The pandemic served as an accelerator of change for the healthcare industry, especially challenging the traditional mindset of how, where and when consumers could expect to access services. It fast-tracked the adoption of virtual care and spurred historic innovations against a background of waning consumer trust.
The crest of the “anywhere care” wave is upon us, and once experienced, there’s no going back for consumers. With innovations such as smartphones, apps, tablets, wearable tech, patient portals and AI, consumers have changed the way they want to interact with their healthcare providers and payers. And you must evolve your customer care to meet them where they are, in the channels they prefer.
Across industries, markets are widening beyond traditional healthcare organizations with the arrival of challengers and disruptors (innovators), and relying on basic-level customer service is no longer enough to meet customer expectations. And the healthcare industry is no different. No one side has all the relevant expertise and solutions necessary to deliver the CX consumers want — truly coordinated, seamless and at their convenience. Rather than competing against each other, traditional healthcare organizations and innovators have an opportunity to work together to fill the gaps in the industry’s lacking legacy systems and models.
Simplifying complex care journeys
According to Deloitte, traditional healthcare organizations (health systems and health plans) are moving to alternative care settings, stronger consumer engagement and improved use of data and technologies. And, to help traditional healthcare organizations transform the industry, many health innovators are focused on building business models around wellbeing and care delivery (such as digital medicine), data and platforms (such as AI-based predictive analytics platforms), and care enablement (such as personalized financing tools and access tools).16
Examples of cooperation are already happening in the U.S., where “one-stop shop” innovators in care management and care coordination are partnering with payers, providers and employers to simplify navigation of complex care journeys.17 This level of integration requires careful thought and planning around how healthcare contact centers can deliver an exceptional omnichannel CX that’s in lockstep with each stage of the consumer journey. Of course, this will take time.
Digital healthcare business owners considered customer experience — not perceived health benefits — to be the number one success factor for healthcare platforms.15
Patient-centered healthcare ecosystems
In the future of healthcare, there could be a new type of integrated healthcare ecosystem, where fragmented sites of care work with one another, where tech-enabled platforms allow data to be transferred and shared more easily, where clinical care is harmonized, and where patients, members and consumers can seamlessly transition from one part of their care journey to the next to improve their health and wellbeing.18 Working together, this is a real possibility. Just look at how far we’ve come in the last two years.
Source: McKinsey, “The next frontier of care delivery in healthcare,” mckinsey.com.
15 - Roland Berger, “The rise of healthcare platforms,” rolandberger.com. 16 - Deloitte, “The role of health services innovators in the future of health,” deloitte.com. 17 , 18 - McKinsey, “The next frontier of care delivery in healthcare,” mckinsey.com.