Use Technology to Enhance Patient Experiences

Explore the demand for solutions that improve patient-facing processes.

Analysing the use of a healthcare system is not only an indicator of how healthy a community is but also an indicator of the system’s health. While per capita doctor visits vary by country, many Europeans see a doctor between four and six times per year. Because interactions are limited, healthcare providers must deliver the best patient experiences with each visit. Reducing friction with appointment scheduling, accessing test results, and communicating with providers encourages patients to choose the healthcare system for routine and emergency care.

Forward-thinking medical organisations use technology to ease patients’ pain points and increase satisfaction. Focus on three areas where your clients can use technology to create better patient experiences, faster diagnoses and more personalised treatment plans.

Enhanced Patient Engagement

The patient-provider relationship remains crucial in encouraging patients to return for care. Using technology can help patients avoid awkward telephone systems for booking appointments, filling out long, repetitive paper forms, and challenges communicating with providers between visits.

Patient portals integrated with electronic health records can enable patients to access their health information, schedule appointments, and send messages to providers. As a result, demand for these solutions is increasing, and the European market is expected to grow from USD 837 million in 2019 to USD 3 billion in 2027, an 18 percent CAGR. One reason for this growth is patients’ preference for using portals. A study published in MedRxiv found highly favourable patient reactions to portals across the board.

Intake kiosks are another valuable tool to shorten wait times and offer convenience as patients check in. Unmanned kiosks allow patients to enter their own data and alert providers to their arrival at the clinic. These devices also ease the workflow for staff, which is especially helpful during staffing shortages. These benefits also drive growth in this market, with a 12.49 percent CAGR projected from 2022 to 2028, exceeding USD 1.81 billion at the end of the forecast period.

In addition, healthcare systems can use technology to enhance in-patient experiences. For example, hospitals can use bedside tablets to educate and entertain patients. Some solutions also allow patients to order food from the hospital cafeteria. These solutions can lead to more informed patients, who tend to be more engaged and aware of managing their conditions and minimise return trips to the hospital.

Faster Diagnosis

While speed must be secondary to accuracy, the time it takes from seeking care to receiving a diagnosis matters to patients. The sooner they have answers, the sooner they can begin treatment – and the less time they spend wondering and building anxiety.

Machine learning (ML) solutions are emerging as valuable tools for physicians to deliver diagnoses faster. ML can identify structure and patterns, and using historical information, patient data, and images, they can help healthcare providers determine conditions more quickly.

While still in its nascent stage, and with much more research needed, this technology opens up possibilities like catching disease processes earlier, shortening wait times between testing and notifying patients, and lightening some of the burdens on staff. 

More Personalized Treatment Plans

Artificial intelligence (AI) also has the potential to contribute to more personalised medical treatment. For example, AI models have the potential to allow physicians to factor in available research, the patient’s medical history, and their expertise to inform their treatment decisions for a specific patient. Sometimes treatment options exist but aren’t considered or are overlooked. With the ability to comb through, sort, and aggregate vast amounts of data, AI could help doctors find the most appropriate treatments for each patient.

Your Role

Although technology solutions providers can’t directly impact patient experiences, they can provide the tools to healthcare organisations to make a difference in people’s lives. The demand for these solutions will help you grow your business while you help health systems use technology to improve patient engagement.