However, for many providers, trust is steadily eroding, affecting response rates, patient engagement and outcomes. With the influx of scam texts, unverified messages and impersonal communication, patients are wary of every message they receive, often dismissing them as spam. The result? Missed appointments, unaddressed health concerns and a growing gap in the provider-patient relationship.

But there’s good news. With strategic tools like Artera’s Branded Messaging and AI-powered patient engagement solutions, providers can rise above the noise, rebuild patient trust and improve response rates. By creating a recognizable, secure and branded communication experience, providers can create meaningful connections with their patients.

Why Trust in Healthcare (and Patient Communication) is Dwindling

Trust in the healthcare industry is dwindling. Patient communication could play a factor in this: while text messaging is one of the most direct and powerful ways to reach patients today, the rise of spam and short-code messages has transformed this once-reliable communication channel into a cause of frustration for many. Consider these key statistics from our latest Trends in Patient Engagement report:

• 71% of patients report an increase in texts from unfamiliar numbers, which often seem like scams.
• 87% are less likely to read messages from numbers they don’t instantly recognize.
• 56% miss critical healthcare communications due to confusion about the sender.

Patients are inundated with irrelevant or untrustworthy content, leaving them skeptical of messages even from legitimate healthcare providers. This breakdown in communication impacts everything from appointment attendance to adherence to care plans, ultimately harming both patient outcomes and provider revenue.

For healthcare providers, the stakes couldn’t be higher. It’s time to regain trust and deliver communication that truly resonates.

What Is Branded Messaging?

Branded messaging is the next level of sending SMS notifications to patients. It elevates patient communication by incorporating institution-specific branding elements, such as logos, custom images and a recognizable sender name. These visual cues immediately signal reliability and professionalism, distinguishing a provider’s messages from spam or generic short-code texts. Healthcare organizations also gain the ability to send interactive and personalized notifications, supporting a more cohesive and patient-friendly experience.

Artera’s Branded Messaging feature exemplifies these capabilities. The service integrates features like end-to-end encryption for secure communications, link previews for added interactivity and Wifi-enabled messaging to ensure delivery under varying conditions. With such robust features, healthcare providers can move beyond outdated communication methods to foster meaningful engagement.

How Branded Messaging Restores Patient Engagement and Trust in Healthcare

1. Custom Branding Improves Message Reception

Think about the overwhelming influx of messages patients receive daily—from telemarketers, subscription services and even fraudulent actors. For many, any message from an unverified sender is immediately dismissed.

With Branded Messaging, each message includes your organization’s logo, name and relevant imagery. This personalization reassures patients about the sender’s identity, fostering trust and encouraging engagement.

Messages might include: Pre-surgery preparation instructions from a trusted, verified source or appointment reminders with your clinic’s branding and direct response options.

According to our latest Trends in Patient Engagement Report, 87% of patients are less likely to engage with unfamiliar numbers, yet 89% are more likely to interact when they see a branded, trusted sender.

By using recognizable sender information and including healthcare-specific branding, patients are able to quickly identify that a message is authentic and important. When patients trust the content of messages, they are far more likely to read, respond and take action, such as attending an appointment or completing pre-visit paperwork.

2. Use of Recognizable 10-Digit Numbers

Patients are far more likely to trust and engage with messages from long-code phone numbers, as they perceive them as legitimate.

• 89% of patients prefer messages from a known number over anonymous short codes.
• Providers using recognizable numbers see a 79% improvement in response rates compared to short codes.

Artera enhances personalization by enabling providers to tailor messages based on patient demographics, appointment types or department-specific goals. For instance, a patient coordinating follow-up care with an orthopedic specialist can receive branded texts providing step-by-step instructions for recovery. Not only does this offer convenience, but it also instills confidence in the provider’s expertise.

3. Interactive Elements Foster Trust in Healthcare

Branded Messaging also goes beyond static communication by incorporating interactive features:

• Secure link previews for accessing detailed instructions or payments.
• Read receipts so providers know the message has been delivered and engaged with.
• End-to-end encryption ensuring patient data remains private and protected.

By blending technology with trust, Branded Messaging transforms routine notifications into meaningful, two-way conversations – which is what patients are seeking.

Our Trends in Patient Engagement Report notes that 64% of patients prefer conversational, two-way interactions over basic automated texts. This isn’t surprising—charming, conversational messaging creates a sense of care and empathy, values that patients expect from their providers.

The Impact of Trustworthy Messaging on Patient Response Rates

The benefits of building trust and improving patient communication extend beyond patient engagement. Here are just a few measurable outcomes from adopting Branded Messaging and verified strategies:

Higher Response Rates: Patients are more likely to act on messages they trust. From confirming appointments to following pre- or post-care instructions, trusted communication simplifies the path to compliance.

Greater adherence & improved health outcomes: When patients trust their providers, they are more likely to attend appointments, complete instructions, adhere to care plans and even pay their bill on time. This reduces preventable health issues and creates a positive care experience.

Stronger Provider-Patient Relationships: Trust in healthcare is integral to building loyalty. According to our latest Trends in Patient Engagement report, 63% of patients are willing to switch providers who don’t meet their communication expectations. When providers invest in better patient engagement tools, they create relationships that last.

How You Can Take Action Today

The path to improving engagement starts with intentional communication strategies and trust-building tools. Here’s how you can begin:

1. Optimize Your Communication Channels

Ensure every SMS or email you send originates from a recognizable number and incorporates your branding. Patients should recognize and trust your messages at first glance.

2. Invest in Branded Messaging

Implement tools like Artera’s Branded Messaging to transform communication from transactional to relational. From appointment reminders to personalized care updates, Branded Messaging delivers a seamless and trusted patient experience.

3. Explore AI-Powered Tools

Artificial Intelligence is a game changer in healthcare. AI-driven agents can triage patient inquiries, handle routine tasks and allow staff more time to engage in meaningful, human-centered care.

4. Measure and Iterate

Track key metrics like response rates, patient satisfaction and missed appointments. Use this data to refine your strategies and identify new opportunities for growth.

Build Patient Trust, Build Better Care

Patients today expect communication that mirrors the experiences they have in retail, travel and banking. When providers can rise to meet these expectations, the results speak for themselves. Enhanced response rates, improved engagement and better health outcomes are all within reach when trust forms the foundation of communication.

Want to learn more about how you can improve patient trust and engagement? Check out Artera’s Branded Messaging solution, here.

The post Branded Messaging: The Secret to Greater Response Rates and Trust in Healthcare appeared first on Artera.

This blog will help you understand what AI agents in healthcare are, their impact within health systems and how organizations like Artera are shaping the future of agentic AI within patient engagement. Let’s first start with the basics:

What Are AI Agents in Healthcare?

“AI agent” refers to a system that is capable of autonomously or independently performing tasks on behalf of a user or another system by designing its workflow and utilizing available tools. Far from basic chatbots, today’s AI agents are dynamic, engaging and capable of handling multi-faceted tasks across various healthcare functions. We believe there are broadly three types of AI agents within healthcare, which we will break down further in the blog:

• Administrative and Operational
• Ambience Voice / AI Medical Note-Taking
• Clinical Decision Support

Leveraging advanced technologies such as natural language processing (NLP), machine learning and integration with Electronic Health Records (EHRs), these AI-powered agents assist in patient interactions, workflow automation and operational efficiency. Given the many benefits of the technology, it’s safe to say that AI agents are where healthcare is headed, especially in terms of patient communication.

Key Characteristics of Healthcare AI Agents:

• Autonomous Decision-Making: Analyze vast amounts of data to make evidence-based decisions.
• Multi-Language Support: Interact with diverse patient populations in their preferred language.
• Contextual Understanding: Engage in complex, natural conversations based on context.
• End-to-End Capabilities: From scheduling appointments to managing billing queries, AI agents offer comprehensive support.

With the potential to optimize processes and create personalized patient experiences, AI agents enable healthcare systems to shift from reactive to proactive care while alleviating administrative burdens and reducing staff workload.

How Providers Are Using AI Agents in Healthcare

AI agents unlock potential across a wide array of healthcare functions, including patient communication, operations, and care delivery. As we mentioned before, there are three types of AI agents in healthcare:

• Administrative and Operational: streamline administrative tasks (scheduling and billing) and also serve as virtual assistants, guiding patients through appointment scheduling and engagement
• Ambience voice / AI medical note-taking: automate and enhance clinical documentation by converting patient-clinician conversation into structured clinical notes in real-time
• Clinical Decision Support: Enhance clinical decisions via predictive analysis, personalized treatment plan, info retrieval, remote monitoring and more

To break this down even further, let’s outline a few ways AI agents in healthcare are making an impact:

1. Customer Service and Patient Engagement

AI agents are transforming patient communication by creating seamless, real-time interactions.

• Scheduling and Rescheduling: Automatically coordinate appointments based on patient preferences and provider availability.
• Billing Assistance: Resolve payment queries and generate invoices efficiently.
• Guided Navigation: Help patients with secure password resets or connecting with referrals.

AI examples like Artera’s AI agents deliver these services, engaging patients in clear, empathetic and efficient conversations.

2. Administrative Workflows

AI agents lighten the burden of repetitive administrative tasks, freeing up valuable staff time.

