AWS Partner Network (APN) Blog
Enhancing Patient Care with Talkdesk’s AI-Powered Contact Center
By Jim Burke, Healthcare and Life Sciences Marketing Director – Talkdesk
By Jyothi Jayaraman, Sr. Partner Healthcare and Life Sciences Solutions Architect – AWS
By Gina McFarland, Partner Solutions Architect – AWS
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| Talkdesk |
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The healthcare technology landscape is evolving rapidly, with AI-powered contact centers emerging as critical hubs for enhancing patient care and fostering business growth. A Fortune Business Insights report highlights that by 2032, the global contact center software market is expected to reach a staggering USD 218.31 billion, growing at an impressive 19.6% annually from its 2024 valuation of USD 52.17 billion.
This growth reflects a fundamental shift in how the healthcare industry views contact centers. A Forrester blog highlights that contact centers are not mere cost centers. A HealthTech article extends this to the healthcare industry, recognizing contact centers as pivotal in enhancing healthcare delivery, improving patient engagement, and driving operational efficiency.
We posit that the impact of this shift is significant. When patients feel cared for, they’re more likely to adhere to treatment plans, attend appointments, and make healthier choices. A survey by Business Wire revealed important insights about healthcare preferences. It found that 75% of U.S. consumers want their healthcare experiences to be more personalized. Additionally, 61% of people said they would visit their healthcare provider more frequently if communications were tailored to their individual needs.
Talkdesk is at the forefront of this revolution with its innovative Healthcare Experience Cloud. In this blog, we’ll explore how Talkdesk is transforming healthcare contact centers through AI and automation, personalizing care while improving efficiency and patient outcomes.
Talkdesk Healthcare Experience Cloud: Reimagining Patient-Centric Care
Talkdesk, a leading contact center software provider, is an AWS Advanced Tier Technology Partner with the AWS Healthcare Competency, proven in creating secure, compliant healthcare solutions on AWS.
Talkdesk recognizes the critical role contact centers can play in a patient journey that is value-driven, not just efficient. A Talkdesk patient experience research report found that nearly 90% of providers view contact centers as an integral component of patient experiences. Talkdesk aims to turn contact centers into patient-focused hubs, leveraging technology to enhance patient care.
Talkdesk’s Healthcare Experience Cloud is an innovative, AI-powered platform that leverages the power and scalability of AWS to reimagine the patient experience. Figure 1 below shows the solution’s cloud capabilities and the various integrations.
Figure 1 – Talkdesk Healthcare Experience Cloud Capabilities
Talkdesk’s solution stands out among contact center platforms in their focus on integrations with electronic health record (EHR) platforms. Healthcare Experience Cloud directly integrates with popular EHR platforms such as Epic, athenahealth, and Oracle Health (formerly Cerner). These integrations enhance healthcare operations by giving agents real-time access to patient data, enabling personalized interactions and streamlining workflows across patient access, revenue cycle, and services. As part of the Epic Workshop program, Talkdesk embeds AI capabilities into Epic’s Cheers customer relationship management (CRM) platform. This gives healthcare agents access to real-time AI insights and personalized patient interaction tools within Epic, bringing advanced contact center capabilities into the Epic ecosystem. Talkdesk has also engineered a universal EHR gateway that enables easier and faster connections to other health records platforms.
These integrations offer valuable tools for healthcare providers, and they also require strong security to protect patient data. Recognizing this need, Talkdesk ensures that business and patient data are secure and aligned with rigorous security frameworks and privacy laws. With more than 30 security certifications, including SOC 2 and 3, ISO 27001, PCI DSS Level 1, HIPAA, and GDPR, Talkdesk provides a robust foundation for trust. Notably, Talkdesk was the first in the industry to receive the ISO 22301 Business Continuity certification.
In the next section, we will show how these integrations can be leveraged in call centers to enable comprehensive and personalized patient care.
