The Rising Demand for Personalized Patient Experience

The radical changes and rapid expansions inthe Indian healthcare sector are turning it into a promising industry for the providers and consumers in terms of growth, revenue, and employment. Moreover, the wave of ‘digitally empowered’ health consumerism is making its way through the industry, causing the traditional healthcare providers market to provide more emphasis on delivering better and personalized patient experience. Adding to the fact, the modern healthcare consumer today are living in a world of increasing personalized services and on-demand delivery, where the patient decisions are highly influenced by their needs and preferences. As a result, providing value-based, personalized healthcare experience for patients is increasingly becoming the prime area of focus for the providers.

The healthcare sector in India has contributed around 6% to India’s GDPand is estimated to grow at a rate of 15% CAGR for the next 15 years. In order to meet the increasing customer expectations and to stay ahead of the competition, healthcare providers are looking towards optimizing their services and thereby enhancing the patient experience. It is important for healthcare providers to prioritize patient outreach and personalize their services with them so that they can improve patient satisfaction and increase engagement. In that sense, user-friendly healthcare portals are on the rise, helping consumers access and personalize all aspects of patient care, from registration and scheduling of appointments to diagnosis and reports. Indeed, greater personalization in all health plans and care services go hand-in-hand with increasing engagement and overall healthcare experience of the patients.

Increasing Preference Being Given to the Personalized Approach

With the rising demand for personalization, healthcare organizations are also looking ahead to providing the personalization that patients want. While healthy living is the ultimate goal, the one-size-fits-all approach of the conventional healthcare is likely to be overturned and supplanted by increasing personalized options on the patients’ terms. Today’s healthcare providers are keen on personalizing the services for their patients based on their individual lifestyle choices, medications, health conditions, and personal goals.

Healthcare organizations today are adopting new technologies and processes that enable more personalized treatment options for patients tailored to their needs. Personalized care is adopted in determining the precise treatment for patients according to their health/lifestyle factors and in giving patients the access to their health records. On the other hand, patients are alsoincreasingly demanding for access to their personal electronic health records so that they can switch doctors and receive consultation from specialists across the world. Moreover, health insurance consumers are more likely to demand personalized information for switching to a more tailored and quality insurance product/service, and hence the framework is being designed accordingly.

Virtual Healthcare and Home Care are emerging as Bright Options

With the advent of modern technology, healthcare providers are embracing virtual healthcare more than ever. The idea of the virtual examination of patients, even without a doctor physically present in the location,has been made possible with today’s technological advancement. Many people want to ensure they are staying healthy and to maintain their wellness, engage in consultation with physicians about their general health issues. Having a virtual healthcare session enables them to gain advice and suggestions to take care of their health, minimizing their hospital visits and insurance costs.

Moreover, the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made it possible for patients to get instant health assistance for their needs right from the comfort of home. AI can help to create new opportunities within the healthcare system bringing a transition from conventional hospital visits to virtual healthcare. When the right technology and AI tools are deployed, healthcare can be personalized and made cost-effective while simultaneously increasing productivity and patient satisfaction. There are a large number of AI-powered medical triage apps that enable patients to make informed decisions about their health problems and share the data with clinical teams if needed. Moreover, these apps also help individuals manage their health, without much clinical intervention.

Yet another way of personalizing patient experience has been made possible through homecare. Telemedicine and other IoMT apps are taking home care to a new level through improved connectivity and technology. Home care services allow patientsto get healthcare right at home instead of spending hours in a crowded medical facility. This approach is particularly very beneficial for senior citizens and disabled individuals reducing their transfers to hospitals and avoiding unnecessary costs.

Overall, personalized patient experience in healthcare is highly sought-after by consumers and healthcare providers are also finding ways to improve their patient care experience and engagement. Customizing patient communications and decision-making allows healthcare practices to deliver a personalized approach to patient care and toimprove patient satisfaction at the most, giving patients what they want and how they want. However, for this, it is necessary for the healthcare professionals to be equipped with the knowledge and skills that can help them educate, encourage, and pushpatients to make healthier decisions in all aspects of the healthcare continuum.

This is where the role of an educationalinstitute like IIHMR offering healthcare courses aimed at producing efficient and trained healthcare professionals who can improve the overall healthcare experience for patients, gains prominence. IIHMR, New Delhi is pioneering in the field of healthcare academics and trainingextending global standards of education. IIHMR provides executive management and training programs in healthcare discipline catering to the industry needs and demands. Students at IIHMR are educated and trained to tackle the changing healthcare arena and its technological advancementsthrough a comprehensive mix of technical and management skills/abilities that enable them to excel in the healthcare domain and establish a prospective career ahead.