The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the need for digital transformation across all industries as the opportunity for in-person interactions came to a dramatic halt and shifted to digital. For healthcare organizations, the pandemic meant the rapid adoption of telehealth solutions and the need for clinicians to adapt to a whole new way of connecting with patients. One challenge was delivering a digital patient experience that retains patient trust and can convey the same empathy patients are used to getting in person.
The pandemic and the shift to digital channels has increased the need to create human connection. In the healthcare field, there are two areas where this pandemic-driven shift has had particular impact. The first is telehealth and providing direct patient care through digital channels. The second is in facilitating easy access to essential healthcare content that would typically be available and personalized to the patient during an in-person visit.
“Brands all over the world are in the midst of implementing their own digital transformation, constantly gathering data as they try to understand their customers and offer those all-important experiences,” said Paige O’Neill, CMO at Sitecore. “But the key to powering customer experience isn’t simply found in technology and data. Creating the experiences that customers crave means understanding them and their needs on a human level – connections based on empathy.”
One healthcare system that is meeting its patients’ needs during this rapid digital transformation is Johns Hopkins Medicine. Already a multi-award winning organization, Johns Hopkins Medicine was recognized as a 2020 Sitecore Ultimate Experience winner for their commitment to providing timely and accurate coronavirus information online, showcasing expertise, and engaging the public during a crisis.
By keeping up with the pace of public questions and concerns, Johns Hopkins Medicine has been able to create relationships with the public built on trust. They become a top source for information with 1 million page views per day in the early days of the pandemic in the U.S. The organization incorporated design, content, and a personalization strategy to meet the users where they interact, increasing traffic from social channels by 370 percent.
By delivering a relevant patient experience, Johns Hopkins Medicine was able to succeed at establishing a trust-based relationship not only with its current patients but with a much broader community.
