Australia’s stretched medical system isn’t a place patients or health care providers want to be. Stressed and at capacity with professionals leaving in droves, the system is at breaking point and governments and private hospitals are increasingly turning to technology to assist.

However, the confusion and mistrust that greeted the announcement of My Health Record shows many Australians have a healthy scepticism of the security of their health data.

A flexible data capture platform that provides a standard and consistent process for securely capturing all types of information is critical to ensure patient information is kept safe.

Customers must trust your processes to protect their data in the same way you protect their health.

Customer experience (CX) is vital in the ability to attract and retain patients, and to the ongoing provision of important care to patients. So how can health services offer better CX and improve their customer service (CS)? The answer is automated data capture technology.

A digital difference maker 

Moving forward, value-based care will continue to require a closer patient-provider relationship, especially with the expectation patients will start engaging in activities on their own to look after their health.

A digitised healthcare referral system can ensure CX and CS remain a priority, and healthcare services can meet and even exceed customer expectations on the speed of their interactions with their chosen healthcare providers.

Automated referral management systems ensure speed, accuracy and efficiency are where they should be, delivering speedier referrals to specialists, decreased waiting times, and a better healthcare system.

Automated data and document capture  

Rather than asking patients for additional paperwork and completing lengthy forms, automated data and document capture simplify the process. Inbound referrals from GPs and hospitals can be ingested, securely stripped of important information, and the data used to organise appointments and update patient details thanks to AI cognitive capture robots powered by natural language processing.

Time-intensive processes like manually entering details into digital forms are suddenly faster, patients move through the healthcare system quicker, and care is administered efficiently. Its clear patients will see this as a positive – a person’s health is their greatest concern, and languishing on a waiting list while we’re in pain or discomfort can leave issues to grow worse.

Additional security and privacy 

Regulatory compliance frameworks demand only the best in information security for patient data.

Compliance and information governance can be built into data capture workflows. This allows the use of additional communication protocols or advanced information protection actions such as watermarking that allow you to maintain a chain of custody for sensitive information.

When it comes to health services, communication can’t fail, and customers are expecting better. Front line staff are busy, and when staff are busy, mistakes happen. With strained systems and long waiting lists, health providers need to ensure they remain a top choice for patients, to allow growth and fulfil their mission to help people manage health issues.

Digital referral processing, delivered by automated data capture, is helping to deliver on this mission. Fewer mistakes and faster referral processing delivers the exceptional CX and CS patients expect, and health providers strive to achieve.

Related article: Opinion: Building a workforce that cares for the future