Cerner aims to simplify patient communication with WELL Health

Through WELL, Cerner offers new capabilities designed to help unify and automate previously disjointed communications; enhance patient engagement

Cerner Corporation, a global healthcare technology company, today announced capabilities focused on helping providers improve patient engagement and satisfaction through intelligent and automated communication powered by WELL Health Inc. The move is designed to help providers continue to transform the healthcare experience with added emphasis on timely and meaningful patient communications. By teaming with WELL Health, Cerner is offering health care organizations a modern way to communicate with patients, simply by texting back and forth.

“WELL Health is focused on what patients expect today – near real-time, personalized communication on their terms. We aim to move beyond the days of playing phone tag, leaving voicemails, and expecting patients to continue showing up,” says Guillaume de Zwirek, CEO and founder, WELL Health.

“WELL supports patients to text their health care provider like they would text a friend. For a provider’s staff, WELL is designed to unify and automate disjointed communications across the organization, helping to reduce unnecessary stress and limiting potential errors.”

Why texting patients matters

More than 5 billion people spend nearly a quarter of their day on their mobile phones. In fact, in the last few years, the number of active cellphone subscriptions exceeded the number of people on earth. Giving patients the same person-centric digital experience in health care as they receive from other industries has become increasingly important. Teaming with WELL Health, Cerner is focused on making technology more useable for health systems and patients by meeting consumers where they are spending their time.

Cerner patient communication hub

These new capabilities, incorporated into Cerner’s patient portal HealtheLife℠, act as a patient communication hub that extends beyond email. It is designed to help unify communications from the myriad of different systems and apps accessed throughout the patient care journey into a single text message conversation. Combined with advanced notifications and appointment reminders, organizations will be empowered to leverage automation to help improve the patient experience.

“Cerner is committed to helping providers create the engaging, comprehensive health care experiences patients expect and deserve,” says David Bradshaw, senior vice president, consumer and employer solutions, Cerner.

“We are focused on strengthening our clients’ ability to build meaningful relationships with patients, drive enhanced care experiences and deliver greater value through efficient and intelligent messaging.”

Automating patient communication

Organizations can use the new features to automate patient communications like delivering critical health information, sending flu shot reminders, rescheduling appointments, scheduling virtual visits, and prompting patients to set up needed medical transportation. Additional benefits to patients and providers are expected to include:

• Decreased time spent scheduling and communicating with patients by using automated workflows that reply and route based on patient responses.
• Reduced staff time spent on billing and payment collections by auto-notifying patients when new bills are ready for payment.
• Improved patient satisfaction, retention and acquisition through timely communication and reduced hold queues, missed calls and email delays.

Consumer experiences have never been more important than in today’s environment, as patients desire more digital health solutions and providers engage in value-based contracts where satisfaction is paramount. Today’s patients expect the same person-centric digital experiences in health care as they receive from other industries and may be more likely to switch providers after a poor experience.

There are over 100 unique ways providers can use the new capabilities to aid in providing timely and informative communications with the goal of helping reduce the possibility of error or delays. Through automated and intelligent communications from WELL Health, Cerner aims to help clients improve patient satisfaction and enhance staff efficiency through meaningful engagements.