Broadcast messaging has proven to be one of the most important tools for medical groups, hospitals, and health systems this year. As healthcare leaders plan for the upcoming vaccine season, and with the potential for two vital vaccines to be available to the public, a robust tool for messaging mass quantities of patients will be critical.  Relatient customers have been using Broadcast Messenger (previously known as Demand Messaging) for years to respond to patients during major disruptions like hurricanes and blizzards. In March 2020, providers were turning to broadcast messaging to communicate to their entire patient databases how to access telehealth, clinic closings and schedule changes, provider furloughs, mask requirements, limits on visitors and support persons, and much more. And it wasn’t just primary care—every specialty from oncology to dermatology to pediatrics and more were tasked with keeping their patients informed and helping them navigate the patient journey mid-pandemic. 

We used Relatient’s Demand Messaging module to communicate tactically and quickly with patients.  We implemented telehealth across our network in 2 weeks through a lot of late nights and training sessions. We used Demand Messaging to help patients move to telehealth, change their appointments, communicate new schedules or information about clinics that had temporarily closed. We also used this feature to share our initial COVID-19 safety procedures and we continue to share these updates as the COVID-19 situation evolves. We worked together with our physicians to ensure patients with the most urgent needs, such as melanoma, could get treated right away. We then worked to transition other patients who were seeking treatments for things like acne or psoriasis from in-person appointments to telehealth appointments. Some folks opted to postpone their appointments, so we used Relatient to stay in communication with those patients to get them rescheduled. Those are just a few examples, but Relatient was critical in helping QualDerm communicate important information to patients without having to physically call every single patient.

Josh Metzger
Vice President, IT & Security, QualDerm Partners

If a global pandemic isn’t enough, 2020 has also offered up tragic weather events like tornadoes, hurricanes, and wildfires that have ravaged different areas of the country over the last several months. Again broadcast messaging proved critical in keeping patients informed of their resources, closings, and options for accessing care.

A small silver lining: Tuesday when I was evacuated from my home office, I was able to get WiFi at a small rural lodge,” said the customer. “I was able to log in to the Relatient portal to use demand messaging and we sent thousands of emergency messages–everything from emergency closures, to messages of “we’re open” to “your appointment has been moved.” That thing works great!

Strategic Project Manager, Population Health, West Coast Relatient Client

Healthcare organizations and medical providers who are already equipped with a tool for broadcast messaging can enter vaccine season with a strategy for helping patients access vaccine locations close to them and understand their options, dispelling misinformation around the influenza vaccine, and encouraging patients to take a small, simple step towards keeping themselves and their families healthy during what could be a challenging flu & COVID-19 season. 

For Relatient customers, Broadcast Messenger is included with Appointment Reminders at no additional cost and offers the most up-to-date technology, including: 

• A newly-designed user interface with an intuitive workflow for simple ease of use
• Flexible functionality for self-service use, custom messaging, and list management
• Customizable group messaging based on location, providers, and appointment types
• Message automation to manage patient volume and group communications efficiently
• Improvements to workflows for creating messages and search capability
• Message preview and testing by modality for text, email, and voice delivery
• Scalable messaging to accommodate multiple specialties and locations
• Analytics to track delivery, responses, and patient engagement 
• Pre-populated messaging templates 
• Enhanced reporting capabilities
• Built-in HIPAA, TCPA, and security compliance

Patients will have a lot of questions this flu season but providers can leverage patient engagement tools, like broadcast messaging, to show up big and help patients sort through information, access care and vaccines, and take the right steps to prevent illness and minimize risk.