Self-Patient Service in Healthcare: Benefits & Tips

Nowadays Healthcare organizations emphasizing a great deal on self-patient service, giving patients the freedom to look for answers to their problems and inquiries on their own. With self-service, patients are able to address their problems right away and receive workable answers to their questions.

To learn more about self-patient service and why it’s a great method to provide excellent patient support, read this article.

Earlier, it used to take a long time to address queries when patient assistance was provided by getting in touch with them physically, making them wait in long queues, through phone conversations and emails. However, with evolving technologies and changes in human behavior, everyone expects instant services. A recent study in Healthcare shows that Patients are not likely to take services and assistance from businesses which take too much time to answer to their inquiries, resolve their problems and provide delayed services.

Research also says that, giving patients self-service choices lessens the need for them to speak with agents and enables them to find answers to their queries on their own. Patient self-service is also appropriate when they solve their queries by carrying out work autonomously without asking for help from the company staff, which saves the man-hour cost for the company.

To make this concept of self-service viable, there are several self-service technologies available, and the services are not limited to a single platform. The most popular self-service technologies are online forums, chatbots powered by artificial intelligence, and knowledge bases.

What are the major benefits of Self-Service Systems in the Healthcare Industry?

In today’s technologically advanced environment, your patients are also self-reliant. Nearly 70% of patients now seek different self-service options to find answers. Patient self-service systems not only help your patients but also enables your support teams to work efficiently.

1. Boost your healthcare business’s Revenue cycle

Did you aware that the patient self-service feature can affect the financial results of your healthcare business? It has been observed that if people are made to wait a long time for a problem to be resolved, they often give up on transactions and go to another service provider. By using a self-service feature, your patients can receive prompts, and precise responses to their queries, which saves a lot of time on both ends and ultimately results in transactions happening quickly.

2. Offer your patients 365 days support

When a healthcare business set up its support centre, they hire support service executives who can only offer assistance for a short period of time in a day and the major problem is the services may remain off on holidays or weekends. However, your patients can access support any time of the year thanks to the self-service function. Having access to your support system all the time, your patients won’t have to struggle with any kind of issues for very long. They will get their answers very quickly.

3. Reduce costs and Maximize the Productivity of your staff

With self-service capabilities, healthcare companies can provide assistance to numerous patients in very less time for far less money. On the other hand, support service experts who offer such services come at a high cost, particularly in the healthcare industry.

A study shows that the majority of support service representatives get queries which are often repetitive. As a result, after a while, the job becomes routine and dull. Agents can face with less repetitious inquiries in the queue when self-service is available. Agents can be released from this tiresome task. Instead, they can focus on more complicated problems that requires human intervention for resolution.

4. Take your patient experience game on next level

Today, every successful healthcare company’s philosophy is “offering a satisfactory & delightful experience to their patients.” Because your patients will make or break your business. With more advanced technology, patients frequently look for answers on their own instead of contacting support staff to solve their queries. They get a positive experience since self-service provides immediate answers to their concerns.

How to implement Patient Self-Service for your Healthcare Business?

1. Use Mobile Application

Patients can use your mobile app to request your healthcare services. For example, if someone wants to book an appointment with any of your Hospital’s Doctors, with just a few taps or clicks, they can easily book an appointment at their desired time. Additionally, your patients can access all of your offered services through that app and also, they are not need to contact your support staff for assistance in these cases, because everything works with an automated workflow.

Pros –

Very professional & valuable
Easy to access and maintain connectivity

Cons –

Too much costly
Difficulty in getting good downloads
Heavy technical maintenance

2. Use FAQ pages on your website

An FAQ page is one of the most well-known self-service solutions. Patients frequently asked questions can be addressed on the FAQ pages. Most FAQs include practical solutions as well as a succinct explanations. The best FAQ pages are succinct and simple to navigate.

Pros –

Great for providing answers

Cons –

With lots of information & content, one can struggle to find the desired answers
Takes too much time to provide such a large amount of content

3. AI-Powered WhatsApp System (Most Recommended)

On every website or app, chatbots are available to assist patients. Chatbots / messaging solutions can help patient support teams improve their daily operations. Patients can avail of instant assistance and quick problem resolution. Your support representatives will get more time to focus on tasks and interactions where a genuine need for human assistance exists.

Pros –

Easy accessibility to end patients
Cost Efficient

Voiceoc has developed the Smartest AI engine for hospitals, diagnostic labs, and medical clinics to grow appointment bookings, provide quick support to patients, enhance the productivity of customer care teams and increase the conversion rate on campaigns. You can engage with your patients & build ever lasting relationship with Voiceoc Conversational AI WhatsApp System. Today, leading healthcare companies of India, the Middle East, South East Asia, Africa & other parts of the World have turned to Voiceoc.

Conclusion

You can empower your patients with efficient self-service systems. They will not reliant on others to solve their problems and queries. You can dramatically improve customer satisfaction and experience by selecting a best self-service solution for your patients.