In another exciting podcast of the Digital Health Talk of the Marktplatz Gesundheitswesen (Here's the link to the German Podcast) Alfred Angerer talks to the Digital Manager of the Switzerland-based Schulthess Klinik, Stefan Lienhard, about the digital patient journey.
In the interview, the patient journey is viewed as a map of process phases and patient contact points. The resulting overview shows when, where and how patients come into contact with service providers and what the patient needs per contact point are. Questions and
possible approaches during the different treatment phases are shown
Questions, ambiguities or simply concerns from the patients' point of view were mentioned. A small selection::
"Where can I get relevant information about different offers from different service providers?"
"How should I prepare for an interview or treatment appointment?"
"Who will look after me while I wait for treatment?"
"When is the discharge date so family members can come get me?"
"How will I be cared for after treatment? How do I make sure I don't miss follow-up appointments, medication?"
It becomes clear: When looking in detail at the needs of patients and service providers, the question "what is gimmickry and where does real added value for patients arise?
Added Value for Patients
As mentioned in the interview, the biggest pain of patients is usually that forms and important information are asked twice or three times during the treatment. At the same time, the patient herself should have important information at hand at all times, remember oral instructions and correctly implement or schedule written information. Missing data in the course of treatment not only annoys patients and generates waiting times, it also increases the risk of treatment.
Added Value for Health Care Providers
For a sustainably successful business case, mobile solutions or online forms must be integrated into the hospital systems. Stefan Lienhard as Digital Manager states that he wants to prevent the proliferation of apps in connection with mobile solutions. Especially in order to simplify the handling of numerous different apps both for his own employees and for patients. Apps and services in ONE solution should be the goal.
What heyPatient offers
We develop a cross-provider, system-integrated solution with a patient app so that you can send appointment invitations and information directly from your internal planning systems to your patients' smartphones. Via app you can provide additional information per treatment phase in a timely manner and, for example, remind your patients 3 days before the appointment to update personal data or to organize a caregiver for the return journey.
Your patients have appointments, important information and instructions at their fingertips and can share them with relatives and caregivers as needed.
Expertise for Digital Patient Journeys
We would be pleased to accompany you on the way to the vision of the digital patient journey.
Our Patient Journey specialists will be happy to show you important aspects from the perspective of your customers. If required, we offer support in the internal implementation and the necessary process changes.
Would you like to learn more? Please contact us - we look forward to the exchange with you.