What Europe’s state healthcare systems can learn from customer relationship management

Borrowing from the private sector to re-focus on patient-provider relationships is the key to efficient, compassionate health services

London/Frankfurt, November 27, 2013 – Europe’s plethora of healthcare systems will all improve if they apply techniques learned from the commercial world towards managing the patient experience. Patients are not customers, but they do have expectations of service and quality similar to their dealings with the private sector. In a new report, published by the BearingPoint Institute, healthcare professionals are urged to adopt “patient relationship management” (PRM) – a coherent and connected suite of protocols designed to create a seamless patient-centric path through the healthcare system. Identifying and using best practice examples drawn from healthcare systems around Europe where more than 60 healthcare organizations were surveyed by BearingPoint. Researchers examined every stage of the patient journey, from referral to discharge and suggested improvements which boost process efficiency and patient satisfaction.

Patients will benefit from these systems as they put more power and information into their hands to control the path through the healthcare system. This can be as simple as providing self-service check-in kiosks on arrival, choose and book appointment systems and accurate queue waiting time information inside the hospital.

Hospitals stand to reap substantial cost savings and make efficiency gains by implementing patient relationship management systems. They reduce duplication, administration costs and patient no-shows, while improving patient care through better, faster information sharing and reduced diagnostic risk. Most significant of all, PRM deployment at a systems level is not highly complex or disruptive to existing processes in hospitals. In combination, patient relationship management protocols break down the traditional departmental silos and treat patients as individuals, not medical conditions, with the corresponding rise in satisfaction ratings from service users.

75% of hospital administrators want to deliver patient management improvements

The BearingPoint Institute study shows that 75% of hospital administrators want to deliver patient management improvements and fast. With an ageing population, healthcare systems are seeing more long-term illnesses requiring regular and frequent admission to hospital. With growing numbers of patients frequenting in and out of hospital, coordinated record keeping and a patient-centric approach is essential.

Launching the report, Dr. Harald Deutsch, Partner at BearingPoint and co-author of the study, remarked: “European healthcare is at a crossroads. Instead of a collection of monolithic, siloed institutions where patients are defined solely by their medical conditions, we have the opportunity to learn from decades of experience in customer service and put people, not illnesses, at the center of medical treatment. Imagine a healthcare system without queues, repetition or duplication, where healthcare professionals know who you are and what you need, that’s the world patient relationship management offers.”

To read more about how Europe’s healthcare system can move from curing to caring, please download the BearingPoint Institute paper “Can Patient Relationship Management help hospitals move from curing to caring?”, which can be found at www.bearingpoint.com

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About BearingPoint

BearingPoint consultants understand that the world of business changes constantly and that the resulting complexities demand intelligent and adaptive solutions. Our clients, whether in commercial or financial industries or in government, experience real results when they work with us. We combine industry, operational and technology skills with relevant proprietary and other assets in order to tailor solutions for each client’s individual challenges. This adaptive approach is at the heart of our culture and has led to long-standing relationships with many of the world’s leading companies and organizations. Our 3350 people, together with our global consulting network serve clients in more than 70 countries and engage with them for measurable results and long-lasting success.

For more information, please visit: www.bearingpoint.com