• Automation of Routine Processes: Tasks such as appointment reminders, intake forms and insurance pre-authorizations are handled effortlessly.
• Resource Allocation: Optimize scheduling staff to place human effort where it matters most.

This combination of efficiency and accuracy ensures smoother operations across healthcare systems.

3. Clinical Support

AI agents assist providers by analyzing medical histories, imaging or genetic profiles to offer real-time insights.

• Data Analysis: Aid in early disease detection and personalized treatment recommendations.
• Enhanced Precision Medicine: Leverage patient data for tailored treatments and predictive analytics.

AI’s ability to support decision-making empowers providers to deliver informed, compassionate care.

4. Patient Monitoring and Predictive Care

AI-driven technologies enable continuous patient monitoring and early detection of potential health issues.

• Smart wearables and IoT devices collect real-time health data, alerting providers to changes in patient conditions.
• Predictive algorithms identify at-risk patients, allowing for timely intervention and improved outcomes.

This proactive approach reduces hospital readmissions and enhances overall patient safety.

Benefits of AI Agents for Healthcare

Implementing AI agents offers significant advantages to healthcare organizations looking to improve efficiency and focus on patient-centered care.

1. Streamlined Operations: By automating repetitive tasks, AI agents reduce administrative burdens and shorten workflows, allowing staff to focus on high-impact work.

2. Faster, Data-Driven Decisions: AI’s ability to process vast data sets in real-time helps healthcare providers make more accurate diagnoses and informed decisions.

3. Improved Patient Satisfaction: Engaging AI agents enhance the patient experience by providing faster responses, clearer communication and on-demand assistance.

4. Cost Savings: AI reduces costs by boosting efficiency and optimizing resource allocation, creating opportunities for healthcare systems to do more with less.

The Future of AI Agents with Artera

Artera is transforming how providers integrate AI agents into their operations. Trusted by over 900 healthcare organizations and federal agencies, Artera’s agent-driven solutions are built specifically for healthcare’s unique challenges.

Artera’s AI Agent Offerings

Artera’s AI Agents (voice and text) leverage the leading large language, text-to-speech, speech-to-text and generative voice models to engage patients in a dynamic and completely realistic manner.

We enrich agents with healthcare tuning from our over 2B annual patient engagements, including our validated workflow library, and your proprietary content.

Our AI Agents are purpose-built with multi-language in mind to support a diverse population. The multi-modality (images, videos, etc.) of our agents allows the patients to interact beyond just voice and text, making the experience more humanlike.

Artera empowers providers to scale AI at their own pace. Their three-tier approach ensures flexibility based on specific organizational needs:

• AI Co-Pilots for Staff: Support staff with message shortening, conversation summaries, and real-time language translation, enabling faster and more accurate responses to patient inquiries.
• Flows Agents for Efficiency: Semi-autonomous agents streamline workflows, handling routine tasks while allowing staff to maintain decision-making control.
• Fully Autonomous AI Agents : Acting as a digital workforce, these agents handle complex tasks and operational management, enabling staff to dedicate more time to patient care.

Artera is the “Easy Button” for AI Agents: Artera’s technology makes it seamless to convert your existing deterministic workflows (customer-specific or from our library) into autonomous text & voice agents.

Adrianna Hosford, Chief Communications Officer at Artera, emphasizes the flexibility of their approach, stating, “Our virtual agents are tailored to meet the unique needs of healthcare organizations, prioritizing their comfort level and specific operational goals.”

Why Artera Stands Out

Not all AI agents in healthcare are created equal. Unlike generic AI platforms, Artera leverages over a decade of healthcare expertise and real-world patient engagement data to fine-tune its agents. Features include:

1. Validated Workflow Library from 2 billion annual patient touchpoints.
2. Seamless Integration with EHRs and existing tools.
3. Security First approach, ensuring HIPAA compliance and trusted data handling (no PHI/PII used for training models).

Partner with Artera for Your AI Journey

Artera’s adaptive, scalable solutions are transforming patient engagement and operational efficiency in healthcare. Whether you’re exploring virtual agents for the first time or ready for full-scale deployment, Artera tailors its services to fit your organization’s needs.

We recognize that AI agents are not just the future of patient engagement; they are shaping its present. From automating repetitive processes to delivering personalized patient care, these intelligent agents are revolutionizing the industry.

Don’t get left behind. Book a demo with Artera to learn more about how Artera’s AI solutions can transform your organization.

Ashu Agte, Artera’s Chief Technology Officer, summarizes it best, “This is just the beginning. As technology grows, we will lead the charge in advancing AI for enhanced patient outcomes and operational success.”

The post AI Agents in Healthcare: Here’s What You Need to Know appeared first on Artera.

We spoke with Guillaume de Zwirek, CEO and Co-Founder of Artera, to discuss why agentic AI is gaining traction, how it’s being deployed across the industry and what the future holds for this innovative technology.

The Case for Agentic AI in Healthcare

Q: Why do you think providers are showing heightened interest in agentic AI now?

Guillaume de Zwirek: From my daily conversations with providers, it’s clear that agentic AI is gaining interest for two primary reasons. First, there’s financial pressure. Persistently high interest rates and increases in reimbursement pressures are forcing healthcare organizations to rethink how they allocate resources. Second, there’s a fear of being left behind. AI has been dominating the media, creating urgency among healthcare providers who want to stay in step with innovation.

That said, every provider is at a different stage in their AI adoption journey. There are those “window shopping,” fighting to stay relevant with their boards and teams, while others are enthusiasts ready to build an agentic workforce. Regardless of where they stand now, one thing is abundantly clear: agentic AI will play an integral role in the patient experience in the future.

Q: What common use cases are you seeing for agentic AI and where does it have the most potential?

Guillaume de Zwirek: There are a few natural places where agentic AI in healthcare has potential, and is particularly promising in areas like call centers with specific use cases, such as scheduling, billing support, test results and Rx refills or management. These use cases have the potential to save thousands to millions of dollars, in addition to improving operational efficiency while giving patients quicker and more empathetic support.

For example, our team at Artera has already seen tremendous success with our Co-Pilots. Healthcare providers can save revenue and countless hours of staff time in these areas while dramatically improving the patient experience.

How Artera is Leading the Charge in Agentic AI

Q: How is Artera contributing to the adoption of agentic AI in healthcare?

Guillaume de Zwirek: At Artera, we meet healthcare organizations wherever they are in their AI journeys. Whether they’re testing AI’s potential or jumping in with both feet, our solutions allow them to seamlessly integrate agentic AI into their daily operations at their own pace.

We offer three distinct agentic solutions:

1. Co-Pilots: Tools that support human staff by helping automate and streamline patient communications.
2. Flow Agents: Rules-based agents that supercharge your staff, streamlining workflows and automating routine tasks.
3. AI Agents: Fully autonomous, intelligent agents (voice and text) that streamline operations and support decision-making (working alongside your team).

With these tools, we aim to redefine patient interaction and operational efficiency while addressing the unique challenges healthcare providers face.

Q: What sets Artera apart from other AI-powered virtual agent companies?

Guillaume de Zwirek: The agentic AI market today is noisy, with many companies claiming to offer similar services. Providers should focus on three factors to distinguish the best players:

• Rich integration capabilities with their EHR systems.
• Proven market distribution that allows for quick activation.
• Validated workflow experience that ensures the AI is ready for healthcare, not being “trained in real-time” using providers as guinea pigs.

Since the tech itself (AI agents) is generally commoditized and not a huge differentiator, healthcare providers should look for differentiation based on those factors – in addition to cost.

At Artera, we’ve built our solutions directly for healthcare, leveraging decades of industry expertise. This dedication has helped us gain the trust of over 900 healthcare organizations and 100+ providers already using our Co-Pilots.

A Closer Look at Artera’s AI Co-Pilots

Q: What exactly are Artera’s Co-Pilots, and what do they do?

Guillaume de Zwirek: Our Co-Pilots include two AI-powered solutions designed specifically for healthcare teams. I talk with providers every day who are working hard to deliver a great experience to their patients and drive organizational growth. But sometimes, it feels like a zero-sum game. Our solutions are built to support meeting patient needs while also driving operational efficiency and revenue growth. Providers shouldn’t have to choose one or the other.

1. The Staff AI Co-Pilot: Helps healthcare staff manage patient communications faster and more accurately. It includes three skills – with more coming. The language capability, in particular, eliminates language as a barrier to care, instantly making a provider’s patient access team fluent in more than 100 languages.

“One of the stickiest features of the Staff Co-Pilot is the language translation. We’re seeing thousands of real-time language translations into Spanish, Chinese (Cantonese & Mandarin), Vietnamese, Arabic, Russian, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, and Pashtun, and many more,” said de Zwirek.

1. The Insights AI Co-Pilot: Designed to help healthcare organizations make data-driven decisions, this Co-Pilot analyzes patient engagement data to provide actionable insights and timely recommendations via the Artera Homepage.

Overall, these tools empower healthcare teams to work more efficiently while delivering higher-quality patient care. Today, over 85 healthcare providers have deployed the Artera Staff AI Co-Pilot, and nearly 30 healthcare organizations have deployed the Artera Insights Co-Pilot. In total, the two Artera Harmony Co-Pilots have been deployed by more than 100 healthcare providers, while we continue to attract market interest and onboard new customers.

Q: What kind of feedback have you received on these tools?

