We recently launched the Provider Data Connector (PDC) with the specific goal of increasing provider visibility throughout healthcare systems sites to accelerate appointment conversion. It’s not only what our healthcare system customers want but what their consumers want as well; to find the care they need and make connecting as easy as possible. So far, we’re getting a great response and interest from every direction on how it might be able to help our customers and their consumers. Naturally, we’re delighted with the response and happy to oblige. With that in mind, we wanted to expand on the PDC (because you aren’t a company until you have a multi-letter acronym name for an effort or product, but I digress…). Of course, if you want to contact us, we’d be happy to guide you through what it can do for you, but this post can help you better see what we're offering and how it might fit your needs.
The Consumer
Before we get too far, a critical concept that drives us is the notion that healthcare consumers are just that, consumers. I go into this in much more detail in our last post Digital Healthcare Consumerism in Practice, which you should read. For now, though, remember that healthcare consumers are consumers all of the time and only patients some of the time. They are always evaluating messaging in the marketplace, the products and services they receive, and their experience with them. Only a portion of that time are they suffering from something or receiving care for it, which is when they are patients.
The Challenge
When consumers are seeking care options, we (healthcare collectively) apply a lot of content, SEO, and marketing effort to try and become part of their consideration. However, much of the time, the content and pages that we drive them to, when we get them, fail to provide the most important conversion opportunity, the ability to schedule or see a clear pathway to an appointment with a healthcare provider.
Now, in the world of retail commerce, imagine you were searching for a new TV, pair of shoes, or anything else. You begin your search and start to narrow down your preference. You land on the product you want, validate that it has everything you need, and then… there is absolutely no “buy button” or any way to get the thing you’ve decided you want.
Bummer, right?
In healthcare, that’s exactly the problem we are solving with the PDC. For a myriad of reasons involving disparate data sources, complex business rules, and understaffed marketing and digital teams at healthcare systems, making that connection has seemed far more difficult than the effort it would take to solve it. We know; we’ve seen it time and again.
The Solution
Instead, now imagine searching “cancer treatment near me” or “weight loss options near me” and seeing a listing for a healthcare system near you that speaks to their oncology or bariatric capabilities. Being a name you know and are at least inclined to investigate, if not trust, you click and land on their page. Of course, there is content explaining what they treat, the services they offer, and the type of care you can expect.
A quick note: Crusher Healthcare System is, indeed, a fictitious system we’ve created to help us illustrate our thinking. Bonus points if you get the reference. Email us at marketing@abundant.health and if you’re the first, you might just score some swag!
But also, placed right on that page, you see the nearest provider to you (with distance specified) that can treat this issue and who is available tomorrow or this week for new patients! And what about that “buy button?” There’s a “Schedule an appointment” button right there.
Not only have we addressed how we can treat you, but we’ve also dispelled the (likely) notion that it’ll take a long time to get an appointment or that you’ll be logging hours of travel time to get there. Moreover, we’ve provided a clear path to action for you to begin your care journey and take action.
Flexibility
Want to place it in the middle of the page? List more than just the nearest provider? We can do that. We can then deep link into your provider directory, prefiltered to match where they were, or deep link straight to the provider detail page with additional scheduling options.
The PDC has been designed to be fully responsive, stylable, configurable, and flexible to suit the needs of your site experience, business rules, and stakeholder demands. Because as I mentioned in the consumerism article, we also get that we want to blend in to be a seamless part of the experience and reduce any friction that might prevent the consumer from engaging.
Ultimately, we at aha! believe that integrated, frictionless experiences best serve the needs of both healthcare systems and consumers alike. The PDC is our first, but most certainly not last, offering to do just that. Still interested? I thought you might be and cannot wait to show you how it works. Just as soon as you contact us, I’ll be more than happy to.