Heard at ONWARD: The Future of Patient Experience

At ONWARD 17, Yext's own Carrie Liken (Head of Industry, Healthcare) sat down with Nate Rogers (VP, Marketing & Communications, OhioHealth) and Shawn Tysco (Manager, Digital Marketing, Aspen Dental) to discuss how they have leveraged their provider data to acquire new patients, impact external presence, and prepare themselves for the next wave of intelligent systems that patients are using to make healthcare decisions.

The panel participants started off by acknowledging that, in today's world of intelligent services, patients are no longer finding information solely on healthcare-owned websites. Rogers and Tysco emphasized that it's critical for healthcare organizations to be prepared — by improving their digital knowledge across all the channels that patients are using to find information.

What is OhioHealth doing?

OhioHealth is focused on the patient — and on improving the patient experience. "Everything is great when it comes to patient compassion," Rogers said. "But there are other parts of the patient experience that need work. Internal records are a big source of confusion. As we improve our data, that can help us have a more customized healthcare plan."

Rogers is optimistic that smart devices controlled by voice will be useful in helping people lead healthier lifestyles. "Alexa will soon be able to prompt you to choose a smaller size soda, instead of a larger one, to help you meet a physical goal you set." Soon, he envisions, it will even ask you questions about doctor follow ups or prescriptions.

What is Aspen Dental doing?

Tysco explained that a big question his team at Aspen Dental wrestles with is, "How do you market to someone who doesn't have a need today, but next week chips their tooth?"

Realizing that the website is not the be-all and end-all anymore (and that patients will discover information about Aspen Dental across many different channels), Tysco's team relaunched the website and prepared it to be foundationally 'readable' by intelligent systems.

A healthcare organization's data has to be correct and comprehensive everywhere it appears online. The website remains an extremely important resource for patients, but equally important are the many diverse channels that patients are using to find information.

Want to learn more about Yext for Healthcare? Read all about theYext Healthcare Knowledge Engine here.