Guillaume de Zwirek: The feedback from healthcare providers has been overwhelmingly positive. Staff using the Staff AI Co-Pilot consistently report that it “makes their jobs easier.” Meanwhile, users of the Insights AI Co-Pilot describe it as “effective at meeting their needs” and “valuable for simplifying workloads.”

One success story comes from Micheal Young, VP of Operations at Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic. He shared how the Staff Co-Pilot allows his team to seamlessly translate inbound and outbound messages, freeing up time for meaningful patient interactions. This kind of feedback reinforces the impact our solutions are having across the industry.

“The Staff Co-Pilot has been an invaluable tool in strengthening our connection with our patients,” Micheal Young, vice president of operations at Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic, said in a statement. “It allows our staff to seamlessly translate inbound and outbound messages, freeing up more time to focus on meaningful, high-value patient interactions.”

Interested in Learning More About Agentic AI in Healthcare?

Agentic AI is shaping the future of healthcare by enhancing efficiency, reducing costs and improving patient outcomes. Artera enhances every stage of the patient journey with AI-powered virtual agents (voice and text) designed for healthcare. Trusted by 900+ provider organizations—including specialty groups, FQHCs, large IDNs, and federal agencies—our virtual agents support front desk staff, streamline workflows, and engage 100 million patients annually.

Interested in seeing how Artera’s AI-powered tools can enhance your operations and workforce? Schedule a demo today and experience the benefits of AI-powered virtual agents firsthand.

The post Why Now for Agentic AI in Healthcare: A Q&A with Guillaume de Zwirek appeared first on Artera.

To improve patient engagement today, effective digital patient communication is no longer optional—and directly affects loyalty, outcomes and revenue. Many providers have taken the first steps by incorporating text messaging into their patient outreach strategies. However, research from our new report, “Patient Engagement Today: Key Trends Shaping Patient-Provider Communication,” confirms that telemarketing, spam or fraudulent SMS messages from unverified numbers can overwhelm patients, causing them to disengage or miss messages they truly do want to read. Additionally, automated texts with defined responses like “yes” or “1” are not cutting it today.

Our takeaway: automated text messaging via short-codes (providing limited responses) is falling short, frustrating patients and creating communication barriers in healthcare. Small, meaningful changes you make to patient-provider communication today can dramatically improve patient experience, engagement and care outcomes. Let’s talk about it.

The Promise of Healthcare Text Messaging

Texting holds immense potential to transform patient communication and engagement. By providing timely information, updates and personalized post-visit care, it can improve appointment adherence, medication compliance and overall health outcomes. Text messaging offers a simple, accessible way to bridge the gap between healthcare providers and patients, ensuring important information is delivered directly to their fingertips. As a cost-effective and efficient tool, it empowers patients to stay informed and connected, fostering better relationships and trust with their care teams.

Overall, it’s a simple, efficient and great way to connect with busy patients. After all, research from our new report, “Patient Engagement Today,” shows that 82% of patients find value in texting their healthcare providers.

After further research, however, we found that not all text messages are created equal – and some are driving patient frustration and even communication barriers in healthcare.

Spam & Fraudulent Messaging Are on the Rise (Cue the Patient Frustration!)

With the rise in fraudulent and spam messages, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for patients to distinguish legitimate communication. As a result, many are missing important messages simply because they don’t recognize the sender. For healthcare providers, this poses a significant challenge: when messages come from unfamiliar or inconsistent numbers, patients are more likely to overlook them—even when the information is timely and essential.

According to our new report, “Patient Engagement Today,” most patients (71%) report an increase in text messages from unfamiliar numbers, which often seem like scams. Among them, 87% say they are less likely to read messages from numbers they don’t immediately recognize.

This growing trend is fueled by businesses increasingly relying on “short-codes” — five- or six-digit numbers — to communicate with patients, instead of traditional 10-digit phone numbers. Short-codes have become the status quo in healthcare (among many other industries). While these texts might seem harmless – and like a logical solution for providers – they’re alienating patients due to several key issues.

Approximately three-quarters (76%) of patients say they’ve noticed the volume of short-code text messages increasing over the last five years, which is leading to frustration. Of that group:

• 89% of patients find them disruptive 

• 65% of patients admit they often pay less attention to them

• 56% of those who pay less attention to them report missing important information 

These numbers are significant and the limitations don’t just frustrate patients; they actively harm care delivery as patients often ignore or dismiss short-code messages, leading to missed appointments, unpaid bills and incomplete care plans.

But patients are frustrated with more than just the short-code text message avalanche. It’s the one-way or automated, limited responses that are truly driving communication barriers in healthcare.

How You (Text) Message Matters

As patient expectations evolve, so must the tools healthcare providers use to engage them.

The days of transactional Y or N text exchanges are gone, and patients are demanding more from their providers. Based on our new report, most patients (55%) reported instances of frustration when they could only respond to automated texts with set answers like “yes” or “1”. 

Of that group, 74% said they ended up having to call their provider’s office anyway, defeating the whole purpose behind text messaging of improving the patient experience and reducing staff burden. 

Furthermore, three-quarters (76%) of patients believe the ability to initiate a conversation with their provider’s office via text about any topic would improve their healthcare experience. This means that providers that prioritize conversational texting approaches tailored to patients’ needs will stand out in delivering a better experience.

According to Deloitte research, hospitals with “high patient-reported experience” scores have higher profitability (3-4% higher net margin). 

Providers Must Move Beyond Basic Texting to Foster Engagement and Strengthen Trust

For providers, these insights are substantial, giving clear guidance on how to move forward: conversational, two-way texting from a recognizable 10-digit phone number that can be programmed into patients’ phones will help break through the noise of spam and fraudulent messaging and ease patient frustration around automated, pre-defined text messages. By embracing AI-powered patient engagement strategies, providers will be able to meaningfully engage with patients while improving staff workload.

Nearly nine in 10 (89%) of patients are more likely to engage if they receive a text from their provider with the same 10-digit phone number. In addition:

By evolving beyond impersonal short-codes and embracing 10-digit phone numbers that patients recognize and trust, providers can significantly enhance engagement and rebuild confidence in text messaging as a reliable communication channel. Prioritizing familiarity and personalization not only strengthens the provider-patient relationship but also ensures critical information is delivered, received and acted upon—improving both patient outcomes, operational efficiency and provider revenue. 

Why Patient Communication Matters More Than Ever

Poor communication isn’t just a mild inconvenience. It has tangible consequences for patient health and provider success.

• Declining Health Outcomes: Patients often skip or delay appointments due to communication frustrations. More than 47% of patients report avoiding scheduling altogether when they struggle to connect with their providers, with 61% saying these delays negatively impacted their health.
• Patient Dissatisfaction and Loyalty Risks: Today’s patients expect the same seamless, personalized experiences they receive in other industries like retail or banking. A full 63% of patients say they are willing to switch providers over poor communication experiences—a percentage that rises significantly among younger, tech-savvy individuals.
• Provider Revenue at Stake: Missed appointments, unpaid bills, and poor engagement all impact a provider’s bottom line. For example, 30% of patients admit that difficulties communicating by text have led to forgotten or missed bill payments—88% of whom say better communication could have solved the issue.

AI-powered communication (including virtual agents, both voice and text) is no longer a minor operational need; it is a strategic necessity for quality care and maintaining a competitive edge.

Download the full report here to learn more about how you can enhance your patient engagement using AI-powered strategies that work.

About the Report:

The report surveyed 1,000+ U.S. patients who are responsible for their own healthcare decisions and have engaged with the healthcare system over the last 12 months. All respondents reported they have communicated with a healthcare provider via text messaging. 

The post Not All Text Messages Are Created Equal (Some Are Driving Communication Barriers in Healthcare) appeared first on Artera.

Fortunately, automated messaging is changing the game in healthcare. With tools like Artera Pulse Outreach, providers can now streamline patient communication, close care gaps and drive better outcomes—all while reducing administrative workloads. This blog will explore key use cases of automated patient messaging, discuss its benefits, and provide insights on how it can revolutionize healthcare practices.

Why Automated Messaging is Essential in Healthcare

Automated messaging offers seamless communication at scale, solving some of the biggest challenges in the healthcare system:

• Inefficient Communication: Relying on manual phone calls or emails often results in missed connections and wasted resources.
• High Manual Effort: Administrative teams spend excessive time reaching out to patients, leading to bottlenecks and burnout.
• Engagement Challenges: Keeping patients informed and engaged can be daunting, especially for hard-to-reach populations.

Automated messaging saves time, improves efficiency and creates more personalized interactions across a variety of healthcare settings. Here are some of the most impactful use cases.

Use Cases for Automated Messaging in Healthcare

1. Care Gap Closure

Open care gaps—like missed screenings or follow-up appointments—can lead to poor health outcomes, higher costs, and strain on healthcare resources. Automated messaging platforms like Artera Pulse Outreach enable providers to bridge these gaps effectively.

Example Use Case from Artera Customer: A large health system used automated workflows to schedule Annual Wellness Visits for Medicare patients. Within two months, they achieved a 20% conversion rate, even targeting populations that were previously unresponsive. The result? Increased compliance with care guidelines and improved patient outcomes.

With dynamic list generation and customizable workflows, automated outreach can significantly improve patient adherence to preventive care measures such as mammograms, colonoscopies, or vaccinations.

