%20Success%20Stories/3M%20-%20main.jpg)
%20Success%20Stories/Baylor-CS-Image-2.jpg)
From phones to pager systems, communications has always been vital in healthcare. Whether it’s reaching doctors outside the operating room, dispatching emergency vehicles, or conveying relevant information to patients, communication systems help hospitals and research facilities do important work.
Today with the emergence of UCaaS and CCaaS, this is truer than ever. Modern cloud-based communications lend tremendous benefits to healthcare organizations.
Communication in healthcare is uniquely important. In this industry, lives are on the line. Doctors, nurses, EMTs, and other healthcare professionals must be able to reach each other quickly and easily from anywhere to do their life-saving work.
In recent years, the demand for telehealth has also increased. Patients with less serious issues often prefer to resolve them over a call, which requires an advanced communication platform.
Legacy voice equipment can’t quite keep up with modern telehealth demands, and yet many older devices remain in use in hospitals across the country. This includes PBX systems, on-premises electronic health records, nurse callers, and even the odd pager or fax machine.
Organizations that rely on these systems often find it expensive or impractical to replace them, and therefore need modern solutions more compatible with their legacy environments.
Luckily, UCaaS and CCaaS can be the perfect solution to the communications challenges the healthcare industry faces.
A UCaaS solution, such as Microsoft Teams or Cisco Webex, help healthcare organizations provide telehealth services to their patients, monitor patients with chronic conditions, and collaborate more effectively with their own teams.
Telehealth has become a staple of healthcare in the 2020s. It’s useful for behavioral and mental health services, surgery follow-ups, non-emergency triage, and specialist consultations with patients in rural areas. Cloud-based UC platforms allow for more easy and effective telehealth than ever before, with high-quality audio and video and the most compliant security features the industry has to offer.
UC platforms also make it easier to monitor patients with chronic illnesses remotely. Assuming they’re not in life-threatening condition, these patients can update specialists on their status and receive simple prescriptions without having to leave their homes. They get the same results while saving time and money.
Alongside patients, UCaaS helps doctors, nurses, and other employees collaborate with each other more efficiently in real time. Reliable calling and messaging infrastructure makes it easier than ever for employees to contact each other even during an emergency. Best of all, the benefits extend to remote employees as well.
When there isn’t an emergency, UCaaS helps healthcare employees keep their workflow organized and maintain a consistent collaboration experience between departments and disciplines. Microsoft is particularly good at this with Teams and Outlook providing easy-to-use scheduling that instantly updates everyone in the organization.
Cisco’s UC platform also has the advantage of seamlessly integrating with Cisco technology. Healthcare organizations that have gotten used to a Cisco infrastructure after years can continue using it alongside a modern UCaaS solution.
Customer service seems like a strange term to use regarding healthcare, but in this essential industry it’s just as important as ever. Advanced customer service software helps healthcare organizations optimize their patients’ experience.
An advanced cloud-based contact center helps healthcare organizations manage and schedule appointments. It can integrate with existing electronic health records and other data management tools to keep vital information in one easily accessible place.
CCaaS increases accessibility for both employees and patients, to varying degrees of course. Patients can reach providers and access information much more easily. Along with that, providers can keep patients more informed about upcoming appointments, reducing no-shows.
It’s no secret that many healthcare organizations struggle with a high volume of calls. CCaaS helps alleviate that problem with features like intelligent call routing and more advanced self-service options. Patients calling in can reach relevant providers much quicker and more easily, and in some cases can resolve their problems without needing to speak with anyone.
Another thing healthcare organizations in many parts of the country struggle with is multi-lingual patients. Advanced AI in CCaaS solutions can provide translations in real time, allowing multi-lingual patients to receive the same care and support as others.
Beyond that, CCaaS’ other benefits are the same as UCaaS. It’s features are extremely useful in improving telehealth capabilities. Platforms such as Genesys Cloud GX are also notable for HIPPA compliance. Its physical and technical safeguards keep data extra secure, just the way healthcare organizations need it.
With all the benefits UCaaS and CCaaS provide healthcare organizations, it’s not really a matter of choosing one or the other. Investing in both is a wise decision. The questions then becomes which UCaaS and CCaaS solution is best.
The answer to that will vary organization by organization. Some will be served better by Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams, or even Zoom along with a contact center from Genesys or C4.
But that’s not a very satisfying answer, is it? To fix that, here are some examples of organizations we’ve worked with at Continuant and what choice worked best for them.
Encompass is a major healthcare network with around 400 locations across the United States and Puerto Rico. It's mission to provide accute therapeutic care requires no less than the best technology, especially with its communications.
For many years it relied on an Avaya PBX system, but as time went on, Encompass needed something more modern. It decided to consolidate its systems with a UC solution from Cisco, namely Cisco Webex.
With Continuant's help, Encompass got the cloud-based solution it needed to create a consistent experience across all locations.
Shriners has done important work for children and their families for more than 100 years. With 22 hospitals across North America, a cloud-based solution was exactly what it needed.
Like many other hospitals, Shriners had a whole Cisco infrastructure in place before it looked to migrate to the cloud. Therefore, its best option was to migrate to Cisco Webex. It was able to gain all the benefits of cloud-based UC while its legacy Cisco systems left no downtime.
While these hospitals may have chosen different systems, in the end the result was similar. They received the benefits of modern cloud-based communications and increased efficiency and patient satisfaction.
If you’re still unsure which UCaaS and CCaaS solution is right for you, give us a call. With 28 years of experience in communications, we’ll work with you to design and deploy a cloud solution that can take your telehealth services and patient satisfaction to the next level.
