Kyruus Blog

I had the pleasure of speaking to many of you this month in Boston at the 5th Annual Thought Leadership on Access Symposium (ATLAS) and I shared my own ideas on the customer experience. I shared my own personal stories of giving birth, of growing up with a dad who worked in the ER as a doctor for 35 years, and how today we are seeing the consumerization of healthcare. I met many of you and really enjoyed hearing how you work to create an improved patient experience for your healthcare clients. If you saw my closing keynote you know I believe customer experience is key in healthcare. The goal should be to create an experience that meets each customer’s needs in a personalized and convenient way. Systemness is a powerful way to join together the various aspects of healthcare to create a cohesive experience for customers.

Patient engagement and experience are top of mind for health system leaders. As healthcare consumers increasingly demand efficient and personalized care, the pressure on health systems increases to engage with patients in new ways. Impact Advisors recently reported that more than 80% of CIOs view improving patient engagement and experience as a chief goal¹, underscoring the growing recognition among industry leaders of the critical need to compete on convenience and access to care.

Did you know that over 84% of American adults saw a physician in 2016?¹ You would think for an industry that has such a significant impact, they would make things easy, efficient, and consumer-friendly for its users. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for most. Reflect on the last time you were able to call and book an appointment to see a doctor for yourself or someone in your care. How would you rate that experience? Did you wonder if there was a better and more accessible way to find care?

Tell us about the track you’re leading at ATLAS:

I’ll be leading the “Exploring New Frontiers of Patient Access” track, which is incredibly timely and important given the velocity of discussions I’ve been in with customers who are eager to push patient access boundaries at their health systems.

My track includes three sessions:

• New Revenue Streams & Opportunities for Health Systems in Venture Capital
• Expanding Access Beyond Hospital Walls: Alternative Sites of Care
• AI, Chatbots & Other Emerging Technologies
  
  

It is in the most difficult times in a person's life that an organization has the opportunity to step up and make a difference. This is especially true in health care. A consistent patient experience is the key to providing a premium care experience and building loyalty. When we don't do this, customers are often inconvenienced, or at worst, receive costly, inappropriate care.

Tell us about the track you’re leading at ATLAS:

The Driving Your Health System’s Digital Transformation track at this year’s ATLAS focuses on a topic that has been defined as the “use of technology to radically change the performance or reach of an enterprise,” per the widely recognized definition of MIT Sloan professor George Westerman. We will be covering topics ranging from how to introduce digital transformation initiatives into your organization, to physician engagement in the context of said initiatives, along with real narratives from leaders who have taken digital transformation journeys at their respective organizations.

In our recent webinar, The Changing Role of the Modern Access Center: Transitioning from Transaction to Experience, Sarah Kier, Director of Operations at Emory Healthcare, and Kelli Kessack, Director of Access and Engagement at USF Health described how they’re growing their organizations to expand access to care and deliver the ideal patient experience. During this webinar, they shared their experiences scaling their respective organizations to champion patient access and provider utilization.

The Clinical Summit is a new addition to the ATLAS program this year! Tell us more about it:

I am so pleased and excited to have the inaugural Clinical Summit precede ATLAS this year. The Summit has been designed as a forum to discuss some of the broader issues and necessary associated change management initiatives being navigated by clinical leaders in today’s healthcare landscape. It’s also a great opportunity for attendees to learn from one another, exchange ideas, and come away with both strategic and tactical insights that can be applied at their own organizations. We’ll hear from a variety of experts, from organizations both large and small, and learn from their experiences about what has worked, what hasn’t, and how they are continuing to drive towards success at their institutions.

Becoming the Go-To Source of Provider Information

A simple Google search of a provider name will reveal a number of digital health resources competing to share information that will attract patients. These sites cater to easy access to information, creating a snapshot of a provider’s practice so that consumers can quickly compare care options the same way they would a hairdresser or restaurant.

Tell us about the track you’re leading at ATLAS:

I am fortunate enough to be leading what I consider to be an extremely important and engaging track at ATLAS: Positioning Access as a Strategic Imperative. While many organizations are thinking about patient access, few are moving fast enough to keep up with the consumer-driven healthcare era.