Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1058375
22 Executive Briefing Sponsored by: F ewer and fewer patients today accept a healthcare experience marked by inconvenience and frustration. As patient-centric care models become more popular and consumer access to provider information expands, hospitals and health systems must reboot the patient experience. To create a convenient experience, providers must eliminate any unnecessary friction during patient interactions. This executive brief will examine changing patient needs, sources of friction in the patient experience, and how healthcare organizations can go about reforming the elements of experience that are in greatest need of improvement. Emerging patient needs and trends As high deductible health plans become more prevalent, patients assume a greater financial stake in their care and, in turn, are likely to seek more convenient healthcare options. Organizations have turned to various technology platforms to improve their interactions with patients, but technologies deployed in healthcare must enable the same seamless experiences consumers encounter in other industries. In a consumer-driven healthcare market, patients are drawn to healthcare providers that offer effective, convenient and transparently priced care. This means that convenience and ease of use matter a whole lot in the current healthcare environment. But, despite healthcare's efforts to offer easier, user-friendly processes and digital tools, many healthcare organizations still experience unnecessary friction during the most basic consumer interactions, such as scheduling medical appointments and shopping for a health plan. The push to value-based care models and subsequent rise of consumerism in healthcare are not going away anytime soon. Thus, competition for patients in healthcare will only become fiercer, and the organizations that best meet patient demands will more effectively attract and retain patients. Organizations should understand their patients' wants, needs and frustrations to render a satisfactory experience — or else they could get left behind. 5 friction categories to know NTT DATA's Customer Friction Factor SM — a quantitative methodology for evaluating friction within a customer experience — helps organizations conduct evaluations from the customer's perspective. After completing the assessment, organizations can determine the exact point when a customer decided to disengage. The methodology scores each online patient touchpoint — higher scores indicate higher levels of friction. The ease of use for each interaction is measured across five categories: 1. Engagement: Measures how the company interacts with the customer, including all the different portal handoffs between organizations and people. 2. Process: Measures the number of customer-driven steps within a single process. 3. Technology: Measures how many keystrokes and pages are required to complete a single process, as well as how long it takes those pages to load. 4. Knowledge: Measures the availability, accuracy and utilization of information the company offers consumers. 5. Ecosystem: Measures the organizational integration and knowledge sharing among third parties. This assessment allows organizations to identify the root causes of friction and devise an actionable plan for improvement. The solution also allows for continuous monitoring and reporting on the success of improvement efforts. The following case studies provide insights into how NTT DATA's Customer Friction Factor SM can help organizations revise and improve online processes as well as identify other aspects of a patient's care journey ripe for improvement. Case study 1: Evaluating health plans NTT DATA used its Customer Friction Factor SM methodology to assess the shopping and enrollment process for 42 different Medicare Advantage health plans from major Frictionless healthcare: How a better user experience can turn your organization into a market leader