Consumers across every age group expect healthcare digital experiences that match the ease and convenience of making purchases online, reserving a restaurant, booking private accommodations, getting personalized movie recommendations, filing taxes, and even virtually buying a car. 

However, the consumer-patient journey is far more complex and multifaceted than other everyday consumer experiences. Patients and members need support every step of the way, and finding the right care is often the first hurdle patients face. Healthcare organizations (HCOs) can ease this important step in the journey by offering robust, user-friendly website tools that support a seamless, patient-centric experience.  

 

Find Care As An Experience Differentiator 

HCOs can differentiate themselves in the market and gain a competitive advantage by embracing a patient-centric approach and leveraging technology to improve the search process. Overall, the focus should be on creating a seamless, user-friendly experience for patients/members that makes finding care easier and more convenient.  

Following are some best practices for designing effective search tools and filters, as well as strategies to improve the overall search experience for patients. 

 

Tip 1: Consider how healthcare consumers seek information. Patients and members search for care based on how they feel. It’s crucial to use the same language and terminology that they would use. Avoid medical jargon and choose language that is easily understood by non-medical professionals. Also, build a search tab and filters that are “symptom and procedure” based. 

Tip 2: Meet your patients and members where they are. Offer filtering options based on location, insurance coverage, accepting new patients, and specialties to help patients quickly narrow their search results and find the care that best meets their needs. 

Tip 3: Make it easier for patients and members to match care options with their needs. Further improve the search process by providing additional information and resources, such as patient reviews, information on appointment scheduling and availability, and directions to a clinic or hospital. 

Tip 4: Support mobile access across channels. Prioritize mobile-friendly design in your search tools and filters to cater to the growing number of patients who use mobile devices to access health care information and services. The search process can be enhanced by integrating with other digital platforms, such as social media, which can provide additional touchpoints for patients to find and interact with HCOs. 

Tip 5: Intelligently learn and evolve. Remain tuned to how your patients and members tell you they need care. Regularly review and refine your site’s search functionality to ensure that it continues to meet their changing needs. Search data and analytics can help you identify any pain points or areas for improvement in the search process while intelligent search solutions, artificial intelligence (AI), and generative chat can assist consumers with more personalized and responsive care. 

 

Better Experiences Powered by Intelligent Search  

Intelligent search provides an excellent foundation for current (table stakes) find care and provider search capabilities. It’s also a highly-flexible platform that can integrate and scale across a wider range of find care opportunities.  

Intelligent search’s full range of capabilities paired with generative chat enables HCOs to assist consumers as they search and find the care that best suits their needs, location, budget, and time. 

HCOs can greatly enhance the consumer experience by providing robust and user-friendly search tools and filters that prioritize patient needs and make finding care easy and convenient.  

 

About Perficient

With more than 20 years of deep industry experience, Perficient is a trusted end-to-end digital provider delivering award-winning digital technology solutions. Let us assess how your find care experience can accelerate and optimize the consumer care journey. For more information about our healthcare and life sciences expertise, follow us on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn. Or contact us to explore your specific needs and goals.