< + > What Healthcare can Learn from Financial Services about Digital Experiences

The following is a guest article by Shikha Bajaj, VP, Healthcare Transformation & Medtech Lead at Publicis Sapient

For many, finding an in-network doctor or booking an appointment feels like navigating a maze. There’s no clear path to get the information that matters, and numerous roadblocks can get in the way.

Online resources published by health systems and payers are often out of date, and despite advances made during the pandemic to transform the online accessibility of healthcare providers, the process of finding care is often frustrating and unsatisfying.

In fact, according to a survey of more than 7,600 consumers across five countries, just 32% of consumers are satisfied with the digital experiences offered by healthcare organizations. But if so few are happy, what can health systems do to improve? Perhaps they can learn a lesson from the financial services sector, which has learned to think more holistically about customer journeys, and respondents ranked 26 points higher in the same survey.

An Explosion of Choice

Think back over the past decade – before the rise of smartphones, before payment apps like Venmo, and before every bank had an app. Most of us chose a bank because it was close to where we lived or worked. We used ATMs to get cash for the weekend. 

Things have changed dramatically. Most of us don’t need to visit a bank branch regularly, and ATMs are no longer necessary to the degree they once were. Whereas splitting a check at dinner involved showing up with cash, now we just use a payment app to send money between friends. 

In the era of mobile banking, consumers still need banks for things like direct deposit, but they have an explosion of choice. And their expectations changed. They want transactions to be fast, seamless, and constantly available.

As a result, banks have had to rethink how they engage with customers radically. That started with the digital experience, but it didn’t end there. Because of the competitive pressures faced by disruptors in fintech and online-only competitors, in order to keep their customers happy, traditional banks were forced to rethink their online tools and applications, break down silos across teams, and adopt a broader view of customer journeys. 

Now, most banks envision their digital experiences according to how each engagement can deepen customer relationships and help consumers reach their goals. They tailor their entire digital experience to facilitate that—across every financial product. 

Those efforts have buoyed consumer perceptions of the financial services sector, with 58% of respondents reporting satisfaction with the digital experience of banks and insurers.

Lessons for Healthcare 

Healthcare has undergone enormous digital transformation in the past few years. The Affordable Care Act provided significant incentives to improve electronic medical records. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed digital transformation even further. For example, in 2019, online appointment scheduling was still unavailable at many health systems. Now, many, if not most, have tools for secure text messaging, telehealth visits, and so much more. Yet, these improvements still fall short of consumer expectations. Some reasons why it lags behind are technological, and some are cultural. 

From a technological standpoint, healthcare IT is unusually fragmented, involving several legacy systems. And though the industry has made strides toward greater interoperability, small and independent hospitals in major cities trail their counterparts in having information available at the point of care. The industry is also heavily regulated, with well-intentioned rules and laws like HIPAA slowing the pace of digital transformation and limiting digital best practices common in other industries, such as using third-party tracking technologies on websites. In turn, this significantly limits how responsive web teams can be in identifying and acting on user interaction trends. Culturally, while virtually every physician practice, hospital, or health system has an EHR system, many continue to use fax machines – a 1980s technology – to share sensitive information between intuitions. Why? Because faxing patient records or authorizations may simply align with the process they have always used, or it’s what older providers may prefer. In addition, there’s the confusing organization of the industry itself, with its conglomeration of insurers, hospitals, pharmacists, doctors, and specialists. At a core level, healthcare organizations should take their cue from financial services organizations. In mapping the customer journey, lenders learned that customers don’t want a mortgage, they want to own a home. The distinction might seem minimal, but it’s not. Patients, on the other hand, don’t want to visit a doctor or fill a prescription, they want to be healthy. Every step in the customer’s digital journey should take that into account. 

Facilitating that journey means providing customized experiences based on patient data, demographics, and personal health goals. In the survey, 68% of customers said they want a tailored experience. A similar majority, 69%, said they want to manage their health through online self-service tools. 

Building Trust, Driving Results

Banks have learned that customer experience drives performance. When they facilitated an easy path to loan applications for a car or home, applications increased. Digital experiences can drive similar results in healthcare. 

We know, however, that better digital experiences can drive trust and loyalty, which are critical components in long-term consumer relationships. The industry has a long way to go, but getting there isn’t impossible. If healthcare organizations can mirror this success, they can transform patient engagement and satisfaction.

About the Shikha Bajaj

Shikha is a digital transformation leader who helps clients and teams visualize a new digital future and brings them along journeys to convert that vision into reality. Shikha has 20+ years of experience delivering large, complex programs across India, China, and the US. Shikha has established, led, and managed a multi-million dollar program around Marketing Transformation for many years in both the Health industry and Financial Services.