Spring is here, multiple COVID vaccines are available, and in much of the country, COVID numbers are low. We’re not completely out of the woods yet, but there is finally hope that we are getting back to a sense of normalcy. However, what if in healthcare, instead of getting back to pre-pandemic normalcy, we continued to embrace change and strive for growth?
The pandemic drove healthcare organizations to rapidly implement changes that many patients had been waiting for, such as telemedicine. Healthcare professionals had to reflect on current practices and assess possible changes to the way they interacted with patients and provided patient care. Certain changes, like the adoption of the telemedicine, were necessary for healthcare organizations to be able to continue to provide care to their patient population.
However, many business owners and administrators also used the slowdown during the pandemic to evaluate and implement new technology to support the changing expectations of their patients as well as position their clinics for the inevitable post-pandemic boost in sleep center growth, including:
- New devices and software for implementing or optimizing an HSAT program
- A patient intake tool to streamline the check-in process
- Patient engagement software to nurture the patient – provider connection, minimize no shows, and provide ongoing support for CPAP adherence
- The expansion of employee responsibilities or creation of new roles such as sleep educator, billing specialist, or referral network champion
- Launching new programs such as Sleep Navigator
- Implementing an AI scoring solution to standardize and reduce time spent scoring PSG and HSAT studies
- Providing enhanced care and treatment assistance to patients
- Building a physician referral base
- Reaching out to patients to reduce no shows
- Optimizing existing telemedicine and HSAT programs
- Implementing new programs like Sleep Navigator and Sleep Educator
