Emergency care is witnessing a strong, steady growth which is fueled by patient’s demand. Patients are increasingly taking charge of their healthcare choices and are deciding more than ever how they receive care. Stakeholders will need to engage more with patients and focus on their healthcare experiences. These are the new trends for 2018:
Increased Importance of the Patient Experience
Emergency care clinics should endeavor to provide services tailored to individuals rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to healthcare. To achieve this, they should attempt to know their patients to the point of proactively acting on their needs even before they walk in. Healthcare practitioners should emulate the retail model where “the customer is king” and design their processes for the convenience of each patient. The idea is to give each patient the best experience possible and minimize all aspects of friction between them and the clinic’s processes.
Rebranding and Marketing Emergency Care
Emergency care centers are rapidly embracing technology-enhanced marketing of their services. They are also realizing the importance of branding. They are projecting clearer images of who they are based on their strength. the services they provide and their target prospects.
As part of their digital marketing strategy, emergency care clinics should regularly provide informative content on their websites, guest blogs and across social media. Community-based marketing is also in vogue as clinics are getting involved in health fairs and other activities in their neighborhood.
Data Aggregation and Analysis
Over the years, healthcare organizations have accumulated a huge amount of data. Emergency care clinics are effectively harnessing relevant data to ultimately improve patients overall experience.
Mergers, Acquisitions, and Partnerships
Emergency care companies are seeking to grow their market share through mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships. In a competitive market driven by health care consumer spending, clinics are realizing the need to deliver the best value to the customer while remaining profitable.
Changes in the Workforce
The changing landscape of the emergency care industry requires a workforce with the right mix of skills to deliver the best customer experience possible. Clinics must recruit accordingly and create a workplace culture that will retain top talent in a competitive job market.
New Service Lines
Emergency care clinics are venturing into new service lines to cater to rapidly evolving customers’ needs and create new income lines. They are actively exploring new ways to serve their community by providing more healthcare services in response to consumer’s peculiar needs.