Personalization: The Key to Improved Patient Outcomes
The Talkdesk Healthcare Experience Cloud, powered by AWS services such as Amazon Transcribe and Amazon Polly, can integrate with EHRs to personalize each patient’s experience. Figure 2 below shows an example of the complete patient view enabled by the EHR integration. This provides the ability for two patients calling with the same request to be handled differently, based on their individual health needs.
Figure 2 – Talkdesk Experience Cloud provides complete view of patient context
Talkdesk’s generative AI autopilot for healthcare can handle simple tasks like prescription refills, appointment scheduling, and answering basic questions without human intervention. This technology can manage up to 45% of calls automatically, cutting wait times for patients and reducing workload for staff. As a result, human agents can focus on more complex patient needs that require personal attention.
For example, if a patient calls to refill a prescription, the system checks their EHR and might notice they’re due for a cancer screening or flu shot. Instead of automatically processing the refill, it connects the patient to a staff member. The staff member can then refill the prescription and help schedule important preventive care appointments. This turns a routine request into an opportunity to improve the patient’s overall health. However, if another patient calls for a refill but doesn’t need any additional care, they might get a fully automated service. This personalized approach helps engage patients more effectively and can lead to better health outcomes.
Next, we’ll explore how Memorial Healthcare System leveraged Talkdesk’s AI and EHR integration to dramatically improve patient satisfaction, reduce call abandonment rates, and boost operational efficiency.
Case Study: Memorial Healthcare System’s Transformation
Memorial Healthcare System (MHS), one of Florida’s largest healthcare organizations, embarked on a journey to transform their patient experience. Facing challenges of 12 disconnected call centers and frustrated patients and agents, MHS implemented Talkdesk Healthcare Experience Cloud, leveraging its deep integration with Epic. This integration was crucial, allowing MHS to automatically identify callers and display comprehensive records including billing, payments, clinical history, and workflows. Agents gained a holistic view of each caller, enabling them to address issues more efficiently without repetitive questioning.
The solution went live within a month, immediately improving experiences for both agents and patients. The results were transformative. Call abandonment rates dropped by 3x, and service levels increased by 30%. Significant improvements were seen in average speed to answer and handle times, as well as reduced queueing times, further streamlining the patient experience. Beyond the numbers, the transformation was evident in the elevated standard of patient care. Patients now experience shorter wait times, more personalized interactions, and the ability to accomplish multiple tasks in a single call. Agents, armed with comprehensive information and efficient tools, are now able to focus on problem-solving rather than information gathering. Jeff Sturman, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at MHS highlighted the platform’s effectiveness: “Being able to resolve issues quickly, efficiently, and correctly the first time is crucial to consumer satisfaction, and with the unified Talkdesk system, we’re able to do it consistently.”
The Future of Healthcare Contact Centers
AI and automation are revolutionizing healthcare, with contact centers playing a central role in transforming patient-provider interactions. These AI-enhanced contact centers are evolving from cost-saving units into integral components of the value-based care model. They’re turning routine transactions into opportunities for holistic care, considering each patient’s complete health journey.
Talkdesk is at the forefront of this shift towards value-based care. Talkdesk’s AI-powered Health Experience Cloud platform, purpose-built for healthcare, enables providers to deliver more than just efficient service. It facilitates value-driven care that improves patient outcomes by creating synchronized, personalized, and radically convenient experiences for every individual.
Connect with Talkdesk to discover how they can support your organization’s transformation in this new era of healthcare delivery.
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Talkdesk – AWS Partner Spotlight
Talkdesk is an AWS Advanced Technology Partner and has achieved four AWS Competencies in Healthcare, Financial Services, Retail, and Conversational AI. Talkdesk is a global AI-powered cloud contact center leader for enterprises of all sizes. Talkdesk CX Cloud and Industry Experience Clouds help enterprises deliver modern customer service their way. Their trusted, flexible, and innovative contact center platform leverages AI and automation to drive exceptional outcomes for their customers and improve the bottom line.