How AI is Redefining Healthcare Call Centers in the Digital Age: Top 5 Trends

From high call volumes to long wait times, healthcare call centers face a wide array of communication challenges. Here are some of those.

1. High Call Volumes

Would you be surprised to know that a majority of organizations in the healthcare sector (if not all) face huge call volumes? No doubt, during pandemics, flu season, and emergencies the call volumes reach an unprecedented level. However, during regular days also, the call volumes are also high. Be it booking appointments for regular checkups or asking queries about insurance coverage for various treatments, the call volumes don’t stop come rain or shine. When healthcare providers are unable to manage call volumes, it results in long wait times.

2. Need for 24/7 Availability and Prompt Response

When the call volumes are huge, which is more often than not, then providing prompt response becomes a challenge. That’s why it’s important for healthcare professionals to make sure that they are available round-the-clock so that they can provide prompt response to callers. However, a lot of healthcare call centers aren’t equipped to handle queries 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days in a year. The support of a lot of healthcare services providers reduces during nights and weekends.

3. Data Security and Privacy Concerns

Healthcare call centers handle a huge volume of sensitive patient data. It ranges from personal health information to billing records. But when it comes to providing data security, many healthcare services providers find it difficult to keep up. In the age of digital transformation, the stakes are higher. A little gap in security can compromise entire patient data. It can result in lawsuits, lost trust, broken systems.

4. Limited Use of AI and Automation

Many healthcare companies don’t use Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and automation. This hinders operational efficiency and results in too many manual, repetitive, and routine tasks. The lack of AI technologies and AI tools also means total dependence on manual processes and live agents for all queries. That not only results in slower response times and inefficiencies in handling simple queries, but it also increases operational costs.

5. Training and Retaining Skilled Staff

In the healthcare sector, workforce quality matters a lot. Healthcare professionals need to be highly skilled and trained. However, in many healthcare organizations employee turnover is high. It could be due to burnout, stress, inadequate career progression, or some other reasons. In such instances, it can affect healthcare operations, service continuity, as well as service quality. If any healthcare providers find it difficult to train and retain skilled staff, they may struggle to deliver desired patient care.

6. Handling Diverse Patient Needs

In the healthcare sector, call centers stand at the front lines. One call could be radically different from the other. One call could be about chronic disease management. The other could be a medical emergency. The patient needs and patient care could be diverse in both cases. But the stakes are high. To effectively handle such diverse needs and ensure better patient outcomes, healthcare call centers must address a wide variety of patient issues, including chronic diseases, mental health, and urgent care.

7. Managing Multichannel Communication

Patients don’t just call anymore. They send text messages. They interact over live webchats. They send emails. They engage on social media. Healthcare organizations need more than phones. They need smart, integrated digital platforms. That’s how they can fuel patient engagement and improve the patient experience. This is what digital transformation looks like. No matter whichever channel is used, the response of healthcare systems is instant.

8. Compliance with Healthcare Regulations

Compliance with all relevant domestic and international regulations is a must for healthcare organizations. That necessitates constant updates in process, protocol, and tech. But do all comply with the key regulations such as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and more? Unfortunately, some of them don’t. Any breach or non-compliance can result in heavy fines and a loss of patient trust.

9. Inconsistent Patient Experience

Today’s patients don’t just want effective treatment and improved patient outcomes from healthcare professionals. They also want to be treated as humans. They want to be heard. But many healthcare organizations lack the mechanisms to deliver the desired experience to patients. The lack of personalization and contextual knowledge results in fragmented interactions. As a result the patient experience suffers and feels broken. It feels disconnected, like no one’s really listening.

10. Limited Adoption of Remote Monitoring and Virtual Tools

In the healthcare industry, speed matters. A difference of a few seconds can mean the difference between life and death. That’s why remote patient monitoring and virtual care are extremely beneficial for improving patients outcomes. However, many healthcare organizations are stuck in the past. Many of them don’t leverage remote monitoring to lighten hospital loads. Many of them don’t use digital solutions to reach the ones who can’t come in. Several healthcare call centers haven’t fully embraced remote monitoring or virtual support.