7 Ways EPIC CTI Connector Can Transform Patient Experience

Efficient data management practices are essential for any business organization, but when it comes to the healthcare industry, up-to-date, secure, and accurate information is absolutely non-negotiable. Healthcare providers simply cannot afford to misplace patient information because it’s the patient’s life that’s on the line.

And this is precisely where the role of EPIC comes into the picture, equipping your healthcare facility to track patient history, maintain up-to-date medical records, ensure patient satisfaction with optimized data management practices, and more.

But first, what is EPIC?

EPIC is a telemedicine software provider that allows hospitals and healthcare providers to maintain medical records. The software is not just an EHR platform but a comprehensive suite of modules designed to streamline healthcare processes.

Its various modules include Epic Hyperspace, Hyperdrive, and the healthcare CRM Cheers, EPIC, which facilitates patient scheduling to medical imaging, billing, and more for improved accessibility, visibility, and management of electronic medical records across your healthcare organization.

However, the current system faces a challenge in terms of seamless communication between the EPIC system modules and other external communication channels. This gap results in delays, miscommunication, and inefficiencies in coordinating patient care and managing medical records.

To address these issues, it becomes crucial to introduce a CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) Connector. Acting as a bridge between EPIC’s comprehensive suite of modules and telephony/ communication systems, CTI promotes a more integrated and efficient healthcare ecosystem.

The Need to Integrate Epic and Telephony

EPIC CTI Connectors extend the capability of your standalone EPIC application. It allows you to integrate the telephony solution of your contact center with the EPIC application, facilitating healthcare agents to place calls and manage patient information right from within the EPIC interface, eliminating the need to switch screens.

According to an Accenture Report, 77% of patients think the ability to book, change, or cancel appointments online is essential.

EPIC CTI ensures that your agents do not waste the initial crucial minutes when a patient is reaching out for urgent medical care.

7 Ways EPIC CTI Redefines Patient Experience

⦿ Holistic Patient Journey: Unified Patient Information

EPIC CTI gives agents quick access to the patient’s medical and interaction history via screen pop. As soon as the patient reaches out to a healthcare contact center, the CTI fetches and displays relevant patient information on the agent’s screen, eliminating the need to manually search for patient records during a call or navigate multiple systems.

Apart from the basic patient information, EPIC CTI can be configured to present a comprehensive view, including recent medical history, scheduled appointments, etc. This paves the way for a more connected, responsive, and patient-focused healthcare experience.

⦿ Care Beyond Walls: Virtual Patient Support

The healthcare contact center empowered by EPIC CTI transcends physical boundaries and allows the delivery of virtual patient support. Patients can reach out to healthcare organizations via a number of channels, including phone, chat, etc.
For eg, one patient might prefer a quick clarification through a chat interface, and another might find comfort in a video call for a detailed consultation. Now, CTI ensures that the healthcare contact center can pivot between these channels and provide a patient-centric experience.

This allows patients to move on from the telephony experience to a comprehensive virtual support experience. Patients can seek assistance, schedule appointments, and receive guidance remotely, enhancing accessibility and convenience. This accessibility enhances patient engagement and gives patients a chance to participate in their healthcare journeys actively.

⦿ Maximized Capacity Utilization: Smart Appointment Scheduling

EPIC CTI frees patients from the tyranny of multiple calls, forms, and repetitive outbound calling and confirmation requests. Healthcare agents can access real-time information about a physician’s availability, appointment slots, and patient preferences to schedule appointments.

For complex diagnostic procedures, it takes an average of 76 days to go from referral to appointment scheduling.

This ensures that the appointments are scheduled in the most effective manner, saving time for both patients and healthcare agents. Timely and convenient appointments reduce the frustration that is often associated with long waiting periods. Even if the physician’s schedule experiences a sudden shift, EPIC CTI can notify patients or reallocate appointments through an optimized use of other healthcare resources.

⦿ Coordinated Actions with Real-time Alerts

Integration of healthcare contact center telephony and EPIC applications facilitates better coordination through real-time alerts. Patients and healthcare agents receive instant notifications for appointment changes, urgent medical updates, or emergencies. With this robust framework for real-time coordination, EPIC CTI enhances the efficiency and responsiveness of healthcare organizations in emergency situations.

Further, with seamless collaboration between on-call agents through call transfers, hold, consult, screen transfers, etc., and prompt updation of records, EPIC CTI operates at the forefront of patient safety and response.

⦿ Harmonize Processes with Streamlined Workflows

EPIC CTI integration streamlines healthcare workflows by providing a centralized platform that helps manage patient interactions, inquiries, and administrative tasks. The integration not only acts as a link between telephony and healthcare applications but simplifies a range of tasks that agents handle and optimizes every aspect of patient interaction.

This operational efficiency also reduces the manual burden on agents and allows them to focus more on patient care and less on administrative overheads. Further, workflow integration also ensures data synchronization as changes made in one system are reflected in real time across all connected platforms.

⦿ Precision in Practice: Minimize Medical Errors

Integration of your healthcare contact center telephony with EHR equips you with the utmost accuracy in your interaction with patients. Since agents have immediate access to accurate and up-to-date information, they can go beyond simply retrieving patient information to dispensing precise and informed advice.

For example, if a patient reports symptoms that require urgent medical attention, CTI can escalate the call to a relevant healthcare professional, ensuring that critical decisions are guided by the latest medical knowledge.

EPIC CTI allows healthcare agents’ guidance to be aligned with the patient’s unique healthcare profile, mitigating risks.

⦿ Data-driven Insights for Continuous Improvement

EPIC CTI integration creates a unified platform that helps healthcare contact center agents to make informed decisions. Apart from the valuable information on patient interaction, as discussed above, the centralized platform displays details of call patterns, patient preferences, pain points, etc. These deep insights allow healthcare agents to tailor their responses and deliver more personalized services.
Additionally, the platform also displays stats about agent states agent logout and allows supervisors to monitor agents via barge-in, silent monitoring, and whisper-in. The administrators get a birds-eye view of the agent’s performance, allowing them to make informed decisions regarding resource allocation, process optimization, and overall service strategy.

Wrap up

The dynamic combination of EPIC EHR/EMR systems and NovelVox Smart CTI Connectors ensures that the healthcare data is well-integrated into your contact center processes and readily accessible to agents during live interactions. From streamlining operations to reducing overhead costs, EPIC CTI Connectors can maximize your existing contact center functionality and allow you to utilize systems to the fullest extent.