Three Reasons Phone-Based Customer Service in Healthcare is Here to Stay
The majority of healthcare consumers still prefer the phone for complex problem-solving and appointment management.
Health systems are undertaking digital transformation initiatives to save money and attend to an increasing number of healthcare consumers. While these organizations have prioritized modernization efforts by implementing portals and chatbots, they often neglect the most dominant means of communication for consumers: the voice channel. The voice channel has become outdated and inefficient for most hospitals and clinics. It’s time for healthcare CIOs to automate phone-based communication. Here are three reasons that CIOs must invest in the voice channel now and in the future:
- 1. Investments in omnichannel communications haven’t diminished voice channel demand
Billions of dollars have been spent on digital transformation in healthcare such as portals and web-based communication. 67% of leaders anticipate increasing that digital spend in 2024 and beyond. Despite this, 72% of consumers still pick up the phone first when they want fast customer service.
While patient portals have undoubtedly been helpful in some facets of healthcare customer service, adoption of this tech has been slow. They are helpful for accessing medical records and inputting simple requests, but overwhelmingly, they’re not being used as a means of patient support. AI chatbots don’t have the ability to help with complicated requests, and they are difficult for individuals who aren’t technologically savvy. In addition, they are not sentient, and cannot feel emotions like empathy. Only 20% of consumers welcome the presence of a chatbot when visiting a website.
In conclusion, investments in digital technology are misaligned with consumer preferences. Healthcare CIOs must modernize phone-based communications as a part of digital transformation initiatives. Delivering automation to the voice channel is imperative in order to increase agent efficiency as well as improve patient experience. Otherwise, healthcare organizations risk alienating patients as well as restricting access to care for many patient populations.
- 2. Gen Z prefers the phone for complex problem-solving
In contrast to popular belief, the youngest adult generation often chooses the voice channel to communicate with businesses. According to McKinsey, 71% of Gen Z members agree that live phone calls are the quickest way to solve a customer service matter. They’re also 35-40% more likely to call a business than millennials, believing that it’s the best way to engage with a premium brand.
While Gen Z reaches out via the voice channel when necessary, they don’t rely on it. As digital natives, they’re adept at finding the answers to FAQs elsewhere on the internet, and they’ll use AI chatbots to solve routine inquiries. Complicated issues are what bring this generation to the phone; if they know they can’t self-serve for a quick solution, they’ll dial a company directly.
Health systems must adapt their customer service environments to cater to these trends. It’s vital to modernize phone-based customer support as part of digital transformation initiatives. Investing in conversational AI to automate the voice channel helps young consumers solve problems digitally and over the phone.
- 3. The healthcare industry is constantly expanding
The field of human medicine never stops evolving. Over 250 new diseases are found and named annually, affecting 6-8% of the population. Some of these new developments, such as COVID-19, drastically affect the industry’s standard protocol and communications.
Healthcare customers of all ages call their providers to seek help with complex and urgent issues. With the consistent onset of new illnesses and the rapid advancement of new treatments, hospitals and clinics will never see a decrease in patient demand. Healthcare CIOs must continue to invest in maintaining a robust self-service environment for all channels of communication in order to meet patients where they are. When patients encounter an outdated and ineffective telephony environment, they struggle to access care and quickly become dissatisfied with the brand.
No one asks to be sick. Women suffering from breast cancer shouldn’t struggle to get ahold of a nurse on the phone. Parents of children with chronic illnesses shouldn’t be forced to the portal when calling to ask about a worrisome medical development. Given the wide array of unique medical issues or questions patients will have, access to human support will always be necessary when it’s appropriate. Communication that lacks a human element is unacceptable, and quickly leads to customer leakage and heavy revenue loss.
What Health Systems Can Do to Optimize Operations by Automating the Voice Channel
The solution to this problem seems clear – healthcare organizations should bolster their call centers with experienced staff to make patient access to care as streamlined as possible. However, there’s a serious obstacle in the way: persistent labor shortages.
There are only 6.8 million workers available to fill the 8.1 million job openings currently in the United States. Most of the world has been experiencing labor shortages since the COVID-19 pandemic, as turnover rates have risen and job-hopping has become more commonplace. One environment that’s seen significant attrition is the call center, especially in healthcare. US News and World Report found that 44% of non-clinical healthcare staff are struggling with work overload, and about a third of such staff intend to leave their jobs within two years.
This has led to rampant understaffing of patient access centers, which consistently struggle to field a high number of calls with a low number of workers. With immense caller demand and an inability to quickly fill open positions, healthcare contact centers must adopt a solution to meet the needs of patients.
The solution is digitizing the voice channel with conversational AI.
Intelligent virtual assistants (IVAs) automate routine tasks like call routing, answering frequently asked questions (FAQs), and scheduling appointments. They ease agent burden and fill in the gaps at understaffed contact centers. When agents aren’t flooded with excessive, repetitive calls, they work at the top of their skillset and provide a better experience for patients. IVAs also eliminate agent burnout, which leads to higher staff retention.
Digitizing the voice channel by integrating conversational AI allows health systems to save money and meet patients where they are, no matter the volume of demand.
Instead of letting labor shortages ravage call centers and hurt the patient experience, healthcare CIOs must step up and meet demand with modern technology. It is absolutely crucial for health systems to improve self-service and automate routine calls, clearing the way for patients who urgently need access to human support. Otherwise, healthcare organizations risk alienating patients/caregivers and losing revenue.
About Parlance
For over 25 years, Parlance has been a leader in the healthcare IT space. Parlance can be used to address a wide range of hospital call interaction needs. By utilizing conversational IVRs and IVAs, Parlance easily connects callers to the resources they need, answers FAQs, verifies callers, and handles many appointment management tasks. Callers speak in their normal voices, ask for what they need, and get to their preferred destinations.
Our conversational AI solutions accelerate patient access to care for hundreds of health systems across the United States by improving caller navigation and removing barriers to access. Healthcare consumers easily connect to people, information, and services they need, no matter the volume of patient demand.
By Annmarie Block
