Why digital healthcare solutions are essential for future healthcare

Today, patients expect to receive patient-centered healthcare along with technologies that improve the patient journey and quality of care. That is why various digital healthcare solutions, such as virtual waiting rooms and virtual doctor appointments, are considered essential parts of future healthcare, and we see more and more providers embracing these solutions.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged the benefits of digital healthcare solutions and how it can improve the quality and accessibility of care for patients and healthcare providers as well as governments and other stakeholders. It is clear to predict that the use of various digital technologies will take more place in the industry and play an essential role in future healthcare. Stretching from simple appointment management systems to more advanced technology used in fine surgeries or rehabilitation plans.

Digital Healthcare Solutions to Improve Patient Experience and Care

What is important to note is that many digital healthcare solutions exist already today that can help improve the patient journey and patient experience, and they don’t need to be complex solutions. Many of them can easily be implemented in existing daily operations and support healthcare providers to become more efficient in helping larger volumes of patients, make resource allocation and planning easier, and improve the work environment for staff members with reduced stress and workload.

Some digital healthcare solutions that can help improve patient care are:

• Virtual waiting rooms
• Online appointment scheduling

Create Virtual Waiting Rooms with Mobile Ticket

Waiting physically in line is a thing of the past, and virtual lines are a thing of future healthcare. Mobile tickets and check-in links in appointment confirmations introduce the possibility of using virtual waiting rooms instead of physical ones. In virtual waiting rooms, some key traditional components are still valid, such as queue progress information and which queues exist simultaneously at the location e.g. queues for blood samples, vaccination, or other testing. However, additional components can be added in a virtual waiting room which are beneficial for both patients and healthcare staff.

Some beneficial virtual waiting room capabilities are:

• Patients can wait off the premises, and large crowds are avoided at the facilities.
• The risk of cross-infection is reduced.
• Updates about the estimated waiting time until the patient is called up.
• Optimize patient flows with automated reminders so patients can arrive just in time before it’s their turn. If patients wish to leave the queue, the staff is informed and can manage the patient flow better.
• Improved work environment and easier management tools for staff to handle patients and call them up for their appointments. 

Allowing your patients to wait remotely with a mobile ticket gives them more control over what they do while waiting. Patients gain the possibility to run errands, go to the bathroom, or wait off the premises and enter the facility when it's almost their turn while waiting in line. The blindsided feeling of not knowing how long is left until they will be called in is gone, and frequent updates about how their place in the queue is progressing leave a better impression and reduce their perceived waiting time. A small change that can have a big impact on patients' overall experience.

Some benefits of using mobile tickets in healthcare:

• Pre-entry: allow patients to join the virtual waiting room before arriving at the location.
• Automated notifications: make sure your patients are updated about changes in the queue and their place in it.
• Estimated wait time: let patients know how much more they have to wait until they’re called.
• Appointment check-in: allow patients to announce their arrival for booked appointments through their phones.
• Patient feedback: collect the feedback of your patients’ experiences through online surveys to help identify where improvements in the patient journey can be made.

Online appointment scheduling

Enabling your patients to book their own appointments with an appointment scheduling system is a great way to give them more control over their patient journey and flexibility to select a suitable appointment slot that fits their availability. Automating the appointment booking process and encouraging patients to do this themselves, also reduces the administrative workload on healthcare staff and allows them to focus on patient care instead.

An appointment scheduling system allows automatic confirmations and reminders to be sent to patients, reducing the number of no-shows and creating a managed patient flow in the facilities. Healthcare staff are provided with needed information from the patients' bookings to prepare ahead of the appointments and give them more control of their own time management and task distribution throughout the workday.

What to expect in future healthcare

I think it’s safe to say the use of digital healthcare solutions is at the beginning of its development and industry stakeholders have just begun to embrace them. There are many benefits for healthcare providers and patients that help improve the quality of patient care and experience, providing tools to make patient journeys seamless.

However, there are many solutions available today that can improve patient experience and operational efficiency. Discover what solutions Qmatic can offer you that are suitable for the healthcare industry and can help you take your next digital step while improving patient experience.