Digital Health3 Reasons Why You Should Improve Your Digital Front Door

The pace of digital transformation in healthcare varies by organization. One area where most healthcare providers have gained momentum lies at the digital front door.

A digital front door is the entryway to a seamless patient experience. A solid digital front door improves patient satisfaction and retention while relieving staff of mundane, time-consuming tasks.

What is the digital front door?

The digital front door refers to all the technology providers use to connect with patients before, during, and after their visit. Elements of a digital front door include patient portals, online appointment booking, online registration, televisits, and surveys, among other tools.

Through a well-oiled digital front door, patients can schedule appointments without spending their lunch hour on hold. They can fill out forms in the privacy of their own home, on their preferred mobile device, on their own time. And they’re in and out of the doctor’s office with little wait time so they can get on with their busy lives.

For providers, an integrated digital front door helps reduce no-shows thanks to automated appointment reminders. Online registration and check-in allow short-staffed practices to make the most of limited resources. And online payment options help improve accounts receivable.

How the digital front door improves the patient experience

In today’s healthcare climate, patients need more positive experiences. A survey from The Beryl Institute — Ipsos PX Pulse found three quarters of Americans (76%) had not had a positive patient experience in the past three months.

A digital front door is a way to change that trajectory. Its primary components include:

Online appointment scheduling, which allows patients to schedule their appointment anytime, anywhere. Self-scheduling improves access to care—a key contributor to patient experience. It also influences retention. An Accenture report found 78% of patients who switched providers in 2021 did so because of poor front-desk, administrative and/or digital front door offerings.

Automated check-in, which simplifies registration for both patients and providers. Using a mobile app, patients can complete registration paperwork and check in using their own device. An in-office kiosk accommodates patients who can’t or prefer not to use a personal mobile device. Self-check-in helps reduce wait times—a top frustration for patients.

Online payment is the norm in retail and banking. Phreesia’s March 2022 survey found more than half of patients (56%) want their provider to offer payment plans, automatic payments, the ability keep a credit card on file or a mixture of all three. Online bill pay, including contactless methods such as Apple Pay® and Google Pay™, gives patients the convenient experience they want while keeping past-due payments at bay.

How the digital front door improves healthcare organization efficiency

Phreesia data show self-check-in saves an average of five minutes of staff time per visit. That’s because staff don’t have to enter information from a paper form into a practice management system.

The same benefits apply to billing. An automated link that takes patients to an online payment system is far more efficient than preparing, printing and mailing invoices—invoices that get lost, ignored, or thrown in the trash.

Digitizing clinical screenings and patient-reported outcomes serves dual benefits. In addition to allowing patients to complete patient-reported outcomes or social determinants of health questionnaires when it’s convenient, healthcare organizations can capture relevant data for quality programs. Collecting data in advance allows providers to proactively address health concerns while giving staff a faster method for gathering HEDIS and other data.

How the digital front door improves healthcare organizations’ bottom line

A busy provider group can cover the work of multiple staff just by using self-service check-in—and help their existing staff from burning out. Add in savings from paperless payments and automated self-scheduling and the ROI grows even more. Implement two-way messaging to help patients prepare for appointments and to close care gaps, and you get the idea.

A few statistics to help drive the point home:

• About six months after Memorial Health System in Marietta, Ohio, rolled out its digital front door, the healthcare organization improved its year-over-year point-of-sale collections by 25%.
• 18% of patients surveyed in Phreesia’s March 2022 survey said they would consider switching providers for the ability to pay their medical bills online.
• According to a Healthgrades study, physicians who offer both online and phone appointments were booked 24% more than those who make appointments by phone only.
• Healthcare organizations within Phreesia’s network experience 78% fewer no-shows among patients who receive appointment reminders.
• A U.S. Bank survey found 31% of customers pay medical bills faster when notified by text or email.

The digital front door: your gateway to an improved patient experience

Healthcare organizations must do everything they can to ensure patients have a positive experience at their facility. An integrated digital front door is one way to mitigate long wait times, access issues, and other frustrations that cause patients to switch providers. The investment can help create more positive patient experiences as well as improved efficiency and productivity.

This post has been sponsored by Phreesia