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- Steer Health just launched SteerNotes™! This AI-powered clinical note creator seamlessly listens to patient-doctor conversations, allowing healthcare providers to focus more on patient care and less on paperwork. Get a free 60-day trial here.
- Digital patient documentation can automate tasks for staff and reduce team burden, but there are also a few pressing challenges as well. Learn more about the challenges and solutions in our latest blog here.
Top Story: The Digital Front Door: Why Do You Need One in 2024?
Last week, AIVA released its report on Top Digital Front Door Companies. The report highlights that many healthcare providers are ready to jump on the digital front door bandwagon, and highlights the most innovative solutions. But, what’s all the hype about the so-called “digital front door” in healthcare?
Since the pandemic, most consumers expect the simplicity and convenience of online and on-demand access in every sector of their lives. Now, patients are increasingly demanding the same from their healthcare providers.
Creating this convenient access is guided by a model of how patients interact with your practice – the digital front door. By integrating the multiple touch points, from online research and on-demand consultations to after-hours appointment scheduling, virtual visits, and self-care, digital front doors enable smoother patient engagement and streamlined staff workflows.
Curious to learn more? Let’s dive deeper into the digital front door (DFD) methodology.
Streamline the patient care process
DFDs are not just the latest hype in digital technology, this trend also creates more convenient access to healthcare. Numerous digital technology companies have developed tools and solutions that enable digital patient engagement from start to finish, meaning they provide a clear digital pathway for patients to follow throughout the patient-provider lifecycle.
For example, complete DFDs create ongoing engagement throughout the patient journey by utilizing tools that enable end-to-end messaging and consistent care communication.
In addition, by linking patients, providers, payers, hospital systems, and electronic health records (EHR) into a unified ecosystem, DFDs have a significant advantage over one-stop solutions that only help with one part of the journey, such as telemedicine or digital patient scheduling.
In practice, the DFD can reduce care delays by streamlining the process of getting the right care, faster. By establishing a strong DFD, healthcare organizations not only reduce wait times but also create a more desirable experience for patients, leading to higher levels of patient satisfaction, and therefore, patient loyalty.
Digital solutions offer a holistic concept that delivers an omnichannel experience from the time patients use a digital symptoms-checker to well after their follow-up appointment. The variety and depth of digital offerings are constantly increasing.
Reduce staff burden, shortages
For providers, a complete and integrated DFD allows easier access to important healthcare information at the point of care and more efficient scheduling of testing or follow-up appointments.
Joe Diver, the CIO of Holyoke Medical Center and renowned digital health strategist, shared his insight and expertise in healthcare and digital innovation in Steer Health’s latest webinar.
During the webinar, Diver sheds light on the obstacles encountered by healthcare staff when it comes to managing appointment scheduling and dealing with staffing shortages. He emphasizes the importance of integrating technology to elevate service levels and enhance data analytics within healthcare organizations to operate more smoothly.
“Modernization of healthcare organizations’ DFDs involves taking friction out of patients’ journeys and leveraging technologies to make it as frictionless as possible,” Diver states.
In summary, the digital front door is not just a single solution such as chatbot technology or online appointment scheduling that expands access to healthcare. A full digital front door is an approach that integrates as many tools and innovations as necessary to create complete and seamless digital interaction between patients and staff. In this way, DFDs do not only improve patient satisfaction, but also simplify workflows and reduce staff workload — and that’s exactly why every healthcare organization needs a digital front door in 2024.
Steer Health promotes the presence of healthcare providers in the digital age through a holistic digital platform focused on providing users with an excellent experience. Steer Health’s clients benefit from increased patient visits, improved patient access to care, enhanced patient engagement, and boosted patient retention rates – all of which, in turn, drive revenue and practice growth.
For example, Steer Health’s HIPAA-compliant AI call center solutions go beyond sheer chatbot technology to empower patient engagement from start to finish and help healthcare organizations decrease operational costs, reduce staff burden, and mitigate the challenges associated with growing patient demand.
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Exciting news! Steer Health has been named to AVIA Marketplace’s 2024 Top Digital Front Door Companies after extensive research and company outreach by AVIA Marketplace, the leading digital health marketplace.
Year over year, AVIA’s Top Digital Front Door Companies Report represents the aggregation and analysis of client ratings and reviews as well as health system implementation data across the country. The report highlights broader industry trends and defines the DFD landscape to contextualize the impact the companies and products are currently having in the space.
We are honored to receive this award, as it not only recognizes the efforts of our team and the performance of Steer but also celebrates the successes of our clients and partners for their customers.
“In an era where digital engagement is not just preferred but expected, the Digital Front Door stands as the critical entry point for patients navigating their healthcare journey,” said Dhiraj Patkar, SVP of Digital Health Solutions at AVIA. “By embracing these solutions, we can bridge the gap between patient expectations and healthcare delivery, ensuring health systems not only keep pace with digital advancements but lead the way in consumer-centric care,” he added.
Access the full report findings from AVIA Marketplace’s Top Digital Front Door Companies list here.
“We are thrilled to be recognized in AVIA’s Top Digital Front Door Companies Report!” said Sridhar Yerramreddy, CEO and founder of Steer Health. “This recognition encourages Steer to continue its goal to create a better patient-provider experience, build meaningful partnerships, and transform the healthcare industry.”
