Updated October 20, 2020
This article was originally published in August of 2019.
Healthcare institutions face a unique challenge when it comes to providing a seamless patient experience. When patients attempt to contact a provider, they are often faced with a complex interactive voice response.
In a new era of COVID-19, the patient experience has drastically changed. Gone are the days of packed waiting rooms, or walk-in appointments. Now, more than ever, it is crucial that healthcare providers utilize a solution that not only offers a positive experience, but also integrates seamlessly into their CRM.
Plus, Protected Health Information (PHI) is protected by HIPAA, so only authorized parties can share the content of an electronic health record (EHR) – and only to other authorized parties. When dealing with an IVR the result is a tarnished patient experience. Calls are lengthy as they are routed through multiple agents. Costs increase as the average handle time (AHT) for each call increases.
Finding a way for contact center agents to improve patient service delivery and reduce the time needed to give patients’ answers is essential to providing an excellent patient experience.
Enter EDCi’s EHRConnect.
“EHRConnect is the information technology backbone for your EHR system. This cutting-edge technology will connect your contact center software with Epic, saving your agents time while improving the patient experience. CRM systems can be costly and require agents to go to multiple places to find the patient information they need. EHRConnect combines the contact center functionality and the patient history you need in one convenient location.”
EHRs, Epic, And EHRConnect
EHR
An electronic health record, or EHR, includes not only a digital record of a patient’s medical and treatment history, but also a broader view of a patient’s care. For a more nuanced and detailed definition, visit “What is an electronic health record (EHR)” at healthit.gov.
While EHRs are essential in today’s digital healthcare technology scene, accessing and utilizing them effectively – especially in the voice space – can be a challenge. Having access to the EHR at the first point of contact, likely a phone call, allows the patient to bypass routine questions such as name, date of birth, allergies, and focus on the reason they are calling. This not only saves time, but also frustration, and ensures that details don’t get lost in the process.
Epic
Epic is one of the most widely used software applications by healthcare organizations – and patients – across the United States. Community hospitals, retail clinics, integrated delivery networks, independent practices, academic medical centers, rehab centers, and hospice providers are just some of the organizations using Epic today.
Patients experience Epic through the well-known patient portal, MyChart. This portal connects patients and their families with their doctors, enabling e-visits, record access, appointment scheduling, billing, and more.
The Problem With A Simple CRM: A Patient-Centric Experience
Customer relationship management (CRM) systems are a necessity for many institutions. They provide easy management of a business’ contacts, allowing the sharing of customer data and interactions.
Unfortunately, most CRMs come up short when it comes to healthcare. The layered complexities of HIPAA, PHI, and an EHR – not to mention the fact that patients require a different experience than a typical consumer – leaves the CRM experience lacking in ease and sophistication.
EDCi’s EHRConnect bypasses these complexities with a direct EPIC integration, improving the patient experience and streamlining contact center performance in one simple-to-use software application.
How EHRConnect Solves The Contact Center HealthTech Dilemma
EDCi’s EHRConnect platform elevates the healthcare contact center experience. The costly and time-consuming nature of using regular CRM requires agents to access multiple applications to access patient information while on a call with a patient is eliminated with EHRConnect, EHRConnect connects the contact center software to Epic, creating a single source of truth for information, as well as allowing the call center agent to stay within a closed system.
EDCI’s EHRConnect reduces average handle time, improves patient experience, reduces average speed of answer, creates a seamless agent experience, and offers proactive communications that can improve healthcare outcomes.
Features Create Seamless Patient Experience
EHRConnect uses screen pops to provide critical information to agents, saving 30 seconds or more per call. This also reduces the opportunity for errors and removes the need to ask patients to repeat information multiple times.
Agents use authentication to have the caller’s information at their fingertips before they even pick up the line. Agents are better prepared to handle the call and find a solution for the patient.
Think of the many reasons a patient may call a healthcare practice. Here are just a few:
- Billing Inquiries
- Ask a health question
- Speak to a nurse
- Seek clarification
- Provide payment
- Cancel/reschedule appointments
- Confirm appointment preparatory actions
EHRConnect offers self-service options, connecting patients to the right information as quickly as possible. In addition, the callback feature allows the system to generate a call to the first person on the waiting list in the event of an appointment cancellation or reschedule appointments automatically, improving scheduling and reducing wasted time by staff.
Healthcare institutions must not only pay attention to PHI compliance, but they also must adhere to PCI compliance standards. EHRConnect starts and stops call and screen recordings when patients provide credit card information.
Using EHRConnect For Your Contact Center
Our contact center experts are ready to help you implement EHRConnect in your contact center today. Sign up for our demo days and see EHRConnect in action.
Like what you read?
Contact us today to discuss EDCI’s EHRConnect Epic Integration.
About Mindsight
Mindsight, a Chicago IT services provider, is an extension of your team. Our culture is built on transparency and trust, and our team is made up of extraordinary people – the kinds of people you would hire. We have one of the largest expert-level engineering teams delivering the full spectrum of IT services and solutions, from cloud to infrastructure, collaboration to contact center. Our customers rely on our thought leadership, responsiveness, and dedication to solving their toughest technology challenges.