Communicating with our patients around their care presents a number of challenges when we consider all of the variables at play. What type of contact information do we have on file? What are their communication preferences? What is their account status? What type of appointment do they have? What is the arrival protocol at that practice? How was the appointment scheduled? As we began sending out emails, text messages and notifications about care, it became very confusing very quickly to hold the context of all of those answers in our heads as we were trying to discuss the cadence and content of messages.
In an attempt to help alleviate some of this confusion, I created a visual representation of how the experience of communications should be – in a place where you can see everything at once. All you have to do is follow the path of the messaging you are looking for. This birds-eye view helped us see where there were discrepancies and allowed everyone from leadership to the architects to be able to understand and communicate effectively around the vision.
Sometimes the challenge isn’t solving the problem itself, it’s figuring out how to communicate effectively about how to solve a problem.
