Kyruus Blog

This blog was originally published on Cerner.com on Feb. 19, 2020.

Estimated read time: 3 minutes

Key takeaways

• As consumers, more of us rely on our own research to find new health care providers.
• Health systems need comprehensive digital strategies to meet our rising demands.
• Convenience in health care includes online access and booking.
• Cerner and Kyruus are collaborating to help enhance online search and scheduling experiences.

As the world becomes increasingly digitized, patients are looking to interact with healthcare the same way they look for flights on Kayak or make a dinner reservation on OpenTable–with speed and convenience. And as health systems look to respond, understanding consumer behavior and the patient journey will be critical to delivering a user experience that successfully meets patients’ needs and expectations.

Whether your organization is looking to do so by revamping your website or building a new mobile app, here are a few design best practices from our work with consumers to help your team deliver user experiences that delight.

While healthcare continues to play catch-up to other customer-obsessed and digital-first industries, 2019 became the year in which many health systems started to align their organization around a commitment to improving the patient experience. This is certainly clear looking at our most popular content pieces from 2019–healthcare leaders want analytics to measure patient access, insight into how consumers make care decisions, and best practices for partnering with their organization to execute consumerism initiatives, like online scheduling.

To transform access and experience in 2020, check out the list below of the four most downloaded resources from 2019:

Kyruus had the pleasure of hosting Chris Pace, Senior Director of Digital Marketing at Banner Health, along with our Vice President of Marketing, Emma Smith, for a webinar titled “Turning Insights Into Differentiation: How Banner Health Transformed Its Digital Access Strategy.” The two discussed what today’s consumers expect from their healthcare experiences, including information to be readily available where they search, streamlined booking experiences–online and over the phone–and better access to quick, convenient care options, and how health systems can respond.

Last week, Kyruus CEO and co-founder, Dr. Graham Gardner, had the pleasure of participating in a webinar titled “Digitizing the Consumer Healthcare Journey” with Aaron Martin, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at Providence St. Joseph Health. Aaron and Graham discussed a major problem facing the healthcare industry today: health system’s inability to keep pace with consumer expectations for a digitized patient experience that is transparent, affordable, and available on demand.

This is the first in a three part series focused on helping healthcare leaders understand how different generations access care to improve engagement and brand loyalty.

Did you know that millennials are projected to overtake Baby Boomers as the largest generation in 2019? In 2016, they numbered 71 million, while Baby Boomers numbered 74 million.¹ However, with millennials about to represent the largest contingency of the US population, health systems need to strategize ways to not only understand the needs of these younger consumers, but also develop programs to capture their attention and win their loyalty. 

Central to most health systems' patient access strategies is some version of "the 3 rights" - right care, right place, right time. These three dimensions are patient and health system focused, addressing both clinical and convenience factors that are important to patients, while also speaking to a health system's cost structure. However they don't sufficiently address factors that are important to the provider. "The 5 rights" builds upon the original three, adding “right patient” and “right preparation” in acknowledgement of the provider's integral role in maximizing the clinical appropriateness of a scheduled appointment.

Whether it was looking for a repairman or deciding which PCP to book with, the way we shopped for products and services was drastically different 10 years ago. Historically, many of us relied on family members and friends for recommendations and few, if any, comparison tools existed to validate those options. However, as the internet matured rapidly, consumer behavior started to change. We became less focused on brick-in-mortar experiences and more focused on digital ones. And today’s online patient behavior is no different. Patients want to weigh their options and they are looking to health systems to make information about their providers and services easily accessible online. Adapting to this shift and treating patients as savvy consumers will be imperative to maintaining relevance in an evolving–and increasingly competitive–digital landscape.

Earlier this week we were fortunate to host some of the country’s pre-eminent thought leaders at what was our sixth Annual Thought Leadership on Access Symposium (ATLAS). This year’s theme was “Expanding Boundaries. Removing Barriers.” “Expanding Boundaries” let us explore inspiring ways health system leaders are innovating around patient access and responding to industry dynamics, which increasingly point to a shift in care delivery outside of the walls of health systems. 

With consumers increasingly turning to the web to search for care, enhancing their digital presence is a key priority for many health systems. This was particularly important for newly-formed Prisma Health (formerly Greenville Health System and Palmetto Health), who, though not new to healthcare, was a new brand to consumers. On our recent webinar, “Putting Providers at the Forefront of Access,” Prisma Chief Digital Officer, Dr. Nick Patel, spoke with Kyruus CEO and Co-Founder, Dr. Graham Gardner, about their initiative to transform patient access online and how they engaged providers in the process.