Why does customization matter for a health system mobile app?
Customization lets a health system app solve its own patients’ problems, not just offer a vendor’s standard features. Yet only one in five health systems with a mobile app has customized it beyond the vendor’s preset functionality, according to a Gozio survey on digital and mobile strategy in healthcare. Without customization, health systems struggle to create the experiences patients expect.
What does a customized patient app look like?
A customized app addresses the specific challenges of a health system’s facilities and patients. One executive in the survey said, “Our medical arts building is hard to find, and patients have trouble getting in and out. We use volunteers and maps to help, but patients still get lost.”
An app with indoor and outdoor wayfinding solves that problem. It also takes stress out of care, especially at hard moments. “Until I got involved, no one was even thinking about how wonderful [wayfinding] would be for someone who just got diagnosed with cancer and had to find the surgery department,” another executive said.
How does customization help health systems respond to change?
A customizable app lets health systems adapt quickly when circumstances shift. When COVID-19 hit, University Health in San Antonio added real-time push notifications, virtual triage and up-to-date information on hours, protocols and wait times within two weeks. The app helped University Health become the go-to vaccine clinic in Bexar County, and daily use grew from about 100 sessions to 10,000.
What keeps health systems from customizing their mobile apps?
Health executives in the survey named three main barriers:
- Budget constraints
- Wanting to get more out of existing EHR investments
- Not knowing how to get started or how to find the right vendor
The right vendor can work within these limits by enhancing an existing platform, like a patient portal, or by building a customized experience cost-effectively.
What’s the risk of not investing in a better mobile experience?
Patients will leave. Half of consumers say a bad digital experience can ruin their entire experience with a provider, and one in four would switch providers for high-quality digital services, according to an Accenture survey.
How should health systems decide what to customize?
Start with the biggest challenges your digital strategy needs to solve. Survey respondents named three:
- Wait times. “The app needs to have a way of easing the unknown of wait times, even at the physician offices,” one respondent said. Wait time updates should be instant, like airline gate change alerts.
- Staff efficiency. “It’s more about trying to solve pain points for staff, like digital options to make staff work easier, which would ultimately improve the patient experience,” one executive said. For example, patients who just want their lab results or have a simple follow-up question after discharge can use self-service tools.
- Patient retention. “We have struggles with reputation management,” one executive said. The right app helps keep patients in the system by connecting them with patient advocates or customer service when questions come up. It can also promote relevant services to specific patient groups, such as new elective surgery options.
Then look ahead. Consider which digital tools will deliver the most value over the next five years, especially tools that strengthen relationships with patients and providers beyond the point of care.
See how Gozio’s Mobile Experience Platform supports customization.
