hate to miss out on essential revenue because you didn’t give your patients accurate information in the first place. Bundle up Combining Patient Estimates with other Experian Health services can extend the benefits across a wider range of services. Patient Estimates connects with Eligibility, for example, to generate up-to-date benefits information that can inform a patient\'s treatment plan. It also works in lockstep with our Contract Manager solution to price estimates based on a provider’s payer contract, no matter how complicated it is. The College of Medicine at Baylor University is among the providers that use Contract Manager to analyze contracts throughout clinical practice departments. After adopting Experian Health\'s product suite, the school overhauled its internal collections strategy and generated more than 18,000 patient estimates while collecting $4.2 million in contractual underpayments it would have previously missed. Baylor has used its package of Experian Health products not only to streamline its workflow, but also to improve its patient collections rate and negotiate stronger contracts. You don’t have to draw a hard line between helping your patients and making a profit. In fact, the two go hand in hand when you take the right steps. With Patient Estimates, everybody can get on the same page. Contact our team today to find out how to boost transparency in your organization. To learn more about Baylor University College of Medicine’s experience with price transparency, please download this case study.
Patient responsibility for their cost of care is rising dramatically. By 2025, it’s estimated that 20 percent of all consumer earnings will go to healthcare costs. As such, consumers are increasingly wrestling with how to navigate the healthcare journey, and providers are seeking ways to provide more transparency around costs. To dig deeper into these shifts, Experian Health conducted a study to assess the patient healthcare journey. A summary of findings were released in an all-new paper, Embracing consumerism: Driving customer engagement in the healthcare financial journey. We interviewed Kristen Simmons, Experian Health senior vice president of strategy and innovation, to learn more about the study. What prompted you to conduct this study on the “jobs” associated with the consumer health journey? In speaking with our clients and top thought leaders in the healthcare space, we are naturally aware that our industry is ripe for change. Consumers expect a more seamless, transparent healthcare journey – from start to finish – but we wanted to dig in and understand more specifically how they view each dimension of the process. What “jobs” must they tackle on their quest to getting the healthcare they need? What’s working, and where are they experiencing pain in the process? We wanted to hear directly from consumers to understand their current situation and motivations, and simultaneously assess how providers are feeling about the state of healthcare. Tell me more about the “jobs-to-be-done” methodology. Why did you take this approach to conduct your research? Consumers purchase and use products and services because they satisfy one or more important jobs they are trying to accomplish. In healthcare, this largely centers around the goal of getting better: Cure the ailment, fix the broken bone, complete the annual well-check visit. Qualitative insight into the “jobs” consumers need to get done ensures that we start with a “needs” mentality when we innovate products and solutions, rather than an “ideas-first” mentality. In our work, consumer interviews revealed 137 jobs associated with a typical healthcare experience. We then conducted a quantitative survey to measure the level of importance associated with each of these jobs, as well as the consumer’s current level of satisfaction with their ability to get each job done. These responses helped us develop a heat map illustrating the greatest pain points and opportunities for improvement. And let me tell you, there is a lot of work to be done to improve the customer experience in health! Are you surprised to see that the financial “jobs” associated with the consumer’s healthcare journey to be the most painful for consumers? I think we all knew the financial aspects of the journey would be a pain point, but it was surprising to see just how dominant this pain was ranked across absolutely every financial element of the journey from start to finish. Ninety-four percent of consumers ranked financial experiences as a major pain point in their overall healthcare journey. Additionally, 98 percent of consumers ranked worrying about paying their medical bills as a “very” to “extremely important” pain point. We need to build solutions and processes that offer consumers more transparency around the financial aspects of the healthcare journey—and importantly, help them know what to expect at each step along the way. This will alleviate some of the stresses of the unknown and allow healthcare consumers to focus on what matter most – getting the care they need. Beyond the consumer survey, you also interviewed 22 providers about their priorities for creating a better patient experience. What did you learn in these discovery calls and face-to-face interviews? Healthcare providers want to see change as well. They are obviously focused on healing people, but they recognize the need to give focus to the marketing and business aspects of providing care. They told us they want to find ways to provide more clarity around charges, and education around how charges can change along the way depending on health discoveries. They additionally cited desires to measure the customer experience, improve their IT infrastructures, build customer loyalty and even link customers with charitable organizations who can help with healthcare costs and payment. They fundamentally understand that all aspects of the consumer or patient experience is important, and some are beginning to recognize that the financial and clinical aspects of healthcare may be more interrelated than once thought. The theme of “consumerism” bubbled up in both the consumer and provider responses. Can you expand on what “consumerism” means in the healthcare space? With the rise of digital technology, consumers have unprecedented power. They expect to be provided with a turnkey, individual experience that is fast and seamless. Think Amazon. Think Apple. Think about review sites like Yelp. While other businesses have been shifting their focus toward delivering meaningful and valuable consumer experiences, healthcare has largely stayed the same. But, costs are rising for governments and employers, and this is placing pressure on healthcare organizations to think differently about how they deliver value. Those rising costs are also directly impacting consumers, driving more shopping behavior and greater adoption of new online tools and resources (think WebMD) that give them more control. These shifts mean that driving consumer engagement and redefining how healthcare organizations interact with people is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. Providers need to make the customer experience a priority. Our survey results validate that, and I’m certain the expectations will only increase in the years to come as the next generations enter the healthcare arena. To learn more about the survey findings, visit Experian.com/consumerhealthstudy.
