How Healthcare CIOs Can Capitalize on Conversational AI Today
The recent evolution of artificial intelligence has been transformative for the healthcare industry. However, while we’ve seen examples of AI tuned to specific use cases within medical labs, health systems have yet to take advantage of conversational AI at the ‘front door’ of hospitals and clinics. C-suite executives are in a race to harness AI’s potential – 79% of healthcare CIOs plan on integrating generative AI into their organizations by 2026. The question for these CIOs is… how?
The most pragmatic place to start incorporating this AI is in the voice channel, at the healthcare organization’s digital front door. Generative AI that’s been integrated into the telephony environment is known as conversational AI, as it can engage with consumers to assist them with routine tasks. When utilized correctly, conversational AI optimizes the voice channel and elevates the patient experience.
It’s vital for health systems to create a wide open and welcoming digital front door. A consumer’s first impressions and the ease with which they can accomplish tasks or connect to the providers and departments they need has an impact on their feelings about the brand. The more efficient the voice channel, the faster callers get the help they need. Streamlining the digital front door is essential for patients who choose to call.
How Conversational AI Transforms Health System Operations
Implementing conversational AI into the healthcare telephony environment delivers a modernized caller experience that’s efficient and stress-free for both patients and contact center staff. An intelligent virtual assistant (IVA) automates call navigation, verifies patients, manages appointments, and answers frequently asked questions (FAQs). Caller frustration is alleviated when people can use their voices to self-serve.
Healthcare organizations see immediate cost savings from the assistance an IVA delivers to call center agents and operators. An agent’s time shouldn’t be spent answering routine questions about closing times, directions, or parking. These questions contribute to burnout and get in the way of more urgent calls. IVAs give time back to agents and let them address the issues that matter most.
Health sector leaders estimate that the first call resolution rate in hospitals and clinics is only about 20%, often due to callers struggling with old-fashioned IVRs and getting led down the wrong branch of a phone tree. When the voice channel is inefficient, operators spend time routing callers and fielding requests that failed to be resolved on the first or second attempt. When patients can self-serve with their voice and navigate successfully to reach a solution quickly and consistently, it takes a heavy burden off both the patient’s and operator’s shoulders.
Healthcare CIOs must modernize their hospitals and clinics by adopting a conversational AI solution for the phone. In order to have a frictionless digital front door and meet patients where they are, these leaders must balance the need for ongoing operational efficiency with the pursuit of transformative digital health solutions. A robust IVA that automates routine calls and transactions delivers immediate ROI for health systems of all sizes. It’s technology that CIOs can’t afford to ignore.
About Parlance
For over 25 years, Parlance has been a leader in the healthcare IT space. By utilizing conversational AI, Parlance easily connects callers to the resources they need, answers FAQs, verifies callers, and handles many appointment management tasks. Callers speak in their normal voices, ask for what they need, and get to their preferred destinations.
Our IVA solution accelerates patient access to care for hundreds of health systems across the United States by improving caller navigation and removing barriers to access. Healthcare consumers easily connect to people, information, and services they need, no matter the volume of patient demand.
By Chris DeRizzo