2. Pre- and Post-Visit Communication

Automated messaging ensures patients are fully prepared for their visits and follow through with aftercare instructions—both of which are critical for better outcomes.

• Pre-Visit Communication: Before a procedure or appointment, patients can receive reminders, preparation instructions, or even digital forms to fill out in advance.

For example:: “Hi [Patient Name], your appointment for [Procedure] is scheduled on [Date]. Please follow these preparation steps for a smooth procedure.”

• Post-Visit Follow-Ups: After an appointment, automated messages can provide recovery tips, satisfaction surveys, or links to schedule necessary follow-ups.

This approach leads to fewer no-shows, better-prepared patients and improved care experiences.

Example Use Case from Artera Customer: Newton Clinic, a multi-specialty provider in Iowa, automated post-visit follow-up surveys to patients, improving its Google rating from 2.3 to 3.5 stars in four months.

3. Medication Adherence

Non-adherence to medications is a critical issue in healthcare, contributing to poorer outcomes and higher costs. Automated reminders can take the burden off staff and keep patients on track.

Example: Patients managing chronic conditions can receive personalized reminders, such as:

“Time for your next dose of [Medication]. Staying consistent helps improve your results! Contact us if you have questions.”

These reminders ensure continuity of care and reduce risks tied to missed medications.

4. Vaccine Outreach

Proactively reaching out to patients for vaccinations—like flu shots or COVID-19 boosters—boosts compliance and protects population health. By leveraging EMR data, automated messaging tools identify eligible patients and send timely, personalized reminders. Campaign performance can then be tracked to refine future outreach efforts.

5. Chronic Condition Management

Managing chronic conditions like diabetes or hypertension requires consistent monitoring and guidance. Automated messaging can send check-ins, educational content, or prompts for patients to report their vitals. This promotes ongoing engagement and enables care teams to intervene when necessary.

For instance: “Hi [Patient Name], how are your blood sugar levels today? Reply with your latest reading, and we’ll follow up if needed.”

6. Custom Campaigns for Patient Engagement

Healthcare providers can deploy targeted campaigns for specific demographics—whether it’s promoting well-child visits, annual physicals, or early cancer screening programs. Automated platforms like Artera Pulse Outreach allow for dynamic lists and tailored workflows, ensuring maximum reach and impact.

Example Use Case from Artera Customer: Lakeside Community Healthcare sent reminders to parents for back-to-school checkups with a message encouraging them to schedule well-child visits. Example message below:

“School is just around the corner! Schedule a well-child visit to get your kids ready for the year ahead.”

Such campaigns align with both patient needs and organizational goals.

Benefits of Automated Messaging for Healthcare

Automated messaging delivers immense value for both providers and patients:

For Providers:

• Reduces Administrative Burden: By automating routine communication, administrative staff can focus on higher-value tasks.
• Improves Efficiency: Organizations can engage with large patient populations without increasing effort.
• Optimizes Care Outcomes: Timely outreach ensures patients get preventive care, follow-up visits, or prescription refills.
• Data-Driven Insights: Platforms like Artera Pulse Outreach provide analytics to track campaign effectiveness and continuously improve strategies.

For Patients:

• Enhances Engagement: Personalized and timely communication builds trust and keeps patients informed.
• Improves Accessibility: Automated messaging meets patients where they are—on their phones or email—making it easier for them to respond.
• Promotes Better Health: Patients are more likely to follow appointment schedules, medication routines, and care plans.

A Trusted Solution: Artera Pulse Outreach

If you’re ready to elevate your approach to patient communication, Artera Pulse Outreach is a game-changer. This tool offers:

• Flexible Integrations with unlimited data sources, including EMRs, CRMs, and population health platforms.
• Dynamic Workflows for personalized engagement and seamless messaging across various use cases.
• Comprehensive Analytics to track deliverability, patient responses, appointment conversions, and more.
• Set-and-Forget Campaigns to automate outreach on any desired schedule—days, months, or years ahead.

Learn more about Artera Pulse Outreach here.

Elevate Patient Care with Automated Messaging

Automated messaging isn’t just a tool for efficiency—it’s a catalyst for better patient care, improved outcomes, and stronger relationships between healthcare providers and patients. By addressing pain points like inefficient communication, high manual effort, and lack of engagement, healthcare organizations can unlock new levels of performance and impact.

Start your automation journey today with Artera Pulse Outreach and experience the benefits firsthand. Visit our Pulse Outreach page to learn more and take the first step toward modernizing your patient communication.

The post Use Cases for Automated Messaging in Healthcare appeared first on Artera.

With dynamic lists, providers can transform their patient outreach by addressing the inefficiencies and challenges of manual list management, encouraging recurring outreach that automatically refreshes based on data cohorts and imports. In this blog, we’ll uncover why dynamic lists are so important to improving patient outreach and staff efficiency, and how Artera Pulse Outreach exemplifies the potential of such tools.

The Challenge of Manual Lists

Imagine this: It’s November 20. As a staff member, you make a query for all women in your patient base eligible for a mammogram as of today. Here’s what makes a patient eligible: hasn’t had a mammogram in the last 12 months, has turned 65, is older than 65 in the last 12 months, or isn’t scheduled for one in the coming six months. Let’s say today, Jane Smith turned 65 and has not had a mammogram. She’s eligible! If the original campaign went out on November 17, however, Jane wouldn’t have gotten a message. Let’s say you run the query again next Monday. Jane Smith still wouldn’t have made it, since your team manually generates a new list every month.

Then there’s another patient: Tori Martin. Tori received the first outreach and booked a mammogram in six weeks. But next Monday, she receives the same message asking her to schedule a mammogram – despite booking one last week!

Here is the trouble with manual lists – since they aren’t updated automatically, patients either keep receiving the same messages until the team manually updates it, or eligible patients fall through the cracks as messaging gets delayed.

Inefficient Outreach

In the world of patient outreach, time is of the essence. Manual list management often results in delays, as staff are tasked with updating and maintaining static lists. This inefficiency means that patients may not receive timely communications, which can lead to gaps in care. In an era where patient engagement is key to successful health outcomes, these delays can have significant ramifications.

Data Management Challenges

Healthcare providers handle vast amounts of patient data, and managing this data manually can be overwhelming. Manual lists require constant updating to ensure information is current and actionable. This process is not only time-consuming but also prone to human error. Incorrect or outdated information can lead to miscommunications and missed opportunities for patient engagement.

High Staff Workload

The manual management of patient lists contributes to an already heavy workload for healthcare staff. Frontline workers are stretched thin, dedicating hours to tasks that could be automated. This not only leads to burnout but also diverts attention away from more strategic patient care initiatives.

Understanding Dynamic Lists

What Are Dynamic Lists?

Dynamic lists are an innovative solution designed to automate and optimize patient outreach. Unlike static lists, which require manual updates, dynamic lists automatically refresh and update based on predefined criteria, data cohorts and imports. This ensures that the most accurate and relevant information is always available for outreach efforts.

How Do Dynamic Lists Work?

Dynamic lists integrate seamlessly with existing systems, such as electronic medical records (EMR) and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. They pull data from these sources to continuously update patient lists – all based on criteria you can manage on the backend. This automation allows healthcare providers to focus on delivering timely and personalized communications without the burden of manual list management.

Bridging Gaps with Dynamic Lists

Enhancing Patient Outcomes

Dynamic lists are vital in bridging care gaps, which can lead to improved patient outcomes. By ensuring patients receive timely and relevant communications, healthcare providers can drive preventative care measures and reduce the strain on healthcare systems.

Increasing Efficiency in Healthcare

By adopting dynamic lists, healthcare organizations can significantly increase operational efficiency. Automation reduces manual workload, allowing staff to focus on higher-value tasks and improving overall patient care.

Driving Revenue and Value-Based Care

Dynamic lists contribute to better performance in value-based contracts by boosting patient engagement and adherence to care plans. This adherence translates into improved health outcomes and increased revenue for healthcare providers.

Set and Forget Your Bulk Patient Messaging

Artera Pulse Outreach, a comprehensive tool designed to enhance patient outreach, is a prime example of how dynamic lists can significantly improve your team’s efficiency. With this new product, designed for self-service configuration, you can “set and forget” campaign outreach to your desired patient population with high accuracy, as lists are ingested and refreshed automatically.

Once you query your registry systems, you can maintain an accurate recipient list, as there is a regular pass of data to Artera via SFTP, which supports any cadence (by the hour, day, month or year). With Artera Pulse Outreach, patients who “fall off the list” do not receive subsequent messages, and patients who become eligible between outreaches are automatically added to the list.

With a focus on bridging care gaps and improving patient outcomes, Artera Pulse Outreach empowers healthcare providers to manage their outreach efforts efficiently and effectively.

Other Features of Artera Pulse Outreach

• Automated Bulk Messaging: Leverage automated messaging to reach patients at scale, ensuring timely communications.
• Flexible Integration: Seamlessly integrate with unlimited data sources, including EMR and CRM systems.
• Comprehensive Reporting: Track the effectiveness of outreach campaigns with detailed analytics.
• Personalized Communication: Customize outreach messages to meet the unique needs of each patient group with custom recipient links, images and files.

Whether you want to get patients to schedule the care they need, inform patients of opportunities or general advice, or get patients to engage with specific technologies or programs, Artera Pulse Outreach is the tool you need.

