As healthcare becomes more decentralized and patients take a more active role in their personal care using digital tools, technology can play a crucial role in achieving these goals and creating partnerships between patients and their care teams.
Studies have shown that effective patient engagement can directly impact treatment outcomes, patient satisfaction, and provider productivity. By engaging with patients outside of the care setting, providers can help patients become more involved in their health journey.
One way to keep patients engaged with their health is through voice outreach programs. The Emmi® patient engagement solution, which received a 2023 Frost & Sullivan Competitive Strategy Leadership Award, stands out for its global conversational artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare. Frost & Sullivan recognized the expert content and advanced technologies in Emmi that contribute to improving healthcare efficiencies, quality, and outcomes.
Engaging patients through AI-powered outreach
Conversational AI is increasingly prevalent in our lives, from voice assistants to website chatbots. Frost & Sullivan estimates that the global conversational AI market will reach $2.34 billion by 2027. Integrating conversational AI into healthcare and patient engagement is part of the digital revolution in the industry, especially when it comes to patient outreach in areas such as appointment reminders and medication adherence.
“Our Voice & Conversational Interfaces team is working on our outbound interactive voice response (IVR) patient engagement voice calls,” explains Freddie Feldman, Director of Voice & Conversational Interface for Emmi. “We are currently exploring the potential of using large language models (LLMs) and conversational AI with a human-in-the-loop approach to accelerate the creation of high-quality patient content.”
The right application of conversational AI can make a significant difference. The University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) Hospital saw a 75% lower cancellation rate for scheduled endoscopies and colonoscopies when they implemented automated voice outreach as part of their patient engagement program.
Incorporating diversity into conversational AI
However, outreach efforts are only effective if patients can relate to them. The Emmi team recognizes the importance of empathetic voices in conversational AI and aims to diversify patient content, images, and voices to represent a wide range of cultures.
“We have been working on incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) into our voice programs for years,” says Feldman. “In 2020, we introduced a new racially inclusive voice to our EmmiJourneys, EmmiOutreach, and EmmiEngage programs. Our goal was to better connect with the Black community and address historical health inequities that have been prevalent in the US. We also recently launched a research study to measure the effectiveness of racially-matching patients with the voices in voice interfaces.”
Expert patient content to advance engagement and equity
As the healthcare ecosystem becomes more decentralized, providers and payers are striving to ensure that patients have access to the best possible health information regardless of where they seek care. One way to achieve this is by aligning patient education with the same information clinicians use.
Frost & Sullivan highlighted patient content as a competitive advantage. The Emmi patient educational materials are expertly reviewed and aligned with UpToDate® clinical decision support, providing patients with reliable health and drug guidance beyond the care setting. This helps build patient trust and empowers them to be active participants in their healthcare journey. Engaging patients through interactive, dynamic mediums can improve their understanding of care plans, and healthcare organizations can extend their reach beyond clinical settings.
Personalizing patient outreach
By combining targeted conversational AI outreach with diverse patient materials, healthcare organizations can personalize outreach efforts for different patient populations.
The MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio integrated Emmi into their strategic patient engagement and partnership initiatives. They applied DE&I principles to their engagement programs and utilized diverse video, print, and audio materials from Emmi. As a result, they saw increased engagement from demographic groups that were previously less likely to respond.
The importance of engaging patients in their healthcare journey
By incorporating automated outreach and engaging content into their strategies, healthcare providers and partners can make significant strides in improving patient engagement. One hospital observed measurable improvements in engagement programs, including fewer emergency department visits, lower readmission rates, and improved adherence to follow-up appointments. As the shift towards value-based care continues, healthcare organizations can leverage award-winning engagement platforms like Emmi to enhance the care experience and achieve better health outcomes.
For the full Frost & Sullivan announcement and details on why they selected Emmi for a 2023 Competitive Strategy Leadership Award, visit the link above.
