Now Is the Time To Invest in Patient Experience

As healthcare enters a customer-first business model, focusing on experience is now a necessity. The same customers who are experiencing best-in-class omnichannel experiences from Amazon, Apple or Airbnb are now expecting the same from healthcare. And why shouldn't they?

Market Leaders Are Taking Action on Patient Experience Now

The opportunity to capture the hearts and minds of healthcare customers is not going unnoticed. Retail leaders such as Walmart have launched healthcare services including primary care, dentistry as well as counseling. Walmart’s brand awareness, along with the physical proximity of their brick-and-mortar stores to many Americans, makes for an intriguing entryway for consumers to easily access care at an affordable price. Meanwhile, Best Buy continues to invest heavily in Best Buy Health, leveraging their technology, proximity and customer service capabilities to ensure that our loved ones can thrive while they age in place. Additionally, market changing investments are evolving the retail sector, with Walgreens and CVS pivoting their traditional “pharmacy” businesses and transforming their brick-and-mortar footprint into true health and wellness service providers.

Investments in digital health are increasing dramatically

It isn't just the retail mainstays that are doubling down on the delivery of care; significant amounts of venture investing are also taking place. According to Rock Health, a significant and increasing amount of money is flowing into digital health. All told, 14.1 Billion dollars of venture funding had been invested across 700+ deals by the end of 2020, and the deal size of these investments has only continued to grow. While these investments in digital health are taking place across a wide swath of products, services, and business models, one common feature is that they all tend to offer new, unique, and differentiated solutions to solve for perennial healthcare pain points. For example, investments in digital health tend to focus on:

• Making health care easier using virtual visits, remote patient monitoring, at home delivery and asynchronous chat and mobile solutions.
• Increasing healthcare transparency with solutions like up front pharmacy pricing, provider and payer cost transparency, virtual care bundle pricing, and monthly fee-based services for mental health and nutrition management.

These rapid investments from both traditional brands and venture capitalists show us that traditional care is not only being disrupted now, but that it will continue to do so as today’s start-ups will eventually be acquired by or evolve into tomorrow’s market leaders.

If you are skeptical about this evolution, look no further than the public offering and subsequent increase in valuation of healthcare start-ups over the past year or so. The rapid growth of digital health solutions such as Teladoc and it's subsequent merger with Livongo, along with the growth in digital health companies going public by way of IPO and SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) and the increased rate of digital health start-up acquisition by incumbents, shows that the market appetite and disruptive solutions presented by these companies are here to stay.

Avtex is the premier partner for patient experience

With the right technology and strategy in place, patient experience should be personal, consistent, and drive revenue through patient loyalty. At Avtex, we bring the expertise needed to help your healthcare business adapt and meet changing demands while keeping the patient experience a top priority. Contact us today to get started on the evolution of your patient experience program.