Automated Bulk Messaging is the Future

Dynamic lists are transforming patient outreach – are you taking advantage of this just yet? By automating and optimizing the outreach process, healthcare providers can enhance patient engagement, improve outcomes and streamline operations. Artera Pulse Outreach exemplifies the potential of dynamic lists, offering a powerful tool for healthcare organizations seeking to elevate their outreach efforts.

Want to learn more about Artera Pulse Outreach? Please contact us at sales@artera.io or check out the Artera Pulse Outreach Datasheet.

The post How Dynamic Lists Improve Patient Outreach Efficiency appeared first on Artera.

According to our research, large health systems typically depend on more than 11 digital health vendors, each independently communicating with patients through various channels. Different departments often manage these interactions, resulting in a lack of awareness and coordination of messages that can hinder the patient experience.

In an effort to address these challenges, an Artera Heartbeat’24 panel brought together industry leaders to discuss innovative solutions for integrating vendors to create a thriving ecosystem and improve the patient experience. 

Hosted by Zach Wood, Chief Product Officer at Artera, the panel featured insights from Amy Partilla, Digital Engagement Consultant at Hackensack Meridian Health, Marcy McDonald, Nursing Informatics Manager at Uintah Basin Healthcare, Chelsea Simon, Chief Operating Officer of Advanced Pain Care, and David Wright, CEO and Founder of Disruptive Innovations.

These four panelists have rejected the status quo of fragmented, patient communications. Instead, they’re on a journey to create a thriving ecosystem of vendor partners with us at Artera, bringing them together to create a seamless patient and staff experience. Let’s take a closer look at the key takeaways from this insightful conversation.

Overcoming Common Obstacles

In an effort to address workforce challenges, reduce costs and improve quality of care, health systems across the nation are increasing their focus on digital and AI transformation. Despite their priorities changing, executing on this transformation has presented major headwinds and relatively slow progress. 

Conducted by McKinsey & Company, a recent survey of 200 health system executives noted the top three challenges to executing digital and AI transformation, including:

1. Budget or capital limitations
2. The digital switch is too challenging (from legacy systems)
3. Workforce not ready to implement new technology

Our Artera Heartbeat’24 panelists weighed in on the subject, agreeing that while vendor integration offers many benefits, the journey to successful integration is often filled with challenges, including: 

Navigating an Abundance of Vendors

For Partilla, one of her organization’s primary challenges is managing the extensive network of vendors they collaborate with. She expressed, “We work with numerous vendors and have multiple channels for communicating with patients. How can we gain a comprehensive overview and ensure we’re not overlapping or creating inefficiencies in our messaging?”

Wright echoed Partilla’s concerns, emphasizing that health systems should thoroughly evaluate every technology they’ve invested in to identify all capabilities, enabling the development of the most effective full-stack solution.

Addressing Legacy Systems

Many healthcare providers rely on legacy systems that are not easily compatible with modern communication technologies, and thus, make the digital switch more complex. Overcoming this challenge requires strategic planning and investment in scalable, interoperable solutions that can integrate seamlessly with existing systems.

Managing Change & Scalability 

Introducing new technology and communication workflows can be met with resistance from staff used to traditional processes. This can create a lack of standardization across a health system, as different departments and areas of the organization use tools differently. Effective change management is essential to ensure smooth transitions and adoption of new technologies. Training programs and clear communication can help staff adapt to the new system.

Success Stories: Creating a More Seamless Patient Experience

Despite various challenges in driving transformation forward, many healthcare organizations have successfully integrated vendor partners to streamline communications and improve the patient experience. Panelists at Artera Heartbeat’24 shared several success stories that offer valuable lessons for other organizations.

Hackensack Meridian Health’s Journey

Partilla discussed Hackensack Meridian Health’s success in reducing communication silos across its network and resolving overlap in messages, which we’re leaving patients confused. “It’s one of those small things that will make a big difference to patients. If they feel like you don’t know the right hand’s talking to the left hand, that’s not going to build confidence in your healthcare system.” By addressing these issues and streamlining communication through Artera Harmony, they have achieved greater consistency in messaging – especially within its surgery module and care gap programs. For example, Hackensack launched a mammography campaign that led to significant increases in booked appointments and revenue, while critically identifying early health issues for many patients.

Advanced Pain Care’s Approach

For Chelsea Simon of Advanced Pain Care, “simplicity for patients and staff was key” when first starting on the journey. By focusing on user-friendly online scheduling through Artera ScheduleCare and conversational messaging, Advanced Pain Care saw a significant decrease in phone call volume and an increase in automated text messages, in addition to greater patient satisfaction. These changes allowed them to reallocate staff resources more efficiently and improve the patient experience.

Uintah Basin Healthcare’s Approach

McDonald shared how Uintah Basin Healthcare, a rural provider, also wanted to start by keeping it relatively simple, as the organization’s providers tend to travel to many places within the community. Ultimately, through the strategic use of vendor integrations, they were able to ensure patients received the right messages at the right time – from one trusted phone number. This has been particularly beneficial in ensuring patients arrive at the correct locations for their appointments, ultimately saving time and resources.

Best Practices for Creating a Thriving Ecosystem

Creating a thriving ecosystem for seamless patient communication requires careful planning and execution. The panelists shared several best practices that can help healthcare organizations achieve this goal.

Start with Patient In Mind 

For Wright, looking at “people, process, technology and methodology across the entire patient experience life cycle is a crucial step” to start out. As the patient journey is not linear, health systems must better understand the intent of the patient, as well as their preferences, instead of merely recreating the same workflows. Take the time to build out and create new processes and workflows that benefit the patient and your operations. Leveraging AI is a potential tool to improve efficiencies. 

Leverage Data to Improve Outcomes

Technology plays a crucial role in effective vendor integration. By leveraging AI-driven solutions and data analytics, organizations can gain insights into patient preferences and communication patterns, enabling them to deliver personalized messages that resonate with patients. For example, Partilla and her team regularly review the Harmony Insights Dashboard to identify opportunities to reduce over-messaging and highlight trends.   

Establish Consistent & Branded Messaging

Organizations should aim to establish a consistent messaging strategy that aligns with their overall goals. This involves mapping out a cohesive framework for patient engagement and ensuring that every communication – regardless of what department it comes from – sounds consistent in tone and voice. 

Engaging Stakeholders Across Departments

Successful integration is a team effort that requires input from various departments. Engaging stakeholders from IT, patient access, care management and compliance ensures that all aspects of communication are considered and optimized for efficiency.

The Journey Continues 

While our panelists are still learning how to navigate their organizations’ patient communication strategies and ecosystems, they are confident their work is paying off toward a better staff and patient experience. By addressing common challenges and leveraging best practices, organizations can successfully integrate vendor partners and create a more streamlined, efficient communication ecosystem. This not only enhances patient experience but also delivers significant financial and operational benefits.

For healthcare providers looking to achieve these objectives, vendor consolidation is a key strategy that can unlock new opportunities for growth and innovation. By investing in the right technologies and engaging stakeholders across departments, organizations can create a patient communication strategy that truly makes a difference.

Explore more about how your organization can benefit from Artera Harmony and the Artera Marketplace. Together, we can create a future where patient communications are seamless, personalized and impactful.

The post Creating a Thriving Ecosystem for a Seamless Patient Experience appeared first on Artera.

While there are many tools around patient scheduling, Artera ScheduleCare is leading the charge in improving access to care for patients and providers with its available scheduling features and functionalities.

Patient Scheduling Essentials

Let’s face it: today’s patients are consumers who expect the same level of service from providers as they do from other industries. They want convenience, accessibility and a user-friendly experience in terms of their healthcare – especially with scheduling their appointments. Here are a few of the patient scheduling essentials to consider when looking at various tools:

24/7 Online Self-Scheduling

Gone are the days when someone calls you from their home phone to schedule an appointment. In fact, 73% of patients expect to be able to schedule online today – and while the convenience is naturally beneficial for the patient, providers also gain value: not only does online scheduling reduce call volume related to scheduling inquiries, but a healthcare organization saves $3-4 for every patient appointment that has been scheduled online.

Additionally, by providing greater access to easy scheduling, providers are more likely to attract and retain more patients. According to an Accenture study, 68% of patients say they are more likely to choose a medical provider that offers the ability to book, change or cancel appointments online.

After implementing ScheduleCare, one healthcare provider found 28% of appointments were scheduled outside of working office hours, highlighting the importance of 24/7 access to flexible online scheduling.

Rule-Based Scheduling Capabilities

Let’s say a patient just moved to a new city: they’re likely searching for a new provider in the area, doing research, and reading reviews. They found two providers that are both highly related – but Provider A has a poor search functionality and requires calling to schedule while Provider B has filtering options – down to the provider specialty, location, insurance type and time. Will the patient go with provider A or B? 

It should come as no surprise that the patient would likely go with Provider B. With the ability to access robust search and filtering options, patients can easily find and book appointments with their preferred providers, leading to greater satisfaction and retention rates. This not only ensures a more personalized experience but is efficient for the staff as well.

Automated Waitlist Management

As most of us are aware, appointments can take weeks – or even months – to get depending on the speciality. But what happens when an appointment opens up? Today, it should be an industry standard that patients immediately get notified if a new appointment slot becomes available at an earlier time.

Automated waitlisting ensures that canceled slots are quickly reassigned, optimizing provider productivity and revenue loss.

