Historically, tech support in a hospital system or healthcare provider was viewed largely as a back-office function. Today, investment in quality support is highly strategic given the complexity of electronic health record systems, the proliferation of provider and patient-facing technologies, and heightened patient experience expectations aligning more closely with their expectations as consumers. To make my point, I want to share the following story.
Last summer, a friend we’ll call James who lives in a major metropolitan area, developed an orthopedic problem and went to his primary care doctor for help. His primary care physician referred him to an orthopedic specialist who was the recognized expert. The specialist, however, was affiliated with a separate and competing health system.
James followed his primary care doctor’s advice and made an appointment with the specialist. He was told by the administrative staff of the health system that to confirm the appointment, he had to set up a patient portal account. Of course, James already had another patient portal set up with his “home” health system, the one with which his primary care doctor was affiliated (many of us can relate to having multiple patient portals with our various caregivers.)
James encountered challenges in his attempt to set up an account in the unfamiliar patient portal and called the patient support line for help. Several calls to patient support, and several hours later, James was still unsuccessful. Ultimately, James gave up. He returned to his primary care doctor for his next best recommendation, this time with a doctor in his “home” system.
While I am happy to say James’ orthopedic problem was resolved, the reputation of the other system was damaged, revenue was lost, and the health system missed out on a prime opportunity to make James, who is fully insured, a new patient.
We all know the financial and reputational challenges facing many health systems today. Poor tech support, whether patient-facing or otherwise, is a terrible reason to exacerbate those challenges. You can help your patients avoid the experience James had, and at the same time grow revenue and reputation.
Learn more about how HCTec delivers high quality patient portal support.