Creating A Modernized Approach to Healthcare Analytics

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It’s no secret that hospitals and health systems (providers) struggle to adopt the sorts of modern tech stacks that help build seamless experiences for patients. Legacy systems, data constraints, and privacy regulations have hampered provider efforts to create a positive digital user-patient experience across all digital touchpoints.

The challenge is this: your patients expect a better experience. According to a recent survey from Cedar, 57% of consumers say they’re more likely to recommend a provider who offers a great digital experience. As digital innovations make it increasingly easy to collect patient data, healthcare providers should seize the opportunity to create the humanized digital experiences that patients want. Those that do will thrive as patient activation, engagement, and loyalty increase.

Here are three recommendations healthcare providers can act on to create an evolved approach to patient data and digital experience optimization.

Prioritize First- and Zero-Party Data Implementing a more inclusive infrastructure allows healthcare companies to do more than just consolidate data; it provides the tools needed to create a 360-degree view of the patient, paving the way for an optimal experience based on the patient’s needs. Fortunately, regulations are now catching up to reality. Legislation such as the Interoperability and Shared Access Act helps by allowing data to be shared across platforms. Third-party CDP and DMP vendors are establishing HIPAA-compliant systems in order to provide their services to healthcare providers. It’s important that healthcare providers continue to research and invest in compliant solutions that help bridge the gap between the traditional healthcare setting and the modern digital experience. This is true for every digital touchpoint, including patient portals and telemedicine.

Create “Quantified Empathy” Using Patient Data Engaging with patients means building personal and intimate relationships. This is true for both in-person and digital encounters. According to a recent blog post from Quantum Metric, “quantified empathy is analytics with heart. It enables you to empathize with an individual customer experience and then assess the magnitude of that experience at scale. It’s the process of humanizing otherwise impersonal data.” The data collected from patients goes far beyond numbers and metrics. From information about medication adherence and health behaviors to the number of ER or doctor visits within a year, this kind of behavioral data can help provide more context for organizations working in continued patient care. These kinds of insights can help healthcare organizations create more personalized journeys and experiences for patients, providing more value and even life-saving care when patients need it most.

Healthcare providers have no shortage of data. However, much of that still sits outside an agile framework, suffers from poor data governance, or is held hostage by antiquated policies and processes. Healthcare providers need to improve data management as technology evolves. They need to invest in data analytics capabilities and improvement initiatives that power and guide them on the path to continuous Digital Experience Optimization (DXO). Looking ahead to 2023, we expect to see more healthcare organizations implementing advanced security measures—such as biometric authentication and encryption—to protect patient data. This will be a terrific step forward. They also need to develop an overarching data management strategy that measures not only the security of patient data, but also the impact it has on patients as they navigate a provider’s digital corridors.

Again, this isn’t an easy lift. However, the healthcare providers who get data management right will be the ones to increase patient flow and loyalty for years to come.

Healthcare providers need to improve the digital experience for patients. Given the advancements in solutions, the expanding access to data, and the expectations of patients concerning digital experiences, healthcare providers should:

The healthcare provider brands that lean into Digital Experience Optimization are the ones who will own the patient relationship and reap the rewards that go with that ownership.