In any business, establishing and maintaining customer relationships is the key to success. After all, without customers, you don’t have much of a business. In order to grow your healthcare business, you need to not only gain new patients, but you also need to retain existing clients as well as increase the services you provide. To accomplish growth, then, businesses need to find ways to be visible to prospective patients as well as remain visible to existing customers. This is the need that CRM meets for healthcare practices of all shapes and sizes.
SEE ALSO: HIPAA compliant email
What is CRM and how does it work?
CRM stands for customer relationship management, and it typically refers to software that helps businesses improve client relationships, both prospective and existing. Put simply, it gathers customer data and uses it to interact with customers or patients in a meaningful and productive way. In the past, businesses used many different methods and applications to obtain, store, and utilize valuable customer information. CRM replaces the use of multiple databases, spreadsheets, or even paper files, and creates a streamlined process that is accessible, simple, and improves the experience of both customers and employees.
Gathers and organizes data efficiently
The good thing about a CRM system is that the more data it has, the more productive it can be. It pulls data from patient databases, phone calls, visits, as well as interactions on your HIPAA compliant website or social media pages. It then uses the data collected to perform relationship-building functions and organizational business tasks.
SEE ALSO: Social media & HIPAA compliance: the ultimate guide
Reduces work time through automation
A good CRM has a certain level of workflow automation built in, which allows for less manual work and better task management. Sending out automated client emails, automatic billing, and internal task reminders are some examples of how CRMs create better efficiency in workflow through automation.
Helps improve marketing strategy
Many CRMs have features that allow your healthcare practice to tailor mass emails or mailings to specific demographics or groups of people. They use collected client and prospect data to target a specific audience and make marketing more focused and productive. However, healthcare providers must always keep HIPAA compliance in mind when planning their marketing strategy and use software such as Paubox Marketing to send personalized marketing emails en masse.
SEE ALSO: Why Paubox Marketing is the best HIPAA email marketing solution available
Personalizes customer interaction
Customers love personalized interaction from businesses. It makes them feel valued and respected while assuring them that their money will be well-spent on your product. A CRM allows businesses to personalize email messages to customers in a simple and effective way, and cater those emails to the specific customer, whether they’re sending:
- Follow-up emails
- Reminder emails
- Upgrade offer emails
- Marketing emails
Again, HIPAA compliance is important for the medical field. Luckily, Paubox Email Suite can be configured to send HIPAA compliant email straight from Salesforce Lightning.
SEE ALSO: Top 7 things you didn’t know about Paubox Email Suite
How CRM can benefit healthcare providers
The main focus of healthcare providers is giving quality care, but acquiring new patients and retaining existing patients should also be on the radar. This is where a CRM that’s tailored to healthcare organizations can offer benefits that will promote organizational growth.
Identify opportunities for care
As a CRM collects patient data, it can look for ways that the provider can do more for the patient, whether it’s sending reminders for flu shots, marketing offers for teeth whitening, or information on Lasik surgery.
Keeps less diligent patients on the radar
Not everyone stays on top of their health, and patients can get lost or forgotten. Whether they cancel their appointment and forget to reschedule or fail to follow-up on getting those recommended lab tests, many healthcare providers struggle to maintain a connection with less-diligent patients. A CRM can keep these patients on the radar and ultimately capture more of their business.
Saves time and resources
CRMs have features that allow healthcare providers to streamline their internal processes and make them more efficient and less time-consuming. Automated billing, reminders, and HIPAA compliant marketing campaigns are some examples of features that can help save time and resources for providers.
Integrates with existing software and applications
One great benefit of some healthcare CRMs is that it is specifically designed to work with common healthcare software that you may already have in place. This means the implementation of the CRM software will be smoother and the transition will be less taxing.
Increased accessibility
CRM software is often cloud-based and can be accessed by providers on traveling laptop stations, tablets, or even smartphones. This means patient data can be collected or updated in real-time in exam rooms or during rounds, and it removes the need for transferring data to the computer system at a later time. Patient information is always kept up-to-date and secure.
Improves the patient’s experience
Patients want healthcare experiences that are easily navigated, personalized, and beneficial. With the use of a healthcare CRM, patient experience is improved through personalized electronic communication, easier access to their own healthcare information, and more efficient care overall.
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