Effective and clear communication between patients and staff at a behavioral health organization is critical for the success of the organization. Whether it be a behavioral health organization discussing how to treat current and incoming patients or sharing patient information with a group pf doctors or specialists, the need for effective and concise communication is always present.
While behavioral health organizations with strong communication policies can significantly enrich the health of their patients, those with poor communication procedures in place can negatively impact the overall well-being of patients.
According to a study published in FierceHealthcare, poor communication has been one of the biggest reasons behind over $1.7 billion in malpractice costs and 1,744 patient deaths nationally in the last few years. This shows that better and streamlined communication methods would benefit both healthcare providers and patients. Effective and crystal-clear communication – both intrahospital and interhospital – is important for healthcare providers to save on costs, improve day-to-day operational efficiency, and protect their patients.
Interhospital vs. Intrahospital Communications
There are two types of communication methods that are used by healthcare organizations: interhospital and intrahospital.
Interhospital Communications
Interhospital communications involve sharing of information among multiple institutions or sites. This might include transmissions between facilities that are owned by the same healthcare organization and between two or more completely different healthcare institutions. Sending medical records, integrating systems or software, moving patients from one facility to another, and transporting critical medical equipment all require clear, precise, and effective communication between sites. However, hospitals might face challenges to communicate effectively with one another.
Intrahospital Communications
Confusion, challenges, and problems with communications may happen among personnel within the same behavioral health organization. Intrahospital communication can be defined as sharing of any information (whether it involves assigning further medical tests, setting up appointments, scheduling surgeries, or coordinating room changes) within a singular institution. When doctors, patients, and support staff aren’t sharing information effectively, the efficiency of each healthcare process may take a toll, potentially leading to a danger to patients or unnecessary costs. Lack of procedural coordination, patient record delays, and fatal medical errors may all be a result of poor intrahospital communication.
To enhance the quality of interhospital and intrahospital communications, a combination of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and MAP (Marketing Automation Platform) can work magic.
Why Choose Marketing Automation Platform (MAP)?
Today, we live in the age of data and the best way to ensure your customer journey delivers is through mapping. Creating this map can allow you to find out how you can enhance the overall customer experience. It will also help you anticipate the frustrations, expectations, preferences, and requirements of your customers so you can address them and increase revenue. A marketing automation platform helps you identify and reach out to your target audience at the right time and place. It also helps your organization direct new subscribers to your highest-performing content, alleviate concerns and ease customers into your products and services, tell your brand story, and win more deals consistently.
A marketing automation platform can also help you build responsive and engaging landing pages that can easily trigger automations and send follow-up email campaigns. By using a powerful CRM like the Enquire CRM, you can easily create and publish lead generation forms and landing pages that can save leads into the onboard CRM software automatically and trigger lead nurturing email campaigns. The generated leads that get saved into the onboard CRM can then be leveraged to track all activities so you can have a deep understanding of every lead generated.
Your organization can also utilize a Marketing automation platform to send notifications to your sales team, follow up with email autoresponder campaigns, and add tags for future contact segmentation. If this is not all, you can even combine email marketing, website analytics, and a contact management system to manage your leads through lifecycle stages to sales readiness.
However, it is important for you to choose a CRM software that meet HIPAA requirements. This means that the CRM software should facilitate out-of-the-box data encryption, including secure messaging, and regular backups must be performed. This also means that the CRM software should include authorization forms signed by patients, audit logs that determine which user accessed which data, and restricting user access only to data that is required for them to see. Moreover, it should help your behavioral health organization redefine Customer Relationship Management, Revenue Cycle Management, Electronic Medical Records, and Alumni Management solutions so you can easily deliver exceptional patient care with better data and insights.
Discover how the Enquire CRM can empower your behavioral health organization to save thousands of dollars spent on staffing and technology through industry-leading contact center solutions. Create an exceptional experience for your customers and leverage the best of customizable terminology, workflows, and sales process. Find out how the Enquire CRM can help you improve communication in your behavioral health organization. Schedule a demo now.
