Telephones are a fundamental feature of any healthcare organization. Although the main purpose of the telephone has remained the same for more than 100 years, the methods of enhancing the connection have changed.
Telephone calls in the medical field have always brought two people together, such as a patient and a healthcare provider. But providing quality clinical care is more than just making a phone call or writing a note on a clipboard.
Today, telephony in healthcare refers to the entire platform that serves the digital communication needs of patients and healthcare providers. Identifying patient needs and connecting them to healthcare providers in context is critical to driving better patient engagement and care.
Integration will have a big impact
Digital transformation facilitates data collection and enhanced knowledge in the pursuit of better, more informed patient care. However, increasing amounts of information can create challenges for employees trying to manage it and use it effectively to provide care. The need for healthcare professionals to navigate multiple systems and communicate information is already a significant burden.
That’s why it’s important for healthcare organizations to ensure that each investment in a new capability platform reduces, rather than increases, the digital burden on employees.
The value of linking clinical systems and voice conversations is powerful. Promote purpose by adding context to conversations and move interactions beyond phone calls to an integrated and enhanced communication experience for both patients and caregivers.
Imagine the following patient-provider interaction.
- Providers can log into the digital patient record platform and make voice or video calls to patients directly from within their clinical system. Clinical systems are linked to communication platforms, so healthcare providers have patient information at hand and drive more context within conversations. Documentation in the clinical system after a call is easy and providers remain on the platform after the call ends, simplifying workflow.
- Patients don’t feel frustrated having their concerns and health history redirected or re-explained to one provider after another. Healthcare providers and patients can have knowledgeable and informed conversations that ultimately lead to better outcomes for patients.
Improving the ability of clinicians and support teams to communicate and collaborate with timely and relevant medical information is critical to driving more effective workflows and a better patient experience.
Cisco is well-positioned to cover basic, functional telephony needs in the healthcare sector. Webex Contact Center or Webex calls), but also helps organizations move beyond calling to a unified communications platform with tools such as: Webex CPaaSan escalation call, and Webex Instant Connect.
When you think about how patients interact with their healthcare providers, and how healthcare providers interact with each other, are communication platforms just driving phone calls, or are they helping to drive efficient, contextual connections? The time has come to evaluate whether
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