Across America, states are beginning to lift COVID-19 restrictions. For healthcare organizations, this means that elective procedures can now be performed in conjunction with strict COVID-19 precautions. Healthcare organizations have a backlog of patients that had procedures canceled during the nationwide stay-at-home orders, ranging in scope and urgency.
As restrictions lift, Jessica Walker, CEO of Care Sherpa, says, “Now is the time for hospital marketers to develop a plan to figure how to capture, reactivate and manage the back flow of patients.”
Medicom Health and Care Sherpa co-hosted a webinar on April 29 to discuss how to do just that. Due to the overwhelming demand, the pair hosted a second live broadcast on May 6. The main point Walker got across to the webinar attendees: Whether you start doing elective surgeries in two weeks or two months, you can’t just call people up and expect them to reschedule their appointments.
According to live polling during the webinar, 44 percent of attendees have a defined date to restart elective surgical procedures per their local and state government. Also, 58 percent of attendees said their organization has already started planning a communications outreach to their highest priority patients for elective surgeries.
“With anxiety, fear and delays, you’ve got to give patients a higher level of service than you’ve ever done before,” Walker says. “Especially in the age of COVID-19, you have to understand what motivates a patient to make an appointment in the first place — and what key factors get them motivated to re-schedule.”
Walker started the webinar sharing the results of a recent national survey from Care Sherpa. The survey analyzed patients who had an elective procedure canceled due to COVID-19. As a measure of a patient’s motivation and willingness to reschedule, respondents were asked if they would be willing to reschedule their appointment in the next two weeks.
Besides revealing the numbers, Walker shared the story of one participant who provided additional feedback following the survey. Prior to COVID-19, this participant was scheduled for a hysterectomy. After COVID-19 restrictions were in-place, she received a notification from her hospital’s patient portal that said it was canceled. She expected to get a call from the hospital, but didn’t get one until two weeks later.
Once she got the call, the hospital staffer was in a “business as usual mode” and wanted her to reschedule. But she had a lot of questions: What precautions did she need to take? What information should she have? Is it safe to come to the hospital?
The hospital staffer said they didn’t have the information to answer her questions. Because there was a lack of information, she decided she wasn’t comfortable going ahead with the surgery. Now, she’s left in the dark — unsure, nervous and considering going to a different provider for the surgery.
How to re-connect with patients who are waiting to be rescheduled
Walker says it’s important to start with a clearly defined population and focus on high-value or high-margin surgical procedures. According to webinar attendees, only 39 percent of marketers have a well-defined criteria for elective procedures/patient priority. Walker shared this is likely not uncommon as 38% of patients surveyed have not heard anything from their provider about their procedure status.
In a rush to rebuild revenue and capacity, many providers are focused on a “First In, First Out” process. This just means calling up the next person who is waiting for surgery and getting them rescheduled. Unfortunately, a “First In, First Out” approach further jeopardizes timely patient response by not accounting for the variables that impact scheduling.
“It’s important to tap into a person’s behavioral and motivational factors for rescheduling an appointment,” Walker says. “For starters, it’s crucial to start with an apology for the delay. Show genuine empathy. Most important, people want to know how you’re going to keep them safe — they aren’t going to keep their appointment if they feel like coming to your hospital puts them at a greater risk of contracting COVID-19.”
Not everyone should call your patients
With furloughs and layoffs across hospitals, some are having clinical staff manage the phone lines. Walker warns against this tactic. “You want people who are calling to have a ‘service heart,’” Walker says. “If your clinical staff is picking up the calls, you need to set expectations with them with a patient-first approach and make sure their responses are consumer-oriented with quality monitoring. If you are like the almost 10 percent of webinar attendees that don’t even have time to make a marketing plan — you probably don’t have the time to train them to do so right now.”
Prior to healthcare patient engagement and activation research, Walker spent the majority of her career in the retail and hospitality industry. She knows that in a time of crisis, people want a personal touch. She wants healthcare marketers to remember this: Now is the time to show how much you care about your patients. With so much uncertainty, people are seeking a personal connection to help them with their fears. And when you have people with a “service-oriented” heart managing your phone lines, your hospital can provide a great source of comfort and information to patients everywhere.