Getting a patient on the phone is hard and usually takes a lot of time — time that pharmacists don’t always have. And while texting might seem like a very convenient way for pharmacies to get in touch with patients, sending unsecured text messages is extremely risky and a serious violation of HIPAA regulations.Â
To help pharmacists reduce the amount of time they spend on the phone, and to keep private information secure, we launched our secure 2-way messaging product in September 2019. Our HIPAA-compliant platform allows you to connect with patients safely and prevent unintentional violations by securing protected health information (PHI).
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have also noticed an even larger spike in the adoption of 2-way messaging. According to new research from Podium, consumers are prioritizing businesses that offer pick up, curbside, or contactless services, especially those over the age of 60.
With 850+ pharmacies using the product and over 486,000 messages sent, we’ve been able to collect feedback and data from our pharmacy clients and have been working on an update to the product that will give pharmacists an even better experience. Digital Pharmacist has developed the Patient Engagement Platform, a transformational new product to help you drive revenue, retention, and reduced workload. Grow your business, while increasing the effectiveness of your patient communications and eliminating annoying phone calls.
As of October 2020, Secure, 2-Way Messaging had:
850+
Pharmacies using the tool
495,999
Total messages sent
92,771
Messages sent by patients
ChallengeÂ
Getting more work done in less time
When we analyzed the types of messages pharmacists were sending through our platform, we noticed that â…“ of the messages were about basic reminders, including things like refill reminders, setting up prescription delivery or pick-up, or asking patients for updated insurance cards.Â
The way secure 2-way messaging is currently set up, pharmacists have to look up each individual and send messages one at a time.Â
That got us thinking — if pharmacists were spending valuable time sending these messages one-by-one, there must be a way that we can improve the functionality of the product to help them save even more time.
Capitalizing on patient engagement
Since September 2019, patients have sent over 91,000 messages to pharmacists. The conversations range from basic questions about pharmacy hours or pick up methods to more complex inquiries about how certain medications interact with each other or more details about a prescription.
Given that both patients and pharmacists are actively using secure 2-way messaging to communicate and have conversations, we needed to find a way to give pharmacists more opportunities to capitalize on their patients’ engagement.
Solution
Simplifying the outreach process
While our secure 2-way messaging product has helped pharmacists cut the amount of time they spend on the phone in half, we understand that pharmacists now have to spend some of this saved time on sending out messages.Â
To help pharmacists do this in less time, we are rolling out our workflow feature. With this, pharmacists can automatically send one message to several people at the same time, instead of having to look up each person and send the messages one-by-one.
With this bulk messaging functionality, we’ll help pharmacists win back even more time and give them a more efficient way to work.
Bringing more value to patients
Like any business, pharmacies want to retain their customers and keep them coming back. And the best way to do this is by continuously providing patients with valuable services.
What makes the Patient Engagement Platform unique is the ability to have a conversation with the patient in real-time through messages. This means that patients won’t just get reminders about upcoming prescriptions, they’ll also be able to engage in 2-way conversations with their pharmacists and have any questions answered in real-time.
We also plan to roll out capabilities to help pharmacies identify other potential opportunities to increase demand for incremental services. This would include the ability to see patients that could benefit from additional services like medication therapy management or notifying patients about vaccinations or flu shots.
Results
The fastest way to grow your pharmacy is through your current patient base. Our new tool, the Patient Engagement Platform, was developed to help you drive revenue, retention, and reduced workload.
By evolving our secure 2-way messaging tool to include bulk messaging capabilities and the opportunity to add more value to patients, we will equip pharmacies with a way to increase engagement and continue to save time.
To learn more about the Patient Engagement Platform, contact us about a demo today.