Enhanced Interoperability

Interoperability is crucial for online patient scheduling because it ensures seamless integration between different systems, platforms and tools. In a world where businesses rely on multiple software applications to manage operations, having scheduling software that can easily exchange data with various EHRs, CRM systems, and communication tools enhances efficiency and reduces errors. This level of connectivity allows for real-time updates, better coordination across teams, and an improved user experience for both businesses and their clients. Without interoperability, scheduling processes can become fragmented, leading to miscommunications, missed appointments, or duplicated efforts.

Artera ScheduleCare seamlessly integrates with many EHRs, ensuring real-time, discrete read and write capabilities. This means you can trust that your scheduling data is accurate and up-to-date across all systems.

Advanced Pain Care implemented Artera ScheduleCare for online scheduling, replacing its previous scheduling platform with one that had a bidirectional integration with Athena, and allowed seamless, automated live scheduling. According to AJ Correa, Director of IT at Advanced Pain Care, when the Artera team introduced their suite of tools – which included ScheduleCare – it was a “huge relief” as they were seeking these exact solutions. “We need our tools to integrate with our EHR and Artera, which was a main feature of this new suite.”

Unified Experience

When thinking through your patient scheduling tools, consider if it would be helpful to manage all patient communications through one platform. With Artera Harmony, you can integrate all of your efforts – including Artera ScheduleCare – to boost your practice’s efficiency and the patient experience. Create a personalized brand experience with your organization’s colors and logo, and streamline all patient messaging  through a single phone number for a unified patient experience. Leveraging the Unified Communications History and Artera Analytics,  gain valuable insights into appointment trends, patient no-shows rates and more – helping you optimize the patient experience.

Streamline and Optimize Your Appointments

Does your organization offer patient self-scheduling? If not, it may be something to consider. In fact, studies show that 61% of patients skip medical appointments due to scheduling hassles.

With Artera, you can empower your patients through a self-scheduling system that aligns healthcare and convenience. The patient self-scheduling software, Artera ScheduleCare, allows patients to take the reins of their care by enabling them to reschedule and coordinate their appointments independently. It’s a smart move in today’s tech-driven world, where more than 50 percent of consumers prefer text messaging for customer service.

Artera goes beyond just providing a platform for scheduling. It also helps you cut down on no-shows – something that can be a significant setback for healthcare providers. The evidence is clear: Artera clients have seen no-shows drop by over 50 percent.

Lift Up Your Engagement Rates

Artera doesn’t stop at scheduling. It also helps you boost patient engagement through strategic SMS outreach, facilitating appointment scheduling for established patients to encourage ongoing care engagement. Artera’s approach proves effective in real-world applications. For instance, Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic found that Artera Rescheduling and conversational messaging significantly improved the patient experience, with over 1,400 patients independently rescheduling appointments within the first 75 days.

Customize for Your Needs

Artera offers flexibility in its services by providing customizable automated conversations over SMS, email, or phone. This versatility is crucial considering the fact that 78 percent of consumers wish to converse with businesses over text. Patients anticipate a seamless, personalized experience, and Artera delivers just that.

So why wait? Optimize your patient engagement, streamline scheduling processes, and enhance your patients’ experience with Artera. After all, in an increasingly competitive healthcare landscape, providing a superior patient experience is key to retaining and attracting patients.

Talk to Our Team About Artera ScheduleCare, a Patient Scheduling Software

While the patient scheduling landscape continues to evolve, Artera ScheduleCare is at the forefront of innovation – and is a game-changer for healthcare access and efficiency. Transform how you manage appointments and enhance the patient experience with our innovative technology.

Want to learn more about how to optimize your patient scheduling process? Check out the Artera ScheduleCare datasheet, here, or request a demo with our team.

The post The Rapidly Changing Landscape of Patient Scheduling appeared first on Artera.

Healthcare organizations face a myriad of challenges in managing patient communications effectively. The key to mastering this complex task lies in an often-overlooked strategy: establishing a healthcare governance committee committed to patient communications – the third best practice in Your Guide to Governance.

What is a Governance Committee?

Rooted in the heart of a health system, the Patient Communications Governance Committee is a dedicated team that oversees and manages a holistic view of patient communications. The healthcare governance team consists of key stakeholders from various departments, who collectively review and devise the messaging strategy, evaluate vendor relationships, map out communication sequences, analyze data and uncover opportunities for improvement in terms of a patient engagement framework.

The committee’s main goal? To streamline healthcare communication, reduce message clutter, escalate patient engagement, ensure regulatory compliance and ultimately enhance the patient experience.

Members of this committee have a range of clear and well-defined roles. At the helm of the governance committee is the Executive Sponsor, who leads the team, followed by dedicated members covering departments such as data and analytics, patient experience, administration, legal and compliance and more. Together, they develop messaging guidelines that align with the organization’s standards and patient engagement framework, ensure regulatory adherence and factor in patient feedback into decision-making.

Steps to Build Your Own Healthcare Governance Committee

As you build out your committee, here are several questions to consider:

• Who are the stakeholders with influence on and interest in a program like this? 
• What departments should be represented? 
• How do we ensure that the patient perspective is taken into account?

In order to successfully build your own governance committee, you must first start off by identifying the stakeholders who may have influence and interest in the program. Next, decide which departments need to be represented, making sure to incorporate those that reflect the patient’s perspective. From there, establish a structure that assigns roles and responsibilities to each member, akin to the Executive Sponsor, Data & Analytics, Patient Experience, Administration, Legal and Compliance roles – among others – mentioned.

The next step is to define the primary goals, set measures for success and assign continual responsibilities to each role. These crucial actions ensure that the committee consistently analyzes and optimizes their organization’s patient engagement framework.

Below is a list of a few suggested departments and responsibilities:

• Executive Sponsor: Liaison to the executive team, defines key goals and measures for success, leads regular group discussions to review messaging strategy
• Data & Analytics: Monitors success through defined metrics and analytics, reviews and uses data to support new messaging proposals and/or for retiring old messages, identifies any gaps toward goals based on data
• Administration: Documents ongoing messaging strategy, documents proposals for new messaging and/or retiring old messages, work with data to identify improvements to operational workflows
• Patient Experience / Patient Access: Develops roadmap to executive committee’s decisions by mapping out messaging cadence, sequence and timing; ensures the voice of the patient is heard, surfaces any relevant patient feedback on messaging

While creating a governance committee might feel like a challenging endeavor, it is an invaluable asset for health systems looking to reduce over-messaging and streamline patient messaging. By following these best practices for healthcare governance, organizations can navigate patient communication more effectively, keep up with ever-changing regulations and ultimately improve the overall patient experience.

Benefits of a Governance Committee 

One of the key advantages of a healthcare governance committee is its ability to centralize decision-making and oversight of patient communications. With representatives from various departments, this committee can ensure that all messaging aligns with the organization’s overall goals and standards. Additionally, having a dedicated team monitoring communication data and patient feedback allows for quick identification of areas for improvement and implementation of changes.

“It really helped to have the same shared vision. Partnerships are built by continuous effort. Organizationally, you have to eliminate the walls between IT and the business – we’re all in this together.”

Enterprise Healthcare Provider (Artera Customer)

Moreover, a governance committee also serves as a safeguard against potential compliance issues. With regulatory requirements constantly changing, having a team focused on ensuring adherence to these regulations is crucial for healthcare organizations.

Continue Your Healthcare Governance Journey

In today’s digital age, effective patient communication is more important than ever. Now that you understand the vital role of a governance committee, start on your journey to streamline communications, foster patient engagement and enhance patient experiences. Remember, involving the right stakeholders, following a well-defined structure and setting clear goals are your stepping stones toward successfully establishing a solid healthcare Governance Committee. So, take the leap today and see the positive impact it has on your organization’s patient communications.

Stay tuned for the next best practice in navigating healthcare governance: Define the Desired Outcomes.

The post Navigating Healthcare Governance: Establish a Patient Communications Governance Committee appeared first on Artera.

Importance of the Referral System

Researchers found that when adjusting for factors like social demographics, location, health conditions and more, the rate of follow-through or “closing the loop” remained surprisingly low and even lower for telehealth. The low percentages for telehealth are particularly concerning as it has become widely used and accepted since the initial COVID-19 outbreak and remains very popular in rural communities that otherwise do not have access to certain specialists. 

The Referral Process

The referral process is not linear; it is one filled with multiple steps and barriers. Generally, a primary care physician (although referrals, especially for radiology, often come from other specialties as well) must first indicate the need to see another physician. The patient must then actively make an appointment with the suggested referring physician or do their research to find a physician or imaging center. Then, medical records and imaging must be transferred. And finally, insurance must approve the referring physician and further treatments. 

What negative outcomes can a lost referral have for patients and facilities alike? And, how do we improve the process?

Lost Referrals are Dangerous for Patients and Facilities 

Ignoring a referral can have serious consequences for a patient. They may miss an early diagnosis through preventative care, lose access to effective treatment, and ultimately, have a worse outcome. Studies have demonstrated a considerable decline in cancer deaths over the last 20 years thanks to preventative screenings, highlighting their importance to the long-term health of patients. 

Lost referrals can also negatively impact a hospital’s bottom line with health systems losing 55 to 65 percent of revenue as a result of referral leakage. Additionally, failure to appropriately hand off a patient contributes to about 20% of errors in medical settings leading to malpractice suits. 