As they do with everything else they purchase, consumers demand more personalized experiences with their healthcare providers. To meet that demand, healthcare organizations have shifted how they think about customer engagement. It\'s no longer enough to bring patients in, take them through a treatment plan, and send them on their way; providers are now focused on empowering patients, treating them like customers, and using data to improve outcomes and quality of care. This shift is partly due to the fact that rising medical costs have forced health consumers to be choosier about their providers, which means those providers have to be more competitive. While this shift is relatively recent in healthcare, consumers are used to comparing companies and products before making a purchase. With that in mind, healthcare providers should take a cue from the successful marketing techniques used in other competitive industries: collecting data, using that data, and connecting with consumers to get more data. With marketing solutions from Experian Health, healthcare organizations have an easy way to leverage data and more effectively reach their current and future customers. Finding your audience The people you want to market to aren’t just patients; they’re consumers — and hopefully future customers. And these consumers have specific lifestyles and habits. The best way to learn about those habits is through a comprehensive database of consumer information. Experian Health\'s ConsumerViewSM lets you tap into more than 30 years of historical data on more than 300 million consumers. Learn exactly who your audience is by pooling data points on core demographics including age, gender, marital and parental status, and more. ConsumerView pulls from a variety of sources and is constantly being updated, which means marketers can trust that they\'re getting accurate, actionable information. After you identify your target market, you can combine the data from ConsumerView with Mosaic® USA and TrueTouchSM to segment, identify, and successfully reach your target audience with the most appropriate message. Consumer segmenting made easy While ConsumerView is the source for your audience’s data, Mosaic USA is how you make sense of it all. Think of it like an automatic filing cabinet, sorting your data into relevant groups and presenting it to you for easy accessibility. The segmentation system separates consumer audiences into 71 unique types within 19 overarching groups; more than 300 ConsumerView data points detail consumers\' preferences, choices, and habits. This segmentation helps you zero in on your audience and tailor your messages to each group you\'re targeting. Using Mosaic USA, you could identify which segments of your audience would benefit from preventative medicine or which ones are currently living with certain health conditions. Then, you could send those audience segments messages and materials about your relevant services. With the TrueTouch platform, you can ensure each message is also delivered to your audience through the channels they prefer for optimal engagement. Getting on their level Knowing who your audience members are and what they value most is an important marketing step, but you still have to deliver your message in a way that resonates with them. That might be through personalized emails, ads on their favorite social media channels, or even direct mail advertisements. TrueTouch gives you the power to personalize your marketing campaign for each unique segment of your audience according to their preferred methods of engagement. Reaching out to customers before they need to come in for a visit will make that visit more personal and productive. Your personalized marketing campaign can leverage emails, social media interaction, website retargeting, and more, depending on what\'s most effective. As your marketing campaign draws in more customers, you can continually improve your TrueTouch usage by capturing data on which channels were most effective for which customer segments. Ultimately, healthcare providers should be the most focused on providing excellent care and making customers healthy. That\'s why Experian Health\'s marketing tools are designed to make healthcare marketing as easy and as effective as possible. Today\'s consumers are savvy and choose their care providers carefully, but gaining valuable insights into their behavior is simpler than you might think.
