Establishing a seamless and smooth healthcare communication channel plays a very small, but extremely crucial role in freeing up the administrative time which can be further dedicated to things that really matter – treatment and patient care!
Among the multitude communication channels, bulk SMS has emerged as one of the most successful ways to stay in touch with patients in a non-intrusive manner. Since SMS have an excellent open rate, it can be effectively used to reach out to a large number of patients (at once) and pass on the crucial information.
Incorporating a clear and well-targeted SMS messaging strategy is a great way to open up the communication blockades within large hospitals, private clinics or other areas in the healthcare industry. Sending SMS alerts have proved to be one of the most reliable and quick ways to communicate with patients, doctors and other paramedical staff.
Healthcare industry can leverage bulk SMS service to offer flawless and more personalised experience to the patients. Emails are notorious for spamming the mail box and hence many recipients avoid checking their emails. While on the other hand, since SMS messages are non-intrusive in nature, they are viewed as more favourable. In addition to this, SMS messages can be tailored to individual needs and preferences, so it strikes the right notes.
How can SMS Messages Help the Healthcare Industry and Become More Efficient?
1. Reduce the Frequency and Number of no-shows
No-shows or missed appointments are frustrating – psychologically and financially – for healthcare professionals. Automated SMS messages enables you to remind the patients to honour your appointment. Moreover, you can use the SMS to manage schedules and send appointment reminder notifications. Besides, integrating SMS software enables the patient to confirm, cancel or reschedule their appointments at their ease within a few seconds. Using SMS messages will, therefore, save valuable time enabling the hospitals to utilise their staff on site where they are required the most. In addition to this, it eliminates the need to track down the no-show patient and reschedule the doctor’s appointment.
2. Send out Prescription Reminders
In addition to this, hospitals can also use SMS to notify the patient about the prescription availability. By sending an SMS, the hospitals can proactively communicate with the patient, rather than the patients doing a follow up via phone to check a prescription’s status. Also, you can send out notifications to remind the patients about their prescription refills, eliminating the fire drill of submitting a last minute refill
3. Better Internal Communication
Incorporating SMS messaging software into your system also helps in improving the internal communication. It is one of the fastest ways to exchange important information about any upcoming surgeries, test results or shift changes. Additionally, with bulk SMS messages you can reach out to large groups simultaneously and let the entire staff know when you need a substitute to cover a shift.
If you have any queries about how to utilise and leverage SMS for your healthcare institute, feel free to talk to our experts.
