3 Ways to Improve Physician Communication

3 Ways to Improve Physician Communication

Improving patient outcomes should be a core goal for every physician group. However, achieving that goal can become impacted if physicians, staff, and patients are not effectively communicating. According to a study, healthcare miscommunication is attributed to more than 7,000 malpractice suits resulting in nearly 2,000 deaths and $1.7 billion in costs. 

Clinical collaboration has many benefits and improves physician communication and workflows, leading to more effective patient care. Let’s look at the benefits of improving physician-to-physician and physician-to-staff communication and how not adopting modern communication tools can impact your physician group.

Impact of ineffective clinical collaboration and communication

Being tethered to old, outdated ways of operating negatively affects patient outcomes. Overlooked symptoms, misdiagnoses, and medication errors are far more common with physician groups using legacy systems. Communication gaps put unnecessary stress on doctors, physician assistants, and administrators, limiting the number of patients that can be seen and hurting an organization’s bottom line. 

Despite the push the pandemic created to adopt modern technology, a 2021 survey from the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference exposed that close to half of executives haven’t moved past the beginning stages of digital adoption.

The way to move away from the past is to streamline communication and bring care team members and patients together on the same page. A robust collaboration platform achieves this by utilizing secure, HIPAA-compliant text, video, and voice to improve communication and help eliminate clinical errors. The result is a smooth workflow where the correct information reaches the right person at the right time.

 

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Here are three benefits of clinical collaboration for physician groups.

More Time With Patients

The more time physicians waste using archaic modes of communication, the less time they can devote to patient care. Clinical communication and collaboration brings fragmented information together in one secure place. It enables physicians to easily view patient notes, coordinate care plans, and address urgent requests. This saves physicians time and increases efficiency.

The TigerConnect Clinical Collaboration Platform provides physician groups with a connected, cohesive solution. The platform enables physician groups to collaborate with care team members on a single, cloud-native platform. This improves response times, reduces errors, and increases physician satisfaction by eliminating disjointed workflows.

Better Patient Engagement

The more engaged patients are in their healthcare, the more likely they are to adhere to their care plans. Unfortunately, many physicians still rely on phone calls and cumbersome patient portals to communicate with patients. A commonsense collaboration platform replaces this dynamic with easy-to-use tools that improve the interaction between patients and physicians and allow patients to play a more active role in their healthcare. This means that patients are able to easily connect with their physicians. 

Modern communication tools also keep family members in the loop, which greatly increases a patient’s likelihood of following their care guidelines.

The TigerConnect Patient Engagement enables patients to easily connect with care team members without downloading an app, accessing a portal, or needing a login password. Patients can receive appointment reminders as well as submit required documents prior to their visit.

TigerConnect gives physicians the ability to reach patients and families with timely, effective communication via video, voice, or text. Caregivers can communicate one on one with patients or in a group setting to include family members. Seamless EHR integration creates powerful workflow automation by connecting care team members and enabling easy access to patient information.

Protected Patient Information

A physician sending text messages on a personal mobile device not only violates HIPAA’s compliant policy but can compromise a patient’s protected health information (PHI). In addition to the increased chances of sending a text message to the wrong number or causing a miscommunication that has dire consequences, non-secure methods of sharing PHI lack the functionality of a robust collaboration platform.

The TigerConnect Clinical Collaboration Platform features HIPAA-compliant messaging within the platform It enables clinicians to securely and easily access patient information and treatment plans which streamlines workflows and increases productivity. It also provides clinicians with powerful messaging features like sending and receiving images, videos, and voice recordings.

A clinical communication platform is a win-win for physician groups. By unifying healthcare communication on a single platform, physician groups can strengthen collaboration, care coordination, and improve patient care. 

Are you ready for a digital transformation that will take your physician communication to the next level? The good news is a clinical communication and collaboration platform is affordable and easy to implement. Download the TigerConnect Solutions Guide and chart a course for a better healthcare environment for your patients and employees.

Ricardo Estrada is a senior product marketing manager at TigerConnect. He is responsible for marketing and communicating the value TigerConnect products deliver.

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