In this episode

Today’s patients expect a consumer-grade healthcare experience with easy, convenient access from their channel of choice. Tandem Health’s Chief Population Health Officer and VP of Business Development talk about how they created a best-in-business patient website and great patient self-service to make this a reality. They discuss:

• The process used to evaluate Tandem Health’s website for consumer friendliness.
• Making key information simple to find and actionable for patients, right from Tandem’s home page.
• Rethinking patient access processes to simplify how patients get care.

“Healthcare has been kind of separate from the consumer driven-market, but it’s not anymore. Our expectations of being able to manage our lives via some sort of digital component have gone up. [As a health system], we have to adopt that.”

– Rob Bailey

Key takeaways

Chief Population Health Officer Rob Bailey and VP of Business Development Curt Ackerman shared how they approached the redesign of Tandem Health’s website to provide a simple, intuitive entry point for patients. Here’s what they did:

1) Evaluated the site from a consumer perspective first

“When Tandem Health rebranded in 2018, within that rebrand was an overhaul of just about everything in terms of how the organization operated,” said Ackerman. And the window into the operation is the website.”

“We worked closely with consultants, who, to my knowledge, did not do a lot of, healthcare — they were very consumer-driven. And, really, they kept pulling the reins back on us and forcing simplicity. Our natural tendency is to want to paint the biggest and the brightest and the most active portrait possible because we want to stand out,” he continued.

But from a patient and consumer perspective, Ackerman said, patients are either looking to establish care with a new provider and learn about the organization, or they’re looking to self-serve. Neither path is well-served by an overcomplicated website.

2) Made common self-service actions easy to find and use

“The most common reason patients are on our website is to schedule an appointment. And they may not even be landing on the home page,” said Bailey. “We wanted them to have that action capability from anywhere.”

“Next, we want patients to be able to refill prescriptions. And lastly, when you’re looking for a primary care provider or even another provider, you want to learn about them quickly and then be able to do something about it, whether it be to chat with someone, to be able to get some quick information, or circle back to that scheduling component.”

3) Addressed other patient access improvements

Ackerman and Bailey emphasized that in addition to a consumer-focused website, Tandem Health needed to ensure that operational processes supported easy, efficient patient access. They discussed Tandem’s use of text messaging communications, an automated waitlist, and telehealth options to streamline access for their patients.

“I have often said delivering care, provider to patient, that is not the hardest thing we do,” said Ackerman. It is the most skilled thing we do, but it’s not the most difficult thing that we do. The grand majority of providers that I have worked around l say, ‘I just want to see patients.’ Well, guess what? Our customer base, they just want to see the doctor. Challenges I’ve seen are rarely about the care provided by the doctor, they’re about the experience [and challenges that the patient faces to get to care].”