How Targeted Outreach Helps Bring Patients Back

Bonnie Ward, market director of marketing and communications, CHI St. Vincent

Infectious-disease specialists are beginning to give the all-clear signal to bring patients and families back for routine care. But luring valued community members back to health care facilities is proving to be a communications challenge.

Consciously or not, families have created their new normal, which may include telehealth instead of office visits, reducing the frequency of follow-ups and preventive screenings, and sometimes jumping ship to a new health care provider. How many people who canceled appointments with their PCP have rescheduled? How many women have not had a routine mammogram in the past two years? And importantly, how do you get them back?

CHI St. Vincent in Little Rock had a head start. Bonnie Ward, market director of marketing and communications for the regional health network serving the state of Arkansas, says the health system started working with Welltok about four years ago for basic CRM services, and their collaboration has grown since then.

Welltok, self-defined as a purpose-driven company committed to improving people’s total well-being, creates customized multichannel outreach campaigns for health care partners, using predictive analytics and multichannel communication such as email, text, live agent, integrated voice, direct mail, and more.

When COVID hit, CHI St. Vincent expanded its work with Welltok to reach the community about COVID protocols, and then vaccinations. Then, once outpatient imaging services reopened, they began outreach to individuals who were overdue for breast and colon cancer screenings. This is one area where people were slow to return, but the Welltok platform, used in conjunction with St. Vincent’s data, turned that around.

Learn more: Advanced Analytics Drive a Personalized Post-COVID Comeback

Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President