Why a modern network is essential when delivering omnichannel healthcare

Patients and providers are using an increasing number of digital technologies to improve the quality, convenience and speed of care. From patient portals and mobile apps to text messaging, voice, chatbots and web chats — the delivery of healthcare is now an omnichannel affair.

An omnichannel approach to healthcare allows individuals to control their health and communicate with providers on their own terms via their preferred channels. It also improves the patient personalization experience.

After all, personalization starts with letting patients select the best communication channels for them. These days many people no longer respond to phone calls — they just let them go straight to voicemail. If that’s the case, it might be better to contact them through text or email. Likewise, some patients prefer the convenience of telehealth and seek virtual care that they wouldn’t otherwise, while others will only seek care when it’s offered in person. 

Providing communications and care according to patient preferences can improve patient outcomes and offer a better experience, tailored to the way they want to interact with your practice. Different patients will respond to different communication styles, so if you want to fully engage all your patients in their healthcare journey, your practice needs to be able to meet them where they are. 

The first step to empowering patients to manage their complete healthcare journey is creating a compelling digital front door, which includes all the technologies your patients use to interact with your practice.

Exceeding patient expectations and omnichannel technology demands

Patients expect their healthcare providers to deliver the same seamless technological experiences they get as consumers of any other service. They expect to connect on any channel they want — and it’s up to healthcare providers to deliver that experience. Whether it’s unreliable WiFi coverage, a lack of bandwidth needed to stream content while waiting for care during a hospital stay, or seeing that their provider can’t access their health data quickly because of bandwidth issues, these types of experiences will negatively impact the patient experience.

Even if your practice seems to have adequate bandwidth today, it’s important to consider how your bandwidth needs will evolve over time. Today’s applications must often facilitate video and transmit large high-definition files. These demands are leading to rapidly increasing bandwidth requirements, making it essential that your network infrastructure allows you to scale as your bandwidth needs inevitably increase.

A modern cloud-enabled network incorporating secure SD-WAN technology allows you to either access a new network or transition to a hybrid network architecture that can integrate your existing network. A cloud-enabled network can adapt to the evolving needs of your organization and handle large, complex data and applications, as well as support thousands of distributed workers. It will also provide connectivity to multiple cloud service providers simultaneously, which is essential for any practice that wants to deliver a robust omnichannel digital front door experience to patients.

Simplifying network management across your practice

To simplify network management when supporting omnichannel experiences, consider teaming with a technology partner that offers managed services. Tailored managed or co-managed services can help simplify operations while enhancing the patient experience. Recent research by HIMSS showed that many of the benefits of managed services directly support the patient experience. For example, survey respondents said the benefits they experienced by using managed services included:

• Acceleration of digital health initiatives like telehealth.
• Improved ability to meet/respond to patient requirements.
• Higher end-user satisfaction.
   

Via improved wireless access, managed services can help support patient experience priorities by enabling a better focus on the patient experience. In addition, managed services help to facilitate remote hosting of patient care applications.

Services like Managed WiFi, for example, extend the clinic beyond the physical walls. Patients can handle preliminary tasks for appointments, such as check-ins, from parking lots. When patients are in your clinic Managed WiFi enables a fast, reliable internet connection, giving clinicians and patients access to a secure network — without needing additional equipment.

A trusted managed services partner can help you configure systems and devices to prioritize, modify, and manage bandwidth allocations. This way you can ensure that clinicians’ ability to access electronic medical records (EMR) or view high-definition images is prioritized, rather than allowing streaming video in the waiting area to gobble up bandwidth.

Another key benefit of using managed services is security. Managed Network Edge services simplify deploying, securing, managing and scaling reliable internet access and networking at single or multiple locations.

Deliver the omnichannel experience your patients expect

Patients have a wealth of choices when it comes to which healthcare provider they want to use. If your practice isn’t focused on omnichannel experiences and patient personalization, patients will seek care elsewhere. In fact, 64% of patients say they would consider switching primary care doctors for better technology. Make your practice stand out on patient experience by ensuring you have a network that can support an omnichannel experience for patients and your staff.

Learn more about how Spectrum Enterprise can help you modernize and manage your network to support omnichannel healthcare experiences.