Most of us remember the “old” days when people still communicated through handwritten letters. Checking the mailbox in the hopes of finding something addressed to you was an eagerly anticipated part of daily life. Though you can still pen a letter to someone and send it with a stamp, typically the only items people dig out of their mailboxes these days are much less satisfying bills and spam mail.

Now, snail mail has largely been replaced by more sophisticated forms of communication influenced by progress, technology, and the ever-present need for speed and convenience. For most consumers, businesses, and organizations, if it isn’t fast, reliable, and easy to use, they don’t want it—and they certainly won’t use it. We live in an era of smartphones, status updates, texting, tweeting, and TikTok. Rather than measure the time to connect with someone in weeks or days, today it’s in hours, minutes, or even seconds. Nearly 80 percent of American consumers say that speed and convenience are the most important elements of a positive customer experience.

More and more, the same holds true for our healthcare communications. Increasingly, providers are shifting to more efficient patient communication channels that emphasize accessibility, convenience, and haste. Though syncing communication preferences is always the first step to being on the same wavelength with patients, best practices reveal that some mediums are better than others when speed and timing are must-haves. Letters, newsletters, phone calls, and patient portal messages are a poor substitute when you need to expedite timely health information. Nowhere has this been better illustrated in the past year than in our ongoing experience with COVID-19.

Due to its lethality, the pandemic forced us not only to rethink how we communicate but also what types of information need to be conveyed to support patient care and safety. Rapidly changing conditions across the country meant that coronavirus case numbers, deaths, and hospitalizations varied greatly from day to day. Hence, states and cities adopted an array of area-specific health safety protocols, mandates, and requirements to keep people safe and informed. When the vaccines rolled out, governments, health organizations, and providers also relied on avenues like social media, text messages, and the mass media as a way to share vaccine distribution and availability.

https://www.healthitoutcomes.com/doc/keeping-patients-top-of-mind-connected-informed-and-educated-0001