- Pramod Goel
- Jul 21, 2023
CX or Customer Experience has stormed into the medical tourism industry. Engaging patients virtually, such as using a mobile app to contact a doctor, has grown tremendously in recent times. Such seamless engagements have created extraordinary access to medical services globally and opened a new floodgate of options for patients.
In 2023, you must have the right plans to create an exceptional customer experience to win an international patient. To remain competitive, you have to seek innovative technologies increasingly to develop new patient experience and engagement strategies. This will also help you to deliver care in a more personalized way, which will further boost the patient experience.
Why is it Important to Improve Patient Experience?
It pays when your business walks in the customer’s shoes. CX is the differentiator that sets healthcare providers apart from the competition. According to a report, 75% of consumers are more likely to book an appointment at a clinic that knows their names, medical history and recommend solutions based on realistic preferences. So, the providers need to let the patients become more actively engaged across digital channels and provide solutions that fit patients’ specific needs. This will close the gaps in care and increase care outcomes.
Make Sure Patient’s Needs are Heard
While searching for treatment abroad, every patient has certain expectations. However, the expectations need to be realistic, but at the same time, the providers must ensure to understand patient desires and communicate effectively realistic treatment plans, costs, expectations that can be met. That is why offering online remote consultation is the key. When the patients can directly contact you and ask questions about the treatment and discuss other important things, they will get the right information. This will ensure the patients that their requirements are being heard and a solution can be offered with complete transparency. When there are transparency and trust, the experience will definitely improve.
Stress on Direct Patient-Provider Interaction
Customers don’t want third-party interference when they seek any service from the provider. This is more important when it comes to medical tourism. With the power of technology innovation, patients can now directly communicate with the clinic/doctor using their smartphone or laptop. There are a lot of doubts, queries and confusion in the minds of the patients, and if these are clarified/answered directly by the providers, it boosts their experience and builds trust.
Innovative Technology
Engaging patients virtually is the order of the day. It is extremely useful for patients to contact a doctor or clinic abroad directly using advanced modern technologies. Thus, providers need to put patients in the driver’s seat to initiate contact with innovative technologies such as direct chat, email, SMS, instant messaging and more.
Rethink Skills Development
You need to ensure you have the right people in the right department to provide a smooth experience to the patients. Having the right people not just means hiring staff having a mindset of service; rather, they must be able to go the extra mile to create a truly useful, memorable and positive experience to make the patients happy. They must have the right skills to address the issues of the patient and suggest a suitable solution. This will help the patients to take the correct decision and pack the bags for treatment abroad with complete information and education.
Address CX Management
As patients’ expectation is rising, healthcare providers need to take a page out of the playbook of retail on improving customer experience. Just like retail, the journey of a patient extends from the initial search for care to billing, payment and follow-up. Each of these steps can be daunting in their own way. It is important to employ proactive solutions for addressing customer experience management using CX-related technologies. Include specific systems that can help in the personalization of patient data, medical records, requirements, and other related details.
Technology has revolutionized the medical tourism industry. So, it is important to redefine your approach towards patient experience. Utilize innovative technology tools like direct chat, AI, instant messaging, etc. and provide real-time information to the patients. This will result in improved transparency and lead to better customer experience.
PlacidWay is a leading medical tourism marketplace that always focuses on the advancements of innovative technologies. Explore the power of the digital revolution in medical tourism and to improve the patient experience.
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