5 Takeaways: Enhancing Trust in Healthcare [Webinar] / Blogs / Perficient

In our recent webinar, “Enhancing Trust in Healthcare,” experts David Allen and Michael Porter, along with Appian’s Matt Collins, addressed the concerning decline in consumer trust within the healthcare sector.

Historically, healthcare has maintained higher levels of trust compared to other industries, but a recent Gallup survey shows that this trust is now at a near-record low.

Related: 9 Healthcare Trends For 2024

The discussion explored actionable strategies to enhance trust among both patients and members, emphasizing the importance of transparency, effective communication, and improving outcomes. Our experts shared insights on how healthcare organizations can rebuild confidence and ease experiences.

5 Ways to Enhance Trust in Healthcare

1. Understand the key factors contributing to patient/member mistrust

Nearly one third of Gallup respondents cited ‘very little’ confidence in the medical system, well above the 20-year average. This highlights a significant gap in public confidence that healthcare organizations must address.

Factors contributing to this mistrust include inconsistent communication, perceived lack of transparency, and negative past experiences.

For instance, consider the following statistics:

• 30% of consumers have delayed or skipped care after finding inaccurate provider information within their health plan’s transparency tools.
• 49% of providers identify that patient information errors are a primary cause of denied claims (e.g., authorizations, eligibility, etc.)

Related: Build Empathy and Understanding. Ease Patient and Member Journeys.

2. Optimize your approach by keeping the consumer at the heart of progress

Traditional approaches to technology often lead to friction points that can erode trust with your patients and members. We recommend instead that healthcare organizations embrace an outcomes-based mindset and approach.

This starts by aligning the enterprise around a strategic vision and actionable KPIs. It’s a holistic, iterative process rooted in value creation and supported by change management.

Hallmarks of a business transformation approach include:

• Alignment with organizational strategy
• Assessment of overall readiness
• Orchestration around the user
• An iterative MVP approach
• A flexible technical foundation
• Intentional focus on data and KPIs

Discover More: Business Transformation in Healthcare

3. Tactically and strategically ease the healthcare journey

Consumers are navigating an increasing number of digital touchpoints throughout their healthcare journey. These digital interactions are crucial for engagement and proactive health monitoring.

By leveraging technology to provide timely updates and personalized care, healthcare organizations can strengthen relationships with patients and members.

Focused use cases could include:

• Referrals + Scheduling: Simpler, faster, more-memorable referral journeys for patients
• Health Monitoring: Patients feel known and well cared for in their health journey
• Eligibility: Faster verification and clarity of choice for the consumer
• Prior Authorizations: Reduce guesswork; patient already feels worried and unprepared
• Revenue Cycle Management: Provider has insight into revenue and financial status in near-real time
• Claims Management: Member feels confident the insurer can tell them where they stand at any time

4. Break down silos to improve outcomes

Technologies deployed in narrow silos can ultimately contribute to a challenge as much as they seek to solve it. While different technology systems are good at their specific role in the organization, effective data transfer between systems often proves challenging, hindering health and business outcomes.

Breaking down these silos through integrated systems and collaborative approaches can enhance communication and coordination across the healthcare ecosystem. Ideally, modernization efforts will maximize technology to drive health innovation, efficiency, and interoperability.

• Orchestrate resources and decision-making processes into a culture that promotes growth
• Set strategic parameters for operational excellence and champion iterative delivery ******
• Innovate beyond mandated goals to add business value, meet consumers’ evolving expectations, and deliver equitable care and services
• Accelerate value with secure, compliant, and modern platforms

5. Determine if intelligent automation and advanced analytics can address challenges

Trust gaps are commonly voiced by patients and members alike. These breakdowns in trust often manifest as the result of weakly orchestrated processes and data assets.

Intelligent automation can address a number of these trust-influencing challenges, including:

• Self-Service + Transparency: Control and visibility over actions and impacts in the digital journey
• Accuracy + Completeness: Comprehensive, up-to-**** information across the digital journey
• Speed of Response: Close to real-time updates about critical information in the digital journey
• Privacy + Security: Compliance aligned with appropriate flexibility in using my data to best serve and enhance the digital journey

Success Story: Improving Experiences and Offsetting Call Center Volume

Elevate Trust With Expert Healthcare Guidance

We blend healthcare and automation expertise to help leaders optimize processes and elevate experiences.

Discover why we have been trusted by the 10 largest health systems and the 10 largest health insurers in the U.S., and Modern Healthcare consistently recognizes us as one of the largest healthcare consulting firms. Explore our award-winning technology partners, mentions by analysts.

Our experts will help you identify how work is performed today and how you can optimize for tomorrow. Contact us to get started.

Watch the Full Webinar Now: