From pen and paper to click and view
The challenge
The objective:
Redesign the way patient referrals are administered to rectify the issues of lost patient referrals, lost revenue and a lack of oversight.
The outcome:
Patient referrals are now fully trackable with detailed management information available to help drive informed improvements in the service.
Results that matter:
25% increase in converting patient referrals into scheduled appointments enabled revenue and profitability gains. A structured, reliable process, resulting in improved customer experience and customer satisfaction
6point6 identified a way of working that will completely transform back-office workflows. End-to-end process analysis coupled with in-depth process redesign empowered process owners to see their workflows from a different perspective. Now they are able to use appropriate technology to be more productive and add substantial value to their service.
Corporate Systems Programme Manager
The objective
Our client provides diagnostic and care services in private healthcare facilities. They aim to become one of the world’s leading private healthcare providers.
Patients suffering from a variety of conditions contact the organisation to obtain medical treatment from one of over 500 Medical Consultants working privately across a range of surgical specialities. These referrals originate from all over the world and are made by the patients themselves.
The organisation’s referral team manage over 2,000 referral requests annually, and with more patients turning to private healthcare due to elongated wait times, growing demand had put a strain on the process for managing referrals. The team were directing patients to specialists by phone or email, and making notes of appointments on paper. This provided no tracking information leading to referrals occasionally being “lost” and missed opportunities to drive improvement through the system using statistics such as: what are the average processing times between referral and appointments being booked?
They needed a solution that would transform the referral process into one where all referrals are trackable at each stage, and management information is readily available, enabling the service to better meet patient needs.
An automated, cloud-based service for connecting patients to consultants
6point6 was appointed to transform the referral process for the client.
We delivered an automated, cloud-based service that captures referral data, clarifies each patient’s referral status and flags where bottlenecks are being experienced (on the patient’s side, referral side or consultation side).
An automatic reminder function helps patients, consultants and the back-office team stay on top of appointments and make changes to schedules in good time.
By capturing referrals digitally on one platform, the system also enables the client to monitor and focus their improvement efforts on the areas which require it most.
Learning from real-time data
Our approach was to map the relevant referral processes within the organisation and identify where – and how – the greatest impact could be made.
Through discovery workshops and interviews with stakeholders in the organisation, we found the process was carried out manually and there was no system for documenting or registering referrals. The client’s referral team directed patients to specialists by phone or email, making notes of appointments on paper.
We then shadowed the referral teams to understand what the client wanted to achieve and the challenges they faced. Using this insight, we modelled the vision for a new digital process using tool-agnostic, industry-standard Business Process Management Notation diagrams.
After a benchmarking exercise, we used tool-agnostic, industry-standard Business Process Management Notation diagrams and built it using the business’s tool of choice, Oracle Process Cloud. Oracle Business Process Management, which would address these challenges by:
- Powering a self-service portal for registering enquiries, mapping symptoms to specific consultants and appointment booking
- Capturing responses for continuity, thereby alleviating the paper-based appointment dates on being written on paper or lost within numerous emails.
- Providing ‘top of the funnel’ analytics that could be used for business planning and process improvement.
Having built a system to automate the referral process, we tested it with the referral team, senior management, process owners and key consultants before launching it to the organisation. Live usage data is being used to make ongoing improvements.
Greater insight into end-to-end referral process informs decision-making across the organisation
The new system provides a real-time view of the number of referrals received in a given timeframe, where referrals originated, and the patients assigned to consultants.
- A built-in analytical function enables the organisation to enhance strategic and operational decisions in order to manage global demand.
- By identifying which specialist services are sought-after, they are able to make informed decisions regarding the deployment and use of internal resources, for example, recruiting consultants for certain regions or employing translators where needed.
- Information on patient origins supports marketing to regions where patients may not be aware of the organisation and the services it offers.
We’re here to help.
Want to find out how we can help you transform your organisation?