When was the last time you tried a new restaurant without reading at least one Yelp review beforehand? If you’re anything like the majority of American consumers, the answer is just about never. We live in an experience-driven world, after all, and whether you’re grabbing a bite to eat or trying out a new coffee shop, reviews are a great way to set expectations. But do patient reviews operate in the same way when it comes to hospitals? The answer is a resounding yes. Research shows that higher online ratings correlate with previously established metrics for evaluating hospitals, such as lower potentially preventable readmission rates. When it comes to overall satisfaction, patients are extremely perceptive, and they’re unafraid to share their opinions — good and bad. Yet Vanguard Communications found that about two-thirds of Yelp reviewers gave the top 20 hospitals rated by the U.S. News and World Report either a mediocre or poor rating. So where is the disconnect? One explanation might be that the areas assessed by U.S. News are too narrow. For instance, a hospital might rank highly for a certain specialty, bumping up its overall rating, but at the same time, its bill-pay system could be severely lacking, souring patients’ perception of the organization. Individual hospitals have the ability to assess all aspects of patient care — way beyond the scope of a top-20 list. The onus is on you to identify areas of improvement, and the best way to uncover hidden patient pain points is feedback. And those pain points are more than just the bedside care received, but are often related on the financial experience. Creating a better experience At Experian Health, we don\'t focus on tackling every issue in healthcare; one of our specialties is helping healthcare organizations process and collect payment. However, that specific aspect of healthcare has a significant impact on overall patient satisfaction. In a recent study, Experian Health found the highest amount of opportunity for improvement is around the patient financial experience, which includes things like price transparency, understanding one’s ability for health payments, as well as options to pay for care. When it\'s easier for patients to pay their bills, they rate hospitals higher. Unfortunately, the first big obstacle in bill-pay is that patients often don’t understand what they’re paying for. Even if the quality of care was excellent, when a patient is unsure how much he or she owes, it’s all too easy to get frustrated and give a poor review. El Camino Hospital, a nonprofit hospital located in Mountain View, California, saw this problem play out with its own patients and, in response, made price transparency a major priority. Experian Health teamed up with El Camino to address this pain point. We debuted a self-service portal, allowing patients to access and manage a greater amount of data while still making account management, e-payment, eligibility, estimates, and billing information available. The most exciting element of the portal for patients and administrators alike was the addition of the patient price estimator, which gives instant estimates on a wide variety of procedures. The response to this tool was so positive that patients immediately began using it, even before El Camino promoted it. There was still room for improvement, though, so we worked to gather more patient feedback by incorporating a feedback survey into the portal. As surveys and comments rolled in, we discovered that patients were looking for a wider variety of services in the price estimator, so we’re now expanding the options. This consistent, patient-centered approach has shown tremendous benefits already. For instance, because availability to the portal is on demand, patients no longer need to directly contact the hospital for estimates, which typically results in a 24-hour waiting period. Because the call volume has greatly reduced, El Camino is now able to provide far more estimates in far less time. While El Camino Hospital\'s portal implementation is still in its early phases, other hospitals have seen impressive results with similar systems over a longer period of time. At Cincinnati Children\'s Hospital Medical Center, for example, they worked with Experian Health to revamp their online patient portal to make it more attractive and easier for patients to use. After the launch of their revised portal, online payments increased from $200,000 to $800,000, and patient billing satisfaction dramatically increased, as enrollment in their billing portal jumped from 900 to more than 45,000 families in a single year. The medical center’s patients now use the portal to ask questions of their healthcare providers, change on-file insurance information, and schedule or revise appointments. These features also reduce customer service phone calls and other related costs. The 3 steps of the patient feedback process When hospitals empower patients with access to their individual data and listen to their feedback, everyone wins. Patient feedback is essential at every level of implementing a new service to guarantee maximum efficiency. A successful patient feedback process includes these three steps: 1. Identify where feedback is needed. You don\'t need to harass patients for feedback on every single aspect of their hospital experience. Instead, look at which services would most benefit from patient insight; then, deploy surveys in those areas. Gathering feedback on high-volume services should be a priority simply because they affect the highest number of patients. Similarly, services that routinely trip patients up can only be clarified by directly asking patients what’s causing problems. At El Camino Hospital, creating the charge description master (CDM) was the first step in identifying where feedback was necessary. The list provided a convenient overview, so hospital administrators could easily pick out which services were high-volume or problematic and address them immediately. Whatever the method, pinpointing the services that are particularly troublesome for patients proves much more effective than trying to elevate the entire experience with no direction. 2. Make it multichannel. Feedback is often subject to selection bias, meaning a customer is more likely to write a Yelp review when he or she is either extremely pleased or extremely angry. Offering people several options for providing feedback increases the chances that you\'ll get a good sample size. You can gather patient feedback via polls using various methods, including text message, email, phone, and paper mail. El Camino Hospital chose to add an SMS feature, building a feedback function on its desktop interface while continuing to field phone calls regarding more complex issues. Its choice proved rewarding, and patient feedback rolled in. Limiting your feedback channels limits the amount and type of feedback you receive, so the more options that are available to patients, the more likely they will be to share their opinions and suggestions. 3. Identify patients who need help and offer it. Patient feedback is only valuable if you act on it. Once you’ve identified specific problems, reach out and offer a solution to patients who expressed concerns. In conjunction with increasing transparency, El Camino Hospital set a goal to identify and assist at-risk patient accounts. After gathering feedback and information on these accounts, El Camino integrated a medical billing fundraiser to lend a helping hand. From there, it created alerts for other at-risk accounts to spread the impact of the fundraiser. By responding to feedback, hospitals can respond to concerns before they become more serious problems, as well as anticipate patients’. If one patient encounters a problem, it\'s likely that several more will encounter the same issue — if they haven’t already. If hospitals aren\'t listening to their patients, they’re missing valuable insight into their problems and limiting their scope of improvement.
