The Health System Sprint to Match Disruptor Access in Primary Care

In an era where convenience is paramount, healthcare systems find themselves in a race to match the agility of primary care disruptors. The focus? Patient access. A recent evaluation by the #StrategyCatalyst team at The Health Management Academy illuminates the evolving landscape, revealing both promising advancements and significant challenges for established healthcare providers.

The evaluation, conducted in late April and May 2024 across digital and telephonic scheduling modalities, assessed 52 health systems and four primary care disruptors (Walgreens, Carbon Health, One Medical, and Tia) on their ability to provide timely in-person and virtual primary care appointments. The results paint a nuanced picture of the current state of healthcare access.

Digital Self-Scheduling: Narrowing the Gap

Healthcare systems have made impressive strides in digital self-scheduling, reducing average appointment wait times to 7 days online compared to 16 days over the phone. It's a marked improvement, but disruptors still maintain a significant edge:

• Disruptors consistently offer next-day or same-day appointments across all platforms. That’s 12 times faster than health systems
• Disruptors have 40% more weekend appointments for primary care compared to health systems.
• Patients complete online scheduling with disruptors 32% faster than with health systems.

The Phone Experience: An Essential Channel Ripe for Innovation

As digital access progresses, phone scheduling remains a crucial avenue for patient care, particularly?for those who prefer or require verbal interaction. According to Kyruus Health , 41% of consumers prefer to schedule new patient appointments via telephone. However, this essential channel faces challenges in many healthcare systems. Patients experience 60% longer hold times when calling health systems compared to disruptors. Many systems lack a clear, centralized access number, leading to a potentially frustrating maze of phone trees for patients who prefer to call to schedule their care.

Improving this experience is not just about convenience—it's about ensuring equitable access to care.

Disruptors' Competitive Edge

What sets these new entrants apart? It's a combination of speed, consistency, and flexibility.

Disruptors consistently offer rapid appointment availability across all channels, contrasting sharply with the often weeks-long wait times in traditional health systems. This speed of access, coupled with user-friendly interfaces for both online and phone scheduling, significantly reduces the time patients spend booking appointments. The emphasis on streamlined user experiences across all touchpoints demonstrates a keen understanding of patient frustrations with traditional scheduling methods.

Moreover, disruptors have embraced extended hours to accommodate diverse patient schedules, aligning healthcare delivery with diverse patient lifestyles. This flexibility not only improves access but potentially reduces unnecessary ED visits use outside regular hours. Perhaps most significantly, disruptors provide a seamless experience across all platforms, in contrast to the variable approach of health systems. This uniformity enhances patient satisfaction and builds trust in the provider-patient relationship.

These findings suggest that health systems must reimagine their patient engagement approach to remain competitive. The disruptors' success indicates that patients value and respond to healthcare providers who prioritize convenience, consistency, and patient-centric design across all interactions. As the healthcare landscape evolves, this competitive edge serves as both a challenge and a roadmap for traditional health systems, underscoring the need for continuous innovation in patient access strategies.

Health Systems: Areas of Excellence

Despite their challenges, some health systems are demonstrating they can effectively compete with disruptors. These leaders offer same-day online appointments, feature websites that rival tech companies in efficiency, and have transformed their access centers into models of helpfulness and knowledge. Extended hours at some health systems show a commitment to meeting patients on their terms. As healthcare systems navigate this evolving landscape, the route to success is clear but demanding. The future favors those who can seamlessly integrate cutting-edge technology with a patient-first mindset across all channels, including the essential phone experience.

The Road Ahead

Health systems can focus on the overall patient experience, using these recommendations to optimize access and digital self-service:

1. Implement Integrated Omnichannel Access: Develop a unified scheduling platform that provides a comprehensive view of appointments across all locations and channels. This integration should empower both digital interfaces and access center agents, ensuring consistency and efficiency in scheduling regardless of the patient's preferred contact method.
2. Optimize the Phone Experience: Recognize that patients still want to call to manage their care. Take a centralized approach with a centralized phone number and implement advanced features like callback systems. Invest in staff training to transform access centers into hubs of patient-centric, knowledgeable service.
3. Enhance Digital Capabilities and Extended Access: Create intuitive online interfaces for easy appointment booking while extending access hours across all channels. This dual approach caters to both tech-savvy patients and those with non-traditional schedules.
4. Unify and Elevate the Patient Experience: Ensure a consistent, high-quality service across all touchpoints - digital, phone, and in-person. Develop a cohesive patient journey that maintains the same level of care and efficiency regardless of how patients choose to engage.
5. Leverage Data Analytics for Proactive Management: Utilize advanced analytics to anticipate demand, optimize appointment availability, and continuously refine the patient experience. This data-driven approach should inform staffing decisions, identify bottlenecks, and drive ongoing improvements.

Health systems that embrace these opportunities won't just adapt—they'll flourish, setting new benchmarks for patient care in the digital age. Those that hesitate risk falling behind in an increasingly competitive healthcare landscape. The imperative is clear: innovate thoughtfully and consistently. The future of healthcare access is being shaped now, with phone access playing a vital role alongside digital innovations. How will your system contribute to this evolution?

Stay tuned for more #patientaccess insights as my colleagues share more results in the coming weeks.

Follow this link for more information on #StrategyCatalyst’s #patientaccess research and other important initiatives.

https://hmacademy.com/insights/video-archive/the-state-of-access-strategy-catalysts-patient-access-evaluation?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sc_webinar_2024.06

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