Physicians and facilities must stay on top of referral management processes to ensure that patients do not slip through the cracks of our complex healthcare system.

Closing the Loop  – Why Aren’t Patients Making that Referral Appointment

Patients can have many reasons for not following through with a referral. Sometimes these reasons are simple like a non-urgent complaint going away on its own. However, a communication breakdown is a core challenge. Communication is key when it comes to:

• Explaining why they need to see another physician – some patients are confused and don’t understand why their primary care doctor can’t handle everything. 
• Educating patients on the importance of preventative exams to their long-term health. 
• Understanding how certain socioeconomic barriers might make a patient fear pursuing a referral (these can range from financial worries to cultural attitudes towards the healthcare system). Language barriers can also cause a fear of the dreaded healthcare system phone tree line. 
• Providing the right tools streamline patient scheduling (without adding more work for already burned-out staff). 
• And finally, simply helping very busy patients make the time to schedule. A recent study¹ found that for younger individuals, being “too busy” and making the time to schedule the appointment is a top factor in their appointment delay. 

For example, the authors of the telehealth study noted that a reason for the lack of follow-up might be that when leaving a doctor’s office in person, a receptionist may ask you to make a follow-up appointment and may even offer a list of referring physicians. This simple reminder and personal touch might get lost in the telemedicine journey. 

Facilities need to develop effective patient communication plans and education to boost referrals. A key to the puzzle is providing the right tools to patients that will streamline the referral process and encourage them to take the next step. The results can be enormous, with one enterprise provider generating an estimated $1.9M in revenue just after 60 days of implementing Artera to act as a referral communications tool. Another enterprise healthcare provider in the northeast leveraged Artera to launch a population health campaign which enabled patients to quickly and easily schedule their next mammography appointment. Over 7,000 appointments were scheduled with 140 cases of cancer found.

New Referrals Tools

UNC Health (UNCH)  is a large health system across North Carolina with over 5000 healthcare providers. They had been using their EHR for appointment reminders, referral outreach, and more digital communications, however, the vendor did not provide the core functionalities they were looking for, like the ability to text with patients. Texting is critical to most patients today – Artera’s Trends in Patient Communications report highlights that almost all patients expect basic texting at the very least, and over 70% prefer more conversational messaging. 

UNCH had begun receiving a high volume of referrals due to business expansion but without the right technology in place, their busy staff could simply not schedule the appointments promptly. The referral conversion rate (defined as the ability to receive a referral order and convert it into a scheduled appointment) was only averaging 30% per month. 

The rheumatology department then implemented Artera to assist with referral conversions. With Artera conversational messaging, UNCH was able to text its patients about setting up a referral appointment, and patients could instantly text or call back. The conversion rate skyrocketed to over 70% per month. 

“Artera has set us apart. Our ability to communicate to patients in their preferred method is huge. It really makes a difference.”

Velaire Elliot, Healthcare System Manager of Access and Clinical Integration

Improving Staff Workflows – Closing the Loops

While patients respond best to frequent communications, the very staff sending those frequent communications and making phone calls is often burned out and overwhelmed (Artera’s Staff Burnout Study indicates that over 70% of clinical staff feel moderately to severely burned out). Many are concerned that new tools and workflows will only make things more complicated and increase fatigue.

 At UNCH, however, staff began to consistently experience a decrease in the number of incoming phone calls after Artera was implemented. Elliott said, “A decrease in phone calls is really important from a staff perspective because they say, ‘That makes a difference in my day-to-day work. If I’m answering 1,000 or 2,000 fewer phone calls every month, that makes a huge difference.’” 

Using Artera, referrals are conveniently displayed on the Patient face sheet, allowing support staff to access referral details from the EMR, including the referred department or specialty, simplifying patient scheduling. Support staff can easily filter and manage referral-related messages, ensuring efficient handling of patient referrals.

Automated Referral Management Processes

Artera also reduces the need to manually call patients to book referrals by automating the outreach for referrals. When a new referral record is created, it gets information from EHR systems using the HL7 REF standard. Predefined follow-ups encourage patient responses, and a writeback of the information helps providers meet their three reminder obligations. Patient communication preferences, including their preferred language and channel, are used to boost their engagement.

Elliott sums it up, “Artera sets us apart, especially in the Research Triangle where we have multiple world-class healthcare systems. Our ability to directly communicate with patients in their preferred method is huge. It really makes a difference.” 

Ready to boost health care referrals at your facility? Learn more about Artera Referrals.

The post The Referral Process: Closing the Loop on Patient Care appeared first on Artera.

Social determinants of health can have an enormous impact on the mental and physical health of an individual. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services breaks them down into five key buckets that often overlap or influence one another. For example, a family with low economic stability is likely to not have health insurance, impeding their access to healthcare. 

Social determinants of health can play an even greater role in the mental and physical development of a young child. Children are more sensitive than adults and may suffer lifelong consequences when subject to poverty, stressful environments, and trauma. A recent in-depth study of 10,504 children discovered several different SDOH pattern groups with long-term impacts. They found that children who followed pattern three (this typically included low family income, high poverty rates, high single-family proportions, low rates of health insurance, low education rates, and the lowest opportunity atlas social mobility scores) had the worst outcomes. These children suffered high levels of racism and discrimination towards immigrants (this group had a disproportionally higher Black and Hispanic population than other cohorts) and the highest rates of lead exposure which can permanently damage the brain. This pattern group had both the poorest physical and mental health across the groups and the highest rates of suicide.

Health systems must understand the unique circumstances that their populations are living in when developing their communication strategies. When asking questions and screening populations, there are several core buckets to carefully examine.

What are the Social Determinants of Health? 

Economic Stability

A recent survey of oncologists found that 93% believe that SDOHs impact the long-term outcomes of their patients. Many cited economic stability as being key to cancer treatment as patients not only need health insurance but also the ability to not work for a long period. A family member may also need to step back from work to care for them leading to even more economic strain. Yet, in the United States, 1 in 10 people live in poverty, placing critical healthcare out of reach for many. 

The Healthy People 2030 program aims to change that by offering increased employment programs, career counseling and childcare services. Children who grow up in economically stable homes are more likely to live in safe neighborhoods near centers of excellence, have employed parents with health insurance and receive higher levels of education and necessary services like speech and occupational therapies. 

A lack of health insurance can play a huge role in patient no-shows or a low referral conversion rate. For example, Nemours Children’s Health partnered with The Harris Poll to survey parents and found that 32% said they missed their child’s medical appointment because they couldn’t pay for it. 

Education Access and Quality

Studies indicate that adults who have received higher education live longer and overall healthier lives than less educated peers. Individuals who receive a good education are likely to pursue healthcare services and understand their importance. They are also more likely to have higher-level careers that offer increased payment and opportunities for health insurance. 

Healthcare Access and Quality

Access to healthcare is often dependent on health insurance, and 1 in 10 people in the United States do not have health insurance. People without health insurance are far less likely to have a primary care doctor and receive routine screenings. Children without access to health insurance may also fail to receive mental and behavioral health services and physical, speech and occupational therapy. Outside of health insurance, access to healthcare facilities, especially for those in rural areas may present a significant barrier to care. Regarding maternal care, up to 36% of US counties lack obstetric providers and hospitals. It’s hard to believe this lack of maternal care still exists in the US today, and it often puts both mother and baby at risk of long-term health complications. 

Neighborhood and Built Environment

Neighborhood and built environment can refer to many factors including violence, pollution (air and water), lead paint in old buildings, noise exposure leading to hearing loss and exposure to second-hand smoke. Toddlers and even older children exposed to smoke are at greater risk of asthma, respiratory infections, ear infections and slowed lung growth. The American Cancer Society has found that children exposed to secondhand smoke also have a greater risk of cancer like leukemia, lymphoma and brain tumors. 

Social and Community Context

This SDOH refers to the relationship one has with family, friends and neighbors. A loving and supportive community is critical for the well-being of any child. Yet, children who live in poverty may have parents who are very stressed, mentally ill, or incapable of offering them the care that they need. Additionally, language barriers and cultural attitudes towards the US healthcare system or Western medicine may impede access. The US healthcare system has treated many communities like second-class citizens, and rebuilding trust is still a long and complex road. 

Putting Social Determinants of Health Tools to Work 

Children’s Wisconsin is its region’s only dedicated children’s hospital. The facility sought to eliminate common barriers to care and understand why patients weren’t showing up to appointments. Megan Sheble, Senior Project Manager on the Health Management Team at Children’s Wisconsin, saw this as a great opportunity to not only understand how SDOHs were impacting their patients but also to connect more deeply with the families they serve. They piloted Artera’s Conversation Builder workflow at several clinics with high uninsured and low-income populations. When a patient didn’t show up for an appointment, they were sent a friendly text offering five options: transportation issues, forgot, date and time did not work, took family elsewhere, or other. The team was shocked to see detailed answers come through under the “other” option, a testament to how many patients feel quite comfortable texting. 

“Having a tool like Artera to be able to identify problems for us to respond to allows us to be innovative. While we can’t fix all of the problems, it challenges us to think differently, do more, and meet our patients where they’re at.”

