Let’s face it: the United States healthcare system isn’t always easy to navigate. Add social determinants of health (SDOH) to the mix, and the task typically becomes even more difficult.
These factors, including education, transportation and language and literacy skills, account for 30 to 55 percent of people’s health outcomes. That’s because they often create inequities in access to a wide range of social and economic benefits, such as housing, education, wealth and employment — and healthcare.
The educational background of our Clinical Success Manager, Sarah Erickson, MPH, CPH, in public health and experience in diverse healthcare settings give her insight and expertise into how SDOH impact communication with patients. It’s the impetus for her passion for and commitment to building meaningful connections and improving the healthcare experience for all.
Experience in the healthcare industry is crucial to creating solutions that alleviate administrative burdens. We recently sat down with Sarah to get her input on what obstacles her healthcare provider clients encounter and how artificial intelligence (AI) is helping overcome them.
What Do Providertech Clients Tell You Are Their Biggest Challenges?
I’ve heard recently from clients that they’re looking for ways to be more creative and innovative in their outreach to patients. Our clients care about their patients’ experience, and that care drives them to improve communication. They’re committed to supporting their patients but realize that there are limitations to what they can do, especially with inadequate staffing.
Although engaging patients via text messaging is still effective, our clients are curious and excited to explore other opportunities for outreach. They’re not moving away from text messaging but rather diversifying the way they communicate with patients and providing different options to match varying preferences.
What Do They Cite as the Areas Most Needing Technology Solutions to Address?
A common question asked by current and prospective clients is “How can we use technology solutions to communicate effectively on a larger scale and better support patients in navigating their care?”
A front desk staff member, nurse, or provider can only do so much at once! These team members are battling priorities, from checking a patient in to answering a ringing phone, making an outbound appointment reminder call and giving dedicated attention to the patient standing right in front of them. Healthcare practices are seeking out technology to alleviate some of that administrative burden to allow them the time to provide personalized quality care and communication
When our clients come to us, it’s not just about getting those basic administrative tasks out of the way. It centers on how they can utilize technology to go above and beyond for their patients and provide them with the best experience.
If the administrative pieces are in place and well managed, healthcare providers can think in more detail about how to better communicate with their patients and increase access to personalized care. Patients prefer personalization, and delivering it results in increased satisfaction for them and the provider staff.
What Do You Hear Providertech Clients Discussing About AI Use in Healthcare?
AI is one of the most searched terms on Google, and it’s definitely on clients’ minds. They are asking great questions about AI and want to make informed decisions when implementing it in their practices.
I think it’s important for healthcare providers interested in AI to ask questions to understand the process behind it. If they are expecting their patients to adopt AI, they need to have confidence and trust in the process as well. It’s our responsibility at Providertech to be transparent about our AI platform, which gives our clients confidence in how it works and offers insight into the thought we put into building our AI agents. With this confidence in the process, clients are imagining creative ways to incorporate AI to streamline their workflows and create new opportunities for outreach to their patients.
What Advantages Does AI Offer Your Clients?
We’ve been intentional in building a solution that keeps the preferences and benefits of clients and their patients at the forefront. The Providertech.ai solution is an innovative and useful technology solution that has the potential to expand and strengthen outreach to patients in new and creative ways.
An AI agent can be trained on the importance of cancer screenings and direct a patient on how to complete an at-home cancer screening kit. The AI agent can be available any time of the day to answer questions about HIV prevention or help a patient with inquiries about how to prepare for their appointment or where to park. Providertech’s AI agents can assist diverse groups of patients with timely access to personalized health education and care.
Providertech.ai also offers the opportunity to partner with a team of professionals who care about patients and increase access to timely, relevant and life-changing care. We want our solution to support and enhance the patients’ relationship with their provider or healthcare practice. Our team brings a unique perspective and partnership that differentiates us from others.
What Does Responsible AI Mean to You?
Especially in healthcare, responsible AI is rooted in our duty to patients to safeguard their information and protect their privacy. That’s of the utmost importance, but it’s also about safeguarding the patient’s experience and how they feel about their healthcare. Use of AI in healthcare should be safe and fair and ultimately promote the wellbeing of patients while seeking to minimize any negative consequences.
The Providertech.ai solution isn’t going to replace human connection. It’s just one tool in a toolbox to enable healthcare practices to expand and strengthen patient communication and outreach.
For more valuable insights from Sarah, follow her on LinkedIn, and learn more about Providertech’s cutting-edge AI solutions. Also, check out a demo of our Providertech.ai Operations AI agent to find out how your practice can reduce its administrative burden and improve patient communication — without adding more staff.
