Overcoming Patient Management Challenges with Healthcare CRM

SugarCRM reiterated its commitment to empower organizations with cutting-edge technology which automates a lot of their daily workflows, on the first day of its Connected 2023 conference which was held in London.

“Everything in business is becoming more complicated, but businesses want solutions that make their sales much easier, said Stuart Hall, vice president of customer success for EMEA at SugarCRM, pointing to the combination of hyper-automation, artificial intelligence, social media, growing mountains of data, and supply chain disruptions that are challenging businesses daily. “We are connecting the dots for you to make your life easier,” he added.

For instance, SugarCRM has begun automating messages from various modules of the platform instead of forcing its users to move into messaging apps. Also, sales managers can now call up a huge range of visual reports instead of constructing the reports instead of requiring constructing the reports & creating graphic representations. Hence, this helps the end customers to use self-service to either solve or correct a number of issues without the involvement of SugarCRM.

In the past decade, the healthcare industry has recorded tremendous growth and as a result, it has become highly competitive. Patients today are more informed therefore increasing the demand for accurate as well as timely customer management & service. As a matter of fact over thirty per cent of the customers in this market have thought of switching their healthcare providers owing to poor customer service experiences. As customer retention is becoming as one of the most strenuous factors to sustain in the healthcare industry, several healthcare facilitators have amped up their CRM services.

The Healthcare CRM market size is expected to exceed USD 21.46 billion by 2025 as per recent report. What becomes important while dealing with the insurance coverage rules that lead to confusion and unrest is communication and patient management. However, the additional stress caused by the pandemic has made the masses to stay even more alert as well as aware regarding their health whereabouts. Today, let us look at the challenges in patient management and how can these be addressed with Healthcare CRM.

Challenges in patient management:

Fragmented patient data & communications gap: What results in fragmented data is the process of managing patient information across several departments & systems. This lack of integration stops the ability of healthcare professionals of accessing comprehensive patient records resulting in not just errors but delays as well in treatment.

Moreover, ineffective communication among healthcare providers would lead to compromised patient safety. And, without any centralized communication system handoffs between different healthcare professionals as well as the departments will be error-prone.

Appointment scheduling and follow-ups: While efficient scheduling of appointments as well as follow-ups is highly important for timely patient care, manual appointment systems would be error-prone resulting in either long wait times or missed appointments. This will not only affect patient satisfaction but the treatment outcomes as well.

Billing and administrative burdens: Managing administrative tasks with billing processes can be both time-consuming & prone to errors. Inefficient billing systems will lead to delayed payments, billing inaccuracies, and an increase in administrative overheads.

Addressing challenges with Healthcare CRM

Integrated Patient Records: Healthcare CRM systems provide a centralized platform to store as well as manage patient data. By integrating information from several sources, CRM software makes sure that healthcare providers can access the entire and up-to-date patient record and this enhances the accuracy of treatment plans & diagnoses.

CRM Creatio - a low-code CRM software suite for businesses is being implemented in the pharmaceutical sector in order to provide excellent patient care. CRM Creatio renders users with a comprehensive CRM database and several other modules & automation tools.

“Dynamics 365 Business Central centralizes your data from multiple sources like accounting, sales, purchasing, inventory, and customer interactions to get an accurate end-to-end idea of the individual business. All data stays up to date so managers can spot trends, prevent issues and deliver great customer experiences,” says Manish Godha, Founder & CEO, Advaiya.

Streamlined Communication: CRM helps facilitate seamless communication among several healthcare professionals while centralized messaging systems and real-time updates make sure that all the team members are on the same page, which helps in enhancing collaboration and reducing the risk of miscommunication.

“AI continues to reshape CRM and CX; a solid traditional tech foundation is the cornerstone of success. Businesses must focus on establishing and strengthening this foundation before fully harnessing the power of AI to enhance customer relationships and operational efficiency. The AI revolution is underway, and those who build on a strong tech foundation will reap the greatest rewards," Ravi Kumar, Partner Director at Cubastion Consulting, said.

Efficient Appointment scheduling & follow-ups: Healthcare CRM helps in automating appointment scheduling, as well as reminding the patients & notifying healthcare providers of any modifications. Hence this reduces the opportunities of missed appointments and optimizes the major use of healthcare resources.

Netsuite CRM – a top software tool that offers companies a 360-degree CRM view in real-time. Netsuite CRM is also famous among healthcare & healthcare-related organizations and these include Texas-based Recover Healthcare Corporation and AyurVAID Hospitals in India.

Enhanced Patient Engagement: CRM systems facilitate personalized communication with patients via targeted educational content & automated messaging; while healthcare providers could engage patients in their care plans, enhancing adherence & overall health outcomes.

Monday.com CRM an all-in-one digital business suite is also HIPAA compliant and therefore it is used largely in healthcare settings and the key features are task management, patient management, etc.

Streamlined Billing Processes: Healthcare CRM comprises billing modules which automate billing processes and decrease administrative burdens and this results in quicker reimbursement, by reducing billing errors, allowing healthcare providers to mainly focus on patient care.

“Our customers are consistently evaluating and working to simplify their complicated technology portfolio and are looking to us to help them be more productive and efficient. These new bundles provide the best of Salesforce to help our customers across industries move faster, reduce complexity, and better compete with the latest technology as they navigate this new AI era,” said Bill Patterson, EVP of corporate strategy, Salesforce.

In conclusion, healthcare CRMs are imperative tools for today’s healthcare companies that aim to render patient-centric care, enhance operational efficiency as well as adapt to the growing landscape of healthcare delivery.