The HIPAA Journal reveals a report in which experts investigated 23,000 medical malpractice lawsuits and found that more than 7,000 were due to communication failures. Those failures resulted in $1.7 billion in malpractice costs and almost 2,000 preventable deaths.
Luckily, the healthcare industry is adopting strategies and advanced technology to prevent these kinds of failures and ensure more effective transmission of information to patients.
One key avenue driving these improvements? Broadcast communications in healthcare.
From implementing patient engagement tools to providing educational healthcare content, integrating robust communication strategies can significantly transform how healthcare providers interact with patients and manage their practices.
Join us as we reveal how adopting broadcast communication solutions can improve your patient outcomes, retention rates, and practice efficiency.
What is Broadcast Communication in Healthcare?
Patient engagement, or the process of providers and patients working together to improve patient health, has grown in popularity and importance, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Studies suggest that when patients feel connected to and actively participate in their healthcare, they communicate effectively with their providers and experience better health outcomes.
At the same time, providers see increased patient satisfaction and retention.
As the need for patient engagement grows, a comprehensive suite of communications tools can help providers:
- Meet patients where they are by communicating using different methods (text, email, or phone).
- Encourage retention of patients or usage of optional/elective medical services by opening much-needed provider-to-patient lines of communication.
- Increase patient follow-up care.
- Help individual patients with their healthcare needs or billing questions.
Enter: The rise of broadcast communication in healthcare.
This refers to targeted, mass communication tools designed to efficiently deliver information to a defined audience.
Within healthcare, this tool becomes critical when reaching patients, managing schedules, and sharing timely updates.
Why Does Broadcast Communication Matter?
Because value-based care matters. And patient engagement through broadcast communication tools naturally leads to value creation. Here’s how:
- Simple and seamless communication from care providers reduces patient stress and encourages them to stay connected.
- The right communication strategy builds trust, strengthens engagement, and fosters patients’ loyalty.
- Providers require efficient workflows to reduce administrative burdens and focus on care delivery.
Think about it: Imagine your practice implements broadcast messaging across all its operations.
Patients began receiving personalized reminders for annual check-ups, accompanied by educational content regarding gut health.
At the same time, you use this targeted communication strategy to inform diabetic patients about an upcoming diabetes management workshop and warn them about construction and entrance changes to your practice.
The result? Patients felt informed, engaged, and cared for. The staff reduced their workload, and the office operated more efficiently.
Not a bad way to improve value-based care.
Benefits of Broadcast Communication Tools
Now that you know how integrating healthcare communication solutions into your practice can unlock a range of advantages, below we list four specific ways broadcast messaging makes a tangible impact.
1. Advanced Patient Retention Strategies
Regular communication keeps patients engaged and helps them feel truly seen. Targeted and personalized communication solutions can help keep patients well-informed and in the loop, not left in the dark. These tools foster loyalty and enhance retention while maintaining care continuity.
In Action:
Targeted patient communications enable the delivery of personalized messages based on a patient’s medical history, preferences, or demographics.
For example, CollaborateMD, practice management software that can integrate with EHRs, offers a new Broadcast Messaging tool that allows providers to send communications via email or text to patients where they are – on their phones, by emails, text, or voice.
Providers can:
- In real-time, notify patients about upcoming events, practice openings/closures, vaccination schedules, or appointment openings.
- Send messages to all patients at once or target specific groups based on demographics or diagnoses. For example, sending follow-ups to chronic care patients can help encourage better compliance and overall outcomes.
2. Enhanced Patient Communication
With broadcast communication tools like patient portals, online scheduling, quick responses, and timely reminders are easily accessed by patients. The result? Patients feel more valued and connected to their providers. And happy patients equal referrals.
A National Library of Medicine study found that patients who use patient portals are more satisfied because of the convenience and because they feel they receive better care.
In Action:
How many hours a day does your medical staff spend sending appointment updates or answering appointment questions on the phone? Automation can revolutionize this process, keeping patients fully engaged and your practice management running smoothly.
Automated healthcare appointment reminders, sent via email, text, or voice message, serve as crucial tools to keep patients informed and on time for their upcoming visits.
These tools:
- Reduce no-shows.
- Boost staff productivity by freeing up staff time previously spent manually calling patients.
- Deliver flexible communication options for patients at their convenience.
- Provide insights by tracking appointment attendance rates and identifying patterns to improve scheduling practices.
- Help patients stick to treatment plans and medication schedules.
3. Streamlined Operations with Intelligent Intake Solutions
The concept of “Add-to-Cart” healthcare solutions refers to systems that seamlessly integrate various patient engagement tools into one easy-to-use platform.
These systems simplify workflows, enabling both providers and patients to benefit from greater ease and efficiency.
For example, the patient intake process can be cumbersome for staff and patients. Leveraging communication tools to create an intelligent intake workflow saves time. It also minimizes errors, enhances convenience, and ensures a more organized practice.
In Action:
CollaborateMD offers an Intelligent Intake Suite that includes its Broadcast Messaging feature. This comprehensive suite of solutions provides everything clinicians need to streamline the patient intake process, including:
- Forms
- Appointment Scheduler and Reminders
- Broadcast Messaging
- Patient Cost Estimator
When using these intelligent intake solutions, providers can expect these results:
- Save time with automated tasks.
- Better patient-centric care by delivering relevant, time-sensitive information and forms directly to patients.
- Improve workflows by managing the intake process in one place and eliminating the hassle of juggling multiple software solutions.
4. Effective Educational Healthcare Content
Providing educational healthcare content is key to empowering patients. Whether it’s tips for managing heart health or promoting preventive wellness measures, educating your patients builds stronger patient-provider relationships.
In Action:
Automated broadcast communication tools can efficiently deliver the right educational content to the right patients. Messages such as vaccine schedules and vaccine-related information can reassure patients that their well-being comes first.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC):
“From the front desk to the exam room to checkout, everyone plays an important role in supporting vaccination. Strengthening vaccine communications engages provider staff as vaccine partners.”
With this in mind, sending content like vaccination schedule communications helps providers:
- Increase positive vaccination messaging throughout their practice.
- Provide accurate, easily accessible information on vaccines.
- Engage in effective vaccine conversations with parents.
Communications and Future-Proofing Your Practice
Healthcare organizations that leverage advanced technology to enhance communication stand to lead in patient satisfaction, retention, and compliance.
By implementing intelligent intake workflows, crafting personalized messaging, and delivering timely educational healthcare content, your practice can redefine its approach to patient communication.
Ready to enhance your patient experience and improve operational efficiency with CollaborateMD’s Broadcast Messaging and Intelligent Intake Suite solutions? Contact our team to learn how to optimize your patient engagement tools today!
[Or, read our Help Article to learn how to add Broadcast to your account.]