Consolidating Patient Engagement Systems Into A Healthcare Digital Front Door

In the fast-paced healthcare sector, a large number of organizations are struggling to keep up with an ever-evolving patchwork of regulations[¹] and the changing expectations of consumers. With new technological requirements and solutions emerging on a monthly basis, many providers are caught in a cycle of purchasing constant patient engagement systems to their digital suite.

While licensing new software when needed can help healthcare organizations remain compliant, this strategy often leads to a fragmented digital environment. Healthcare providers must not only pay multiple license fees but also juggle multiple pieces of software and communicate with endless software suppliers in the event of downtime.

For the patient, a disjointed mix of patient engagement systems like this can be a truly frustrating experience and hinder engagement. Healthcare consumers are undoubtedly looking for digital tools[²] from their healthcare providers, but if delivered as a piecemealed offering that requires different logins, interfaces, and third-party branding, patients may go elsewhere.

In spite of all of these drawbacks, many organizations are put off from switching to a consolidated healthcare digital front door by the perceived difficulty of doing so. But with a small time investment, a new digital front door strategy can bring about multiple benefits. As well as solving the problems of a fragmented digital offering and improving the patient experience, cohesive digital platforms can deliver a measurable ROI by boosting revenues and minimizing costs for practices.

Benefits of a healthcare digital front door

In contrast to the muddled and confusing experience of navigating multiple patient engagement systems, a consolidated healthcare digital front door offers a simple and enjoyable way for patients to interact with healthcare providers. To deliver this kind of user-friendly experience, a digital front door should meet the following criteria:

Simple and intuitive
Rather than remembering numerous URLs and logins, a digital front door gives patients a single access point for managing their healthcare. Patients can use the same platform to order a prescription, pay a bill, or book an appointment, and they also know they won’t be facing lengthy verification processes every time.

Data-driven
With a single, consolidated digital front door, every part of the patient journey is tracked and understood. This enables patient preferences to be saved and also improves communication between the patient and their healthcare provider. Healthcare organizations should constantly leverage this data to improve the online user experience and in-person patient experience.

Client branded
Patient engagement platforms like Bridge Patient Portal can be branded with the healthcare provider’s colors and logo to help build trust with the patient, increase brand equity, and ensure a consistent experience at each stage of the patient journey.

Reducing costs for practices

There are numerous ways in which switching to a fully comprehensive digital front door can bring costs down for practices, leading to reduced overhead and better profitability.

Cut licensing costs
For practices that take a piecemeal approach to their patient engagement, the accumulated licensing fees can be exorbitant. With a comprehensive service like Bridge, however, a single SaaS (Software as a Service) license will cover all of the patient engagement solutions required by the provider.

Enable accurate forecasting
With a customizable and adaptable platform, providers will no longer be forced to keep buying add-on services when new regulations come in. Building on the existing product helps keep costs under control and allows for better financial planning into the future. With Bridge Patient Portal, organizations can request new features for their portal at any time, which can occasionally be developed at a subsidized cost, eliminating the need for new licenses that will eat into profits on a monthly basis.

Reduce labor costs
Staff at healthcare practices are often distracted by small administrative tasks[³], like appointment scheduling that can be easily automated or passed on to patients through an effective digital front door strategy. Enabling patients to autonomously complete tasks on their own timeline throughout the patient journey can remove the burden on staff and allow them to focus on more important aspects of their job.

Furthermore, with a consolidated suite of patient engagement systems, staff will spend less time managing disjointed apps and multiple software providers.

Consolidating your patient engagement systems

Many healthcare providers are struggling with clunky and disjointed digital services, but they may be put off by what they see as the hassle of switching to a more consolidated offering. While leaving existing software providers may be challenging, the benefits of consolidating software for patient engagement with a platform like Bridge can be immense and offer a significant ROI for healthcare organizations.

For one, giving patients an intuitive, data-driven, and client-branded digital front door empowers patients to take more control of their care, from managing appointments to medication and treatment adherence. Meanwhile, healthcare organizations are better equipped to respond to their queries and make knowledgeable recommendations since all patient information can be stored and accessed in one place.

As well as eschewing expensive license fees in favor of a more cohesive solution, offering an intuitive healthcare digital front door is an ideal way to boost revenues by driving word-of-mouth recommendations and new patient acquisition. Meanwhile, patients who benefit from better interactions with their providers will be far less likely to switch providers in the future.

If you’re looking to break the cycle of endless license fees, poor patient engagement, and operational inefficiencies, get in touch with Bridge to find out how we can help. In a matter of months, we can put a new system in place that seamlessly integrates with your existing Electronic Health Record (EHR), Revenue Cycle Management (RCM), or Practice Management (PM) system(s) to save you time and money.

  1. Regulatory Overload Assessing the Regulatory Burden on Health Systems, Hospitals and Post-acute Care Providers. (2017). [online] . Available at: https://www.aha.org/system/files/2018-02/regulatory-overload-report.pdf
  2. News, I. (2020). Report Finds High Consumer Demand for Digitization in Healthcare Payments. [online] Health IT Answers. Available at: https://www.healthitanswers.net/report-finds-high-consumer-demand-for-digitization-in-healthcare-payments/
  3. Healthcare Blog. (2019). Reduce healthcare costs through automation. [online] Available at: http://www.experian.com/blogs/healthcare/2019/01/reduce-healthcare-costs-through-automation/
Blake Rodocker
Blake Rodocker

Blake joined Bridge Patient Portal in 2016 after transferring from our parent company Medical Web Experts. Since then, he’s acted as Bridge’s Business Development Manager. Blake is passionate about driving collaboration with clients, partners, and internal teams to achieve performance goals and successful relationships.