Megan Sheble, Senior Project Manager, Health Management Team, Children’s Wisconsin

With this data in hand, the team used Artera’s Analytics Plus to take a deep dive into the most common responses. They were shocked that the top response was that families did not have winter coats and gear for children. Staff used the MRN field within Artera to identify the patients and reach out to coordinate transportation and provide winter coats. This drove meaningful interactions with their patient population and removed barriers to care for those in need. The facility launched a new initiative to offer families clothing and provided more than $5,000 in winter gear to patients, a tradition they continue every year.

Making Operational Improvements 

There is no solution to solving the complex problems in healthcare that is “set it and forget it.” Any program needs to be a living and breathing platform that can continually be updated and improved. For example, Children’s Wisconsin was able to identify undeliverable messages via the Conversation Builder workflow report, which encouraged them to push a staff reminder to verify phone numbers when registering families. Utilizing data and analytics allows facilities to carefully examine data and can help determine insights like the ideal time for sending messages. 

Facilities can take several key steps when developing a more personalized communication strategy: 

Keep in Mind Patient Preferences: Allow the patient to choose their communication channel of choice, whether text, phone, email or a combination of the above. It’s also important to provide caregivers with access to communications for those under their care. 

Personalize!: As with any modern marketing, spamming is a no-go. Try to keep messages and communications sent to patients as pertinent and ideally, unique, to each individual. 

Have a Natural Conversation: Conversational messaging is critical to allow patients to ask questions and receive a response. Artera’s Trends in Patient Communications Report indicated that 69% of patients are frustrated by the inability to engage in conversational messaging with their provider. One children’s hospital in the Midwest used Artera’s conversational messaging to increase confirmation rates and reduce no-shows and late cancellations, generating an additional $6.3M in revenue.

Provide Language Support: Research suggests that those with limited English proficiency (LEP) face barriers to health care access, experience lower quality care, and suffer worse health outcomes. By addressing language barriers, patients can better understand their care needs and ultimately make better-informed decisions for their health.

Leverage AI-Enabled Capabilities: AI tools can help take your platform to the next level by helping automate complex workflows, personalizing patient messaging, and offering patients more self-service opportunities. 

Understanding your unique population and communicating with them in the way that works best for their needs will lead to successful outcomes for all. What are you waiting for? Learn more about Artera today.

The post Social Determinants of Health Tools: Context in Communications appeared first on Artera.

The purpose of the study was to examine what negative effects burnout was causing on those workers who many consider to be the backbone of the U.S. healthcare system. Additionally, the study also explored the role patient communications plays in relation to clinical support staff burnout. 

Released in October 2021, the study uncovered that clinical support staff were overwhelmed and frustrated by spending hours each day, manually communicating with patients via phone. In fact, 88% of those surveyed reported moderate to extreme burnout so severe it caused many workers to want to quit. The study also explored new areas including how digital patient communications is seen as an important tool to reach underserved populations and increase access to care overall.  

Conducted during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 results were not surprising since the first two years of the pandemic pushed all medical staff to their limits. In addition to major disruptions to in-person care, there were mandatory new regulatory requirements brought on by the pandemic and the stress created by ineffective patient communication during these challenging times. All these factors led to epic levels of medical staff burnout, and clinical support staff was no different. 

Clinical support staff, many of whom are tireless office workers, are responsible for communicating and coordinating with patients. Other support tasks are scheduling appointments, facilitating test results, handling billing questions, and anything and everything that insures providers can focus on delivering high-quality patient care. It’s indisputable the COVID pandemic changed so much in the healthcare system, yet three years post the onset, the industry has been able to adjust to a new normal. A factor in the ability of healthcare to adapt to this new normal is due to a surge in digital innovation. From telehealth to patient communications to clinical communication software, digital tools have enabled healthcare to continue conducting business as usual, and in some cases, innovating many of its outdated processes.

Clinical support staff burnout-one year later  

Even though patient care in the U.S. is the most advanced in the world, patient-provider communications continue to be a challenge. The U.S. healthcare industry is notorious to have one of the worst-rated communication experiences of any industry. Despite efforts by many providers to move to patient-centered care models, healthcare communication processes still often fail to meet patients on their terms. 

Curious to see what a difference a year makes and how digital trends continue to affect clinical support staff, Artera conducted a new study of over 300 clinical support staffers across various health systems who are responsible for communicating with patients. The study was conducted by PureSpectrum, an independent market research platform that gathers insights online. PureSpectrum surveyed more than 300 clinical support staff who are responsible for communicating with patients, which can include nurses, physician assistants, front desk/reception, and other medical professionals communicating directly with patients.

Released in December 2022, this latest study, The State of Clinical Support Staff, looks at clinical support staff burnout, its impact on patient care, and trends in patient communications. The updated report discovered clinical support staff burnout is still high but on the decline and while levels are nowhere near acceptable, the Artera report found that fewer clinical support staff are at their breaking point as digital patient communication technology is being adopted more and more. 

“The report reinforces what we consistently see with our customers: digital patient communication can save staff time, improve their wellbeing and enhance patient care,” said Guillaume de Zwirek, CEO and Founder, Artera.

The impact of burnout on clinical support staff today 

Artera’s 2022 study found that although clinical support staff burnout remains high, it is lower than it was during the peak of the pandemic. Seventy percent of those surveyed report moderate to severe burnout, with 32 percent rating it as high or severe. This is down from the 2021 report where 88 percent reported moderate to severe burnout and 56 percent reported high or severe burnout. Thirty-three percent of clinical support staff reported their burnout negatively impacted their quality of patient care while 41% say their burnout has even been noticed by a patient. In a sobering statistic, 43% report at least one instance where poor or ineffective patient communication negatively impacted a patient’s health. 

Despite the continuing high levels of staff burnout, 30% fewer people (33% of study respondents) reported wanting to quit because of burnout compared to last year’s study where 63% reported a desire to leave their jobs. Interestingly, the recent study found that only 47% reported their burnout to their supervisors, which is 23% less than the 2021 study where 70% said they shared their concerns with their managers. Management response was 20% lower in 2022 with only 60% of managers responding to workers’ concerns versus 2021, where 80% responded. 

Poor patient communication is the key reason for staff burnout

When asked about reasons for their burnout, a majority (56%) of clinical support staff cited poor patient communication as a direct cause of their burnout. Seventy-one percent of those surveyed reported phone-based patient communication to be a source of frustration for many clinic support staffers, with many spending hours each day coordinating and communicating with patients. Sixty-eight percent reported they are spending two hours or more every day on patient communication while one-in-five (20%) said they spent an extraordinary four or more hours. The study also found that 63% believe that communicating with patients only via phone creates unnecessary barriers for patients from lower income levels, those from underserved populations, and patients who speak English as a second language.

Although in the recent study, 56% of clinical support staff attributed patient communication as the reason for their burnout, on a positive note, this is down from 82% in 2021. The new lowered number is likely due to the growing adoption of digital patient communications tools. Forty-eight percent in the 2022 survey reported texting, emailing, and digitally messaging with patients more frequently than they did in the early days of the pandemic. Only 17% said they used fewer digital tools than in 2021. Similarly, while the 2021 study found that nearly all clinical support staff (97%) were using the phone as their primary method of patient communication, that number dropped to 85% this year.

Digital patient communications tools mitigate staff burnout in healthcare

Clinical support staff believe innovative patient communication technology not only makes their lives easier but they also make their patients’ lives better. The survey discovered that 64% of clinical support staff believe that digital patient communication tools would allow patients to engage more in their own health while 78% believe these tools would increase access to healthcare. Sixty-seven percent agreed digital patient communication would help address disparities for underserved patients. Seventy-one percent of the survey respondents believe digital patient communications would help address social determinants of health for their patient populations. 

For certain patient populations, there are language barriers or due to jobs and other commitments, these patients aren’t available to speak on the phone with providers during regular office hours. In the 2022 Artera^TM study, 74% of clinical support staff said they experienced that portions of their patient populations were unable to communicate during their office hours. In fact, of that group, approximately one-third (31%) estimate that half or more of their patients face difficulties communicating during regular office hours. Additionally, 76% reported their healthcare system struggles to communicate with some patients in their preferred language. When asked if communicating with patients in their preferred language will improve healthcare access overall, 85% responded yes.

Addressing the economic security threat of staff burnout in healthcare

Staff burnout is being recognized as a key crisis in the healthcare industry to the point that the 21st Surgeon General of the United States, Vivek Murthy, wrote an article on health worker burnout for the New England Journal of Medicine stating, “Health worker burnout is a serious threat to the nation’s health and economic security.” 

As demonstrated by the findings of the 2022 State of Clinical Support Staff study, progress has been made in addressing staff burnout in healthcare but there remains room for significant improvement. The key findings in this report suggest one of the biggest factors in alleviating clinical support staff burnout is the use of digital patient communication tools which help to ease staff workloads by automating time-consuming patient communication, eliminating the need for phone calls and other repetitive tasks.

The results of the 2022 study are in accordance with the Surgeon General’s recommendations for key interventions to tackle staff burnout which include promoting safe workplaces, addressing staff mental health, better wages, and reducing administrative burden.

The time for bold change in the healthcare industry is now. To alleviate the staff burnout in the healthcare crisis, we must take care of our workforce and leverage innovative technologies so that medical and clinical support staff can focus on patient care and other high-value tasks which originally inspired them to pursue a career in healthcare.

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