As 2021 comes to a close, many leaders are looking for effective strategies to bring joy back to the careers of healthcare professionals in the new year. In a recent study, 75 percent of healthcare workers reported exhaustion, depression, sleep disorders, and PTSD (1). Although there is no quick fix to the growing burnout epidemic, streamlining clinical workflows can make a difference. Automating administrative tasks can save care teams nearly 3 hours a day and improve employee work-life satisfaction by 40 percent (2). Although numerous healthcare chatbot use cases are available today, five stand out that can significantly reduce the strain of everyday administrative tasks.
1. Curbside Check-In
The patient check-in process has needed an upgrade for quite some time. The lengthy task of filling out forms in the front office frequently creates bottlenecks leading to delays in care, frustrated patients, and stressed providers. Safety measures put in place since the pandemic began, such as social distancing, have only further complicated this process. Automating patient check-ins reduces the time it takes to prepare patients for their appointments. With curbside check-ins, patients can check in remotely and wait safely in their cars until it is time for their appointments to begin. Automating check-ins reduces staff workload and improves the flow of work for providers giving them more time to spend with patients.
2. Home Health Patient Intake
Enrolling patients into a home health or hospice program requires various forms, signatures, and documents to be collected. Traditionally this process required paper forms, phone calls, and fax machines. Organizations can now speed up this process and make it easier for patients and their caregivers to help them enroll with an intake chatbot. The chatbot can help deliver forms directly to the patient's phone and guide them through each step. The best intake chatbots can help providers track where patients are in the enrollment process so to further assist patients and caregivers who may be struggling. Streamlining patient intake reduces administrative work giving providers more time with their patients.
Demo Home Health Patient Intake Chatbot
3. Inclement Weather Rescheduling
Office closures due to inclement weather are inevitable, but a little preparedness can go a long way. It can take hours to call and reschedule appointments when unforeseen office closures occur. Enabling a healthcare chatbot designed to notify patients and assist them with rescheduling can significantly speed up the entire process. Healthcare chatbots can deliver closure notifications through SMS and guide patients through rescheduling. The most effective chatbots use conversational AI to engage patients without requiring an app. Streamlining notifications and rescheduling can improve the patient experience while reducing the workload of your administrative teams.
4. Pre-visit Telehealth Intake
Patient intake chatbots can help organizations improve telehealth experiences for both patients and providers. The secure exchange of patient information has been a challenge for many organizations during telehealth visits. Pre-visit intake chatbots can help collect the information providers need before a telehealth appointment begins. Intake chatbots can also be programmed to help patients test the effectiveness of their audio and video equipment to ensure the appointment runs smoothly.
5. Virtual Triage
Remote symptom checkers have become an incredibly useful tool for healthcare organizations today. Virtual triage can be used to prevent patient self-diagnosis, increase accessibility after hours, and improve the flow of patients. Healthcare chatbots designed for virtual triage can invite patients to make appointments and assist in evaluating their symptoms to determine the next best steps. Chatbots with deep learning APIs can assess whether patients need to schedule an in-person or telehealth visit. Implementing a virtual triage chatbot can help healthcare organizations reduce call volumes and better manage the flow of patients.
Finding the Right Digital Solution
Automation helps health leaders modernize clinical workflows to ease the burden of today's healthcare professionals. However, one-size-fits-all solutions are not the answer. The most effective strategies directly target workflow inefficiencies that tie up the time of care teams. Automating administrative tasks is one-way healthcare organizations can enhance clinical workflows to better support staff. Healthcare chatbots have also been effective in delivering patient education and for purposes such as patient monitoring.
For example, chatbots designed for post-op follow-up can support patients after surgical procedures. They can guide patients through the recovery process and escalate to staff when needed. Organizations can also customize a chatbot designed for patient engagement to support patients who have been diagnosed with anxiety or depression. To explore QliqSOFT's curated library of clinician-created chatbots designed to streamline clinical workflows, optimize resources, and increase patient engagement.
