Mapping Out The Patient Experience
How Baptist Access brings the health center to the patient before, during and after their visit
Introduction
For years, the executive team at Baptist Health had explored the idea of a robust and patient-focused wayfinding app. With the dramatic shift to consumerization in today’s healthcare environment, they knew patients expect a seamless experience at each point in their care journey. Additionally, their deep understanding of patient engagement led them to believe that adopting a system-branded mobile platform would open up unique opportunities for business development, allowing Baptist Health to set itself apart from the competition and reaffirm its position as a leader in healthcare across southeast Georgia and northern Florida. While several options were explored, including an in-house solution, achieving the necessary buy-in to move the project forward proved challenging. As the pandemic severity eased and patient demand for care rebounded, wayfinding moved up on the health system’s priority list.
Challenge
As patients sought care, Baptist Health’s customer service centers began to experience bottlenecks. Longer wait times were hurting the patient experience, while increased call volumes were contributing to staff turnover and increased operational costs.
“The number one thing for us was to make access easier for everyone. Selfservice is a win-win, because it gives consumers more control while reducing the burden on our hardworking teams,” says Melanie Husk, Senior Vice President and Chief Consumer Officer at Baptist Health.
The concept was simple. Baptist Health needed to empower its patients by giving them more opportunities to directly interact with the Baptist Health network. Patient surveys and outside analysis overwhelmingly showed that wayfinding was a high priority for most customers across the entire demographic being served.
“The need for wayfinding came up a lot in our voice of the customer feedback,” Husk says.
Several other features, such as bill pay, find a provider, and wait time details, were also cited as urgent requests. Baptist Health website data confirmed the popularity of these features. To capture growth and provide excellent experiences, it was clear that time was of the essence. Establishing a personal connection via a customized app could deliver a better outcome for both patient and provider while building brand loyalty.
Solution
While Baptist Health has a strong Dev-Ops team, leaders decided to invest in an outside, off-the-shelf solution—one that could quickly give Baptist Health the wayfinding service patients needed, but still be fully customizable to meet future patient needs while addressing bottom-line requirements.
“At the end of the day, it came down to speed to market,” Husk says. “The Gozio app allowed for heavy customization while using an established framework.”
Gozio also met Baptist Health’s non-negotiable needs, the first being seamless continuity from the app to the health system’s website to support smooth transitions for patients.
Other features requested by leaders included the ability for patients to:
• Find a Baptist Health location or provider near them
• Easily schedule an appointment
• Access Emergency Department and urgent care wait times at nearby locations
• Get directions from their home to their chosen healthcare location
• Find hospital campus maps, including indoor, turn-by-turn maps that show f loors and buildings with a services directory
• View insurance plans accepted by Baptist Health
• Access medical records via the patient portal
• Pay their bill
Called “Baptist Access,” the customized app empowers patients to access the information and services they need, when they need them, creating a frictionless experience. “In today’s world, we are used to having information right at our fingertips. With Baptist Access, our patients have the latest information from Baptist Health in their hands, making it easy to access care,” says Michael A. Mayo, DHA, FACHE, president and CEO of Baptist Health.
Results
Baptist Access has already begun paying dividends. In fact, even before its official public launch date on May 31, 2022, the app had already been downloaded more than 2,000 times. This is an impressive number that Husk attributes to the excitement of the Baptist Health employees, who are driven to improve the experience of every patient.
Looking to the future, Husk is also passionate about the ability of the app to meet patients where they are in real time, elevating the relationship between the system and the communities it serves. “ What we look for is a halo effect: a patient was able to easily find patient registration, the ATM, a place to eat. Baptist Access is critical for demonstrating our commitment to the holistic experience, including all the relevant touchpoints on the way to or from the appointment,” Husk says.
With the Baptist Access app, Baptist Health aims to optimize the patient’s journey at all main access points of the health system.
“This is a strategy that aligns with research that suggests digital offerings play an important role in overall patient experiences,” says Joshua Titus, CEO and founder of Gozio Health. “Patients gain greater control of their care journey, and this builds trust in the health system and a positive experience that extends beyond the point of care.”
Baptist Health Jacksonville
Learn how University Health is strengthening patient retention by enhancing the digital experience. Using a mobile app that anticipates consumers’ needs and strengthens their care experience provided a strong foundation for patient engagement during the pandemic and beyond.
Jacksonville, Florida
Not-for-profit, locally governed health system
Six nationally accredited hospitals and over 200 points of access
Baptist Access app: Stats at a glance
- > 90,000 total installations
- > 1.6 million sessions
- > 75% repeat usage
“What we look for is a halo effect: a patient was able to easily find patient registration, the ATM, a place to eat. Baptist Access is critical for demonstrating our commitment to the holistic experience, including all the relevant touchpoints on the way to or from the appointment,”
Michael A. Mayo, DHA, FACHE, president and CEO of Baptist Health.