The network plans to roll out increased use of online appointment scheduling and virtual doctor visits, as well as a phone app and a new website. CEO at UCHealth Elizabeth Concordia said the campaign was created after talking with 5,000 patients, staff members and health care workers over 18 months to get a better sense of how the hospital could be more responsive to its customers.
UCHealth runs hospitals like the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins and Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland. UCHealth’s Chief marketing and experience officer Manny Rodriguez explained that another part of the campaign is also to let people know that all these facilities, their various clinics and specialists, are part of the same network.
“They can go into their doctor’s office for the visit or use the app to find the closest urgent care facility. Or they can call to talk or make a virtual visit — sort of like a video conference — with a doctor. The message that we have heard, is that not everybody wants one way of interacting with the system. They want to interact with the system on their terms.”
Catch up
“Not proudly, health care has often not put the patient first in the same way that retail and other industries have,” Concordia said. “The campaign will bring to health care the same kind of technology-driven convenience that customers have come to expect elsewhere, whether it is making a restaurant reservation online or depositing a check via a phone app. It’s time for health care to catch up,” she concluded.UCHealth runs hospitals like the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins and Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland. UCHealth’s Chief marketing and experience officer Manny Rodriguez explained that another part of the campaign is also to let people know that all these facilities, their various clinics and specialists, are part of the same network.
Interact on their terms
But the primary goal is to give patients the ability to better dictate how they receive care. “Using the new system, a sick person can call their doctor’s office to make an appointment or schedule the appointment online or through a phone app,” Concordia explained.“They can go into their doctor’s office for the visit or use the app to find the closest urgent care facility. Or they can call to talk or make a virtual visit — sort of like a video conference — with a doctor. The message that we have heard, is that not everybody wants one way of interacting with the system. They want to interact with the system on their terms.”
