22nd July 2024
There’s a vicious circle when it comes to handling patient communication in the NHS – making more effective use of the data that Trusts hold about patients holds the key to breaking the chain:
So why does this happen? Not having a single and contextually relevant view of a patient available at the point of receiving calls or messages is a major issue for Trusts.
This means that patient information is often scattered across different systems and departments, making it difficult for NHS staff to access key information to answer patient enquiries quickly and productively. This creates stress and anxiety for both patients and staff.
This lack of a single view of patient data can significantly lower productivity and create overall inefficiencies in the healthcare system. Patients have to repeat questions multiple times to different agents, and to chase answers and updates. This leads to frustration and potentially complaints.
A patient calls in to change their appointment type from face to face to telephone or video.
The patient calls in to speak to an agent. The booking centre agent needs to ask the back-office service if the request can be granted. For a lot of Trusts that would involve sending an email via Outlook. Of course, there is no tracking for this. The email may not get picked up if the recipient is on leave and if they do reply, the agent themselves may then be off and not see the response in a suitable time.
With no tracking and reporting, these queries will be left open, with no clear status update or next steps defined. Typically, if the patient does not hear anything, they will call up again, now feeling frustrated and anxious. And the whole experience happens again. Or, the patient having not heard anything, may just assume the appointment has been changed to a telephone appointment, so does not attend, leading to an unnecessary DNA.
The NHS offers a clinical service that is second to none. But patient experience is made up of all interactions with the hospital, and if the administrative experience is poor the patient will feel let down, frustrated and unhappy. Before the patient is dealt with clinically, the admin functions are the face of the hospital. This is where the true first impressions are created. And we all know that a bad first impression is difficult to shift and can colour all subsequent feelings.
Poor service on the front line can lead to complaints which have to be dealt with by NHS management, taking more valuable time and resource. This creates a vicious circle of low productivity and reactive activity.
“To address these challenges, the NHS needs to invest in technologies that enable a single view of meaningful patient administrative data and improve communication among departments across hospitals. A system where calls and subsequent queries can be logged and tracked with relevant SLAs and dashboards in place. A closed loop where the patient journey is complete.”
John Clarke
Head of Patient Solutions – Health, Netcall
By implementing solutions such as our PRM solution, the NHS can improve productivity and outcomes by reducing the number and duration of calls coming into the booking centre. This reduces errors in handling enquiries, and ultimately enhances the overall patient experience.
In his latest blog post, Richard Higginbotham discusses how many Trusts are having to take a proactive approach to embrace tech, such an automation and patient engagement portals, to address the mounting waiting lists.
90% of outpatient appointments require some form of diagnostic test, so any delay in these tests can lead to postponed treatments. This impacts patient outcomes. Against the backdrop of waiting lists of 7.6 million, diagnostic performance emerges as a critical concern.
To optimise the outpatient pathway in the NHS, it is crucial to focus on solutions that streamline communication, empower patients and ultimately improve the overall healthcare experience. By implementing innovative technology and tools, hospitals can better manage referrals, appointment bookings and post-appointment support.
Through strategic implementation of technology, forward-thinking leaders have the power to transform the enduring struggle of patients waiting for healthcare services on the NHS. We explore the pressing need for patients to “wait well”
Keep up with regular news from Netcall – you’ll hear about cut-through process automation and communications solutions to help you achieve your business goals faster.
Bringing together a single actionable view of patient data and back office trackable workflows for exceptional patient service. That’s the power of Outpatient PRM.