How to Improve Patient Experience with Digital Intake Solutions

Improving the patient experience is crucial for healthcare organizations aiming to boost satisfaction, loyalty, and outcomes. One way to achieve this is through implementing digital intake solutions. These solutions allow patients to complete traditionally manual paperwork digitally through patient portals, emails, or text messages.

Benefits of Digital Intake

Digital intake solutions provide numerous benefits over traditional paper forms when it comes to improving patient satisfaction:

• Saves patients time - Patients can complete forms online instead of filling out endless pages in the waiting room. This reduces time spent on administrative tasks.

• Reduces duplication - Digital forms only need completing once, whereas paper forms often need recreating each visit. Critical information is stored digitally for future engagements.

• Minimizes errors - With paper forms, illegible handwriting can lead to mistakes and incorrect information recorded. Digital forms have validation checks to catch incorrect or incomplete entries.

• Provides flexibility - Patients can complete digital intake forms at their own convenience on their personal mobile devices rather than being limited to the clinic environment and paperwork.

• Enables population health analytics - Digital intake data can be easily analyzed in aggregate to inform improvement initiatives around population health management.

Best Practices for Implementation

When looking to implement digital intake solutions, consider the following best practices:

• Involve key stakeholders early in the process, including patient experience teams, providers, and IT leadership
• Select solutions that integrate well with existing electronic medical record systems
• Leverage omnichannel options such as patient portals, text messaging, and emails to provide convenience
• Train staff on any workflow changes and how to access digitized intake information
• Monitor KPIs including patient satisfaction scores, intake completion rates, check-in/out times, and form accuracy metrics
• Continually optimize the solutions by soliciting patient feedback and input

Implementing user-friendly, convenient digital intake solutions can go a long way towards improving patient satisfaction and streamlining administrative processes. Following best practices around stakeholder engagement, integration, training, and optimization will ensure your organization realizes the maximum benefits.