by PatientMatters' Executive Team
The year 2020 was a year filled with uncertainty, resilience, and adaptation for all industries, but particularly for healthcare. As we finish out the first week of the New Year, the PatientMatters' executive team share their insights and predictions for what's to come in 2021.
David Shelton,
Chief Executive Officer
As 2020 comes to a close, we look ahead to a continued year of transition. Hospitals and health systems will need to re-evaluate their pre-COVID-19 strategies and operations to reinforce revenue streams, improve operating margins, and normalize cash flow. The patient experience will take top priority as digital patient engagement will expand to optimize every patient experience—from empowering optimal financial and clinical outcomes, to meeting patient expectations, to inspiring and retaining staff.
Patient pre-service engagement strategies will be vital as patient fear, anxiety, and apprehension surrounding receiving care amid the pandemic environment lingers. Organizations will look to fine-tune the patient care journey through state-of-the-art automation technologies and workflows that are dynamic enough to adjust to environmental factors as well as changing regulations. For revenue cycle management, digital touchpoints such as online self-scheduling and patient price transparency, mobile pre-registration and check-in, and web and mobile payments will empower patients to navigate healthcare in ways they are accustomed to in their everyday lives.
The key to success in 2021 will be adaptability. With the ever-changing nature of the healthcare industry, it is more imperative today than ever before for healthcare organizations to be designed for adaptability. Healthcare organizations that incorporate a flexible infrastructure to support the shifting healthcare environment and foster patient-friendly engagement will achieve a more efficient and flexible future.
Gordon Jaye
Vice President, Hospital Operations
Healthcare delivery systems struggle to maximize their up-front collection opportunities on most days. With the additional challenges of COVID-19, issues affecting up-front collections have been amplified. Many patients have lost their jobs, and thus, their health insurance coverages, had hours reduced or left their jobs voluntarily to accommodate familial needs such as remote learning and child-raising. Identifying costs upfront and placing patients into appropriate pathways helps relieve additional financial stressors and void surprise bills.
In 2021, patient out-of-pocket costs will continue to grow and it will be a burden for most patients as well as for providers. To maximize opportunities on collections, and to provide superior patient financial experiences, providers will need to implement forward-leaning patient-centric workflows such as the Pre-Access (Service) Center, invest in patient-facing technologies to identify the cost of care, and deliver excellent customer service. One of the lessons learned from COVID-19 is to be imaginative with which staff qualify for remote work. Many of our clients have either sustained pre-covid-19 results or improved on them simply by relocating their staff to home offices. In 2021, this will continue to expand.
Judy Griffith
Regional Vice President, Sales
As we all know, 2020 has been a challenging year for not only healthcare providers but business partners as well. Revenues were significantly impacted by the stoppage of elective surgeries for several months and the hesitation of patients to visit a facility for care due to the fear of contracting COVID-19. As a result, healthcare organizations were not able to move forward with planned expenditures for technology and services. This directly impacted revenue of business partners.
With the planned widespread distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine and a higher level of optimism for 2021, hospital revenues will rebound, along with the revenue of business partners. This will most likely occur in the 2nd to 3rd Quarter of 2021. We should also see in-person networking events take place in the 3rd Quarter which has been sorely missed by all.
There is well-deserved optimism for 2021 and will be greeted with open arms.
Morna Campbell
Executive Director, Human Resources
Human Resources has confronted more challenges than ever in 2020 and will face a challenging 2021, as the economic realities of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to impact us. As a majority female organization, we’re anticipating recruiting and retention challenges in 2021 as changes with schooling and childcare persist.
Prospective employees will be seeking to work with employers who are mindful in regards to social concerns. In 2021 HR will need to focus on diversity, inclusion, and equity. While 2021 will not be smooth sailing, after 2020, HR is now prepared and ready to deal with anything.
Cynthia Eden
Executive Director, Advocacy Services
2020 has been a difficult year for the nation, and especially for those who support our uninsured populations. The COVID-19 pandemic created unique challenges for healthcare providers, government agencies, and especially for patient advocacy groups who work to provide government assistance to the uninsured who are eligible. Healthcare providers were suddenly facing an influx of COVID-19 patients and the hospitals’ payer mix shifted. In many cases, agencies that support the self-pay population had to close their offices to the public and shift workers to remote locations. Advocacy groups were challenged to meet the new demands of an already stretched and changing healthcare system as well as work with a government support system that was also being hit hard by the changes due to COVID-19.
