Healthcare is the predominant industry, which is a crucial need for everyone. Automation tools can be a game-changer for every industry, including Healthcare. IVR (Interactive Voice Response) technology is one such strategy that can be an excellent platform for businesses to invest in.

IVR solutions use VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), an automated voice call system, to handle customer queries. When implemented in the Healthcare industry, it can simply be the operations of the health agents involved.

Communication is vital to the healthcare industry since it deals with patients and their health. IVR comes as a favored solution for easy usage and maintenance at a cost-effective rate. It efficiently empowers workflow in pharmacies, hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics by bridging and providing connectivity between the patient and the hospital.

This blog discusses five major use cases of IVR solutions in the Healthcare industry.

IVR is an ideal tool for all business-to-customer communication. When it comes to the healthcare sector, IVR solutions are an excellent tool for handling patients 24/7. IVR provides an automated pre-recorded IVR to the patients to solve customer queries and schedule appointments and bookings.

People interact with IVR by recording their responses on the keypad from the pre-recorded voice. When the customer feels the IVR response is not satisfied, the call will be directed to an agent who can answer the calls.

The role of the IVR is limited to call routing. It routes inbound calls to the specific people of the department in organizations. This can replace the need for a telephone routing assistant. Here are the things they can do:

• Redirect customer queries correctly.

• Automate problem-solving with 24/7 support.

• Collect Critical Information.

• Prioritize calls based on needs.

• Empower the company’s brand image.

• Record customer feedback.

• Setup Callback Numbers.

• Offers multi-lingual support.

This can be an excellent solution when dealing with foreign patients. IVR services allow you to establish a global presence instead of hiring staff from those countries. Added, IVR has replaced multiple functionalities in the hospital by eliminating chances for miscommunication or missing customer calls.

Right off the bat, the healthcare industry continuously faces challenges with staffing shortages, which have been exceptionally high after the pandemic. The demand for different healthcare professionals, such as doctors and registered nurses, will surpass the available supply in the upcoming years. It is essential to address this issue with a digital solution.

With IVR, hospitals and other healthcare centers don’t need to hire and train professionals to handle the patients. It helps resolve basic inquiries such as doctor availability, checkups, appointments, remainder, lab results, etc. This can eliminate the need for human intervention and solve the queries quickly.

Security is a significant concern for any business that deals with customers' sensitive data. There are multiple cases reported where malicious attacks happened. A survey report says around 382,262,109 health records were hacked, which accounts for 1.2x of the population in the United States. These attacks imply that there is an immediate need for security practices in the healthcare sector.

Security is the pillar when handling sensitive customer information and transactions through IVR systems. To ensure data protection and secure transactions, here are the things that the healthcare industry can implement with IVR services:

• Encrypting data: Implement powerful encryption methods to safeguard customer data.

• Authentication: Using a multi-factor authentication strategy to verify customer identities and eliminate unauthorized access.

• Frequent Auditing: Perform regular security audits and assessments to rule out and resolve vulnerabilities instantly.

• Security Compliance: At TeleCMI, we provide IVR software that complies with relevant data protection regulations. Hence, look out if the IVR system meets the security compliances.  

There are numerous options for customers to speak with healthcare professionals in today’s life. However, there are only limited choices when it comes to personalization in this competitive environment. Customers are looking to make bookings, reschedule appointments, know their payment statuses, and learn about prescriptions and other medicines by themselves instead of a third person who can assist them.

IVR technology is specially designed to provide a personalized experience to the customers. When customers call the Healthcare industry, they will receive a pre-recorded voice that welcomes them and offers different options. The caller will choose an alternative that suits their need. Once selected, the IVR provides the desired response, and callers get the answer. In this way, a customer can enjoy a personalized experience.

Even though we are in the technological era, the healthcare industry faces issues with booking and consultations. For instance, if the customer makes a call to healthcare professionals to book an appointment. Due to higher call volumes, customers must wait long to connect with the agent for booking. Meanwhile, customers may drop calls, and the healthcare industry might eventually lose customers.

Easy booking is now possible and hassle-free with Cloud IVR technology. Most hospitals are busy and cannot handle patient queries in bulk concerning bookings and consultations 24/7. During off-business hours and holidays, it is difficult for customers to schedule bookings. IVR helps to book appointments easily without human interaction. Patients can also get information from the IVR about the booking status. In addition, IVR also sends reminders for appointments and checkups, which helps them to be notified and visit the doctor/ cancel it based on their preference.

Operational costs are higher and are challenging for small-scale hospitals. Many stakeholders, from device manufacturers to medical drug manufacturing companies, play a crucial role in determining the cost of healthcare services. The rising cost of healthcare will result in revenue for healthcare companies as well. Higher costs, including lab tests, regular check-ups, etc., will frustrate the customer. Also, the higher the call volume, the higher the number of employees, and the higher the costs.

IVR Phone helps minimize call drops, answer calls quickly round-the-clock, and reduce call queues. This increases customer satisfaction, improves overall productivity, and reduces operational costs by eliminating larger call volume. Additionally, routine phone calls are handled by an automated system rather than a paid agent. As a result of lower call volumes and ruling out human interaction, the healthcare industry can drastically reduce the total cost required for it and also direct the agent to work on other processes that can improve business efficiency.

TeleCMI, being one of the top-notch IVR providers globally, can help Healthcare providers by offering a cloud-based smart IVR to work out the challenges. Our IVR software service is designed to intergrate with Healthcare CRM systems rule out all the complexities the healthcare industry faces presently. We have a variety of features in our IVR system to help healthcare professionals improve business operations effectively.

Here are a few features that we have integrated into our AI-based IVR phone to handle inbound calls:

• Call Routing

• Call Forwarding

• Call Conferencing

• Call Recording

• Call Whispering

• Call Barging

• Sticky Agent

• Powerful Integrations with third-party apps

• Setup Business Hours and Automated SMS

• Deeper Analytics and Report extraction

All these features will help Healthcare providers resolve their challenges quickly and cost-effectively. We also customize the IVR solutions in accordance with the business needs and provide a fully customized IVR service for healthcare facilities.

We can be an excellent choice if you are one such healthcare professional looking to upgrade your business operations. Get in touch with us for a free trial where you can learn different features and plug & play with it to know how it works for you. Contact us right away to get a reasonable pricing list in your inbox.