Expanding demand for popular weight loss drugs like Ozempic has placed a uniquely modern strain on the healthcare customer experience. With the widespread online popularity of this and other medications, more customers than ever before risk running into misinformation.
Healthcare practitioners seeking to ensure a positive healthcare customer journey amidst the craze must identify ways to counteract the inaccuracies widely shared online.
Customers may attempt to access services they’re ineligible for or obtain medications for unintended uses when they encounter healthcare misinformation. Unfortunately, repetitive interactions with customer service representatives can often perpetuate misinformation by ushering customers into a confusing cycle of frustration known as The Eddy Effect™. This term describes instances where consumers get ‘stuck’ in their journeys, resulting in a negative customer experience.
Healthcare leaders have a duty to protect customers from damaging misinformation and the Eddy Effect whenever possible. Luckily, the voice of the customer provides critical insight into identifying emerging trends that may result in misinformation.
Misinformation presents healthcare hurdles
Healthcare leaders can detect when misinformation may be spreading online by gaining visibility into conversations happening across communication channels. For example, unexpectedly high rates of questions about using specific medications or services for certain health outcomes may suggest the emergence of online misinformation. Once patterns and potential trends are detected, organizations can use targeted communication and education campaigns to proactively correct consumer misunderstandings.
Utilizing conversation data can reduce the number of calls to already overwhelmed contact centers and prevent customer frustration in the process. Once the source of misinformation is identified, healthcare organizations are better empowered to create targeted messaging that clarifies facts and guides customers toward reliable resources.
An organization can also recognize the need for corrective messaging in conversation data pulled from customer interactions. Imagine a customer calling, saying, “TikTok said this prescription would cost [amount].” Another asks, “I saw a video about using [a specified drug] for [purpose]; can I do that, too?” Conversations like these signal misunderstandings of eligibility and prescription use stemming from online information.
Organizations can spot trends early – before they go viral – by collecting, aggregating, and monitoring data from conversations like these over time. AI can analyze customer conversations at scale to pinpoint the root cause of concerns and surface instances where customers get stuck in repetitive disruptions of their journeys, like eligibility issues and prior authorization requirements.
Healthcare leaders can leverage these data-driven insights to anticipate emerging trends, prepare responses, and proactively address potential misinformation. This preparation can reduce strain on contact center resources by preparing customer service representatives with talking points for online misinformation, reducing call times and freeing up live agents to discuss pressing matters with other customers. The value of conversational data enables organizations to navigate the complex healthcare landscape and empower positive customer experiences.
Turning insights into action
Insights from conversational data can spark lasting improvements beyond crisis response and management. Healthcare leaders can use voice-of-the-customer feedback to update call center agent scripts, improve training materials, and streamline operational processes. Meanwhile, online virtual assistants and chatbots can more accurately answer common questions with evidence-based information, and organizations can invite customers to use interactive health information platforms to explore health topics further, receive personalized guidance, and debunk popular health myths.
The ability to detect and proactively respond to trends is invaluable as the amount of online health information and misleading content available to the public grows. Embracing data-driven, conversational AI insights empowers healthcare organizations to navigate passing viral trends, provide quality education and care, maintain operational efficiency, and ensure a positive customer experience.
Amy Brown
Amy Brown is the founder and CEO of Authenticx – the software platform that analyzes and activates patients’ voices at scale to reveal transformational opportunities in healthcare. Amy built her career as a rising executive in the healthcare industry, during which time she advocated for underserved populations, led and mobilized teams to expand healthcare coverage to thousands of Indiana residents, and learned the nuance of corporate operations. In 2018, Amy decided to leverage her decades of industry experience to tackle healthcare through technology. She founded Authenticx with the mission to bring the authentic voice of the patient into the boardroom and increase positive healthcare outcomes.