2021 brings hope to those of us working with the uninsured, but challenges linger. The ability of advocacy groups to work with patients “face to face” may be impacted for many months to come. Healthcare and our nation are being pushed to move forward and develop additional ways to communicate. To accomplish patient satisfaction and meet healthcare financial demands, the industry has begun to utilize and perfect the use of a mix of enhanced technologies. Increased communications before care using pre-access technology to communicate with as many patients as is possible will become routine in 2021.
The utilization of text messaging and alert technology to contact patients at all stages of care will increase as the technology to do so in a HIPAA compliant way is perfected. Utilizing call centers to communicate with patients before and or after they have received their care will continue to provide more convenient times and ways to interact with the patient. Advocacy groups will continue to communicate with patients “face to face” when it is possible, but given the changes in healthcare due to COVID-19, we are embracing new technologies that will provide our advocacy teams with additional and better tools to keep our patients engaged with us so we can successfully obtain coverage for them when possible.
Erin Haynie,
Executive Director, Marketing
As healthcare marketers, we’re used to constantly pivoting, re-adjusting, and fine-tuning activities to tailor to the ever-evolving healthcare industry. The global pandemic, however, has turned the status quo on its head. Customer behaviors and needs have shifted dramatically and company budgets have been altered. As a result, the need for marketing adaptation has accelerated.
As marketers, we’ve learned a lot this past year and those learning lessons will serve us well as we jump into 2021. With this in mind, the marketing strategies and innovations for 2021 will continue to focus on digital programs that expand relationship-based strategies that are personalized, quantifiable, and can be deployed rapidly to break through the online noise.
Digital marketing activities such as email, search, social media, virtual events (sponsored and hosted in-house), videos, and streaming content optimized for voice search and featured snippets will boost visibility to ensure customers don’t just see your organization, but they also remember your organization.
Instead of promotional focused content, marketers will create ‘no strings attached’ content that is helpful and doesn’t ask its audience for anything in return. The year 2021 is the year for healthcare marketers to make their organizations more discoverable by shifting focus to online marketing channels while adhering to their goals and activating creativity, flexibility, and open-mindedness.
Marcia Leighton,
Executive Director, Client Services
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the healthcare industry to confront one of its greatest struggles, change. COVID-19 forced healthcare to embrace technology that it has been denying for years. Technology like telemedicine, virtual check-ins, and digital document uploads have been around for many years, healthcare has just been hesitant to embrace it. Add in AI, machine learning, and RPA Technology, and healthcare is on the cusp of finally embracing technology.
While healthcare has dipped its toes into this end of the pool, they have been hesitant to fully embrace everything that is out there, they no longer have that option as patients have received a taste of the luxury that technology brings, and will not accept healthcare returning to what it was before COVID-19. I expect to see a merge of conveniences that Amazon/Walmart/Door Dash/InstaCart have brought to their consumers while also seeing more of the Amazon Health vision becoming more of a reality in the next year plus.
LaTonia Roussell
Executive Director, Patient Services
The most comprehensive call center strategy is struggling with the 2020 challenges brought on by COVID-19. Patients face unemployment and being uninsured at an alarming rate. Using call center technology to reach out to such a large number of patients helps to strive towards closing such gap. Using contact center tools offers the ability to locate patients to assist with applying for medical coverage such as Medicaid.
Also assisting patients with payment arrangements at an amount that helps them manage during these trying times is a way to help the patient and the facility. For those who are not able to set up arrangements, the ability to apply for other programs may be available. The use of electronic technology is also used to help minimize the processing time. While we all hope these challenging times pass soon, having the tools and ability to help others is the best way to offer customer service to patients and the facilities.
Bert Kellerman
Director, Software Development
Empathy will be the key to a successful business in 2021. 2020 saw the rapid deployment of automation and digitization, including chatbots and any other form of automated conversations with customers. An over-abundance of these technologies will put companies at risk of being a commodity with little or no differentiation from their competitors. There is a gap that will get wider and wider. That gap is the distance between the customer’s automated experience and the customer’s human-to-human experience. No doubt customers want and expect ease, convenience, self-service solutions, and other concepts that don’t need human-to-human interaction. However, the less contact a customer has with the company, the less opportunity for the emotional connection that drives customer loyalty.
Customers have embraced self-service solutions and digital selling experiences through intuitive and easy-to-use websites. When something doesn’t go right, customers are reaching out to these companies. More than ever, empathy is at the root of a successful human-to-human interaction, and when you combine that with someone who is knowledgeable and solves the problem or answers the question, you have a winning combination. As many employees are moving to a virtual, work-from-home experience, empathy plays a role as they may feel isolated and anxious about the future.
Ready to maximize your hospital's Patient Access? Learn how here.
