Functionality refers to the usability and accessibility of a solution. A functional solution will work as intended, requiring minimal effort from the user. Examples of functionality include how long it takes to load a webpage or whether all the menu buttons lead to the correct webpage.

Functional solutions are important to user buy-in. A bad experience that doesn’t work as expected will turn people away and break down a user’s trust in future solutions.

Out-of-industry: Amazon’s “One Click Ordering”

Amazon allows consumers to easily purchase items with the click of a button. The key is that Amazon saves consumers’ credit card and address information so that the consumer doesn’t need to enter information across multiple pages. “One Click Ordering” makes purchasing from Amazon habitual because it’s so easy and frictionless.

Health care example: One Medical’s app-first experience

One Medical is an app-first primary care organization that offers telehealth and in-person care to its members. One Medical designed its digital experience around patients’ anticipated needs. Patients can easily view provider calendars, schedule appointments, renew prescriptions, and communicate with providers. One Medical has made health care intuitive for members, which has driven member retention and engagement with their services. Note: One Medical was recently acquired by Amazon, likely because of their ability to build a functional and easy digital customer experience in the health care space.

Customer service is the ability for an organization to respond quickly, empathetically, and efficiently to consumer challenges. Good customer service is an important element of a good care experience—96% percent of patient complaints in health care are related to customer service, not quality of care.

Health care organizations have adopted chatbots as a common element of customer service strategies. In fact, chat bots will be responsible for $8 billion in savings by 2022. By implementing a digital solution that can handle more straightforward patient questions, staff can respond to more complex questions in a timely manner, resulting in improved customer service.

Out-of-industry example: JPMorgan Chase’s AI virtual assistant

JPMorgan uses an AI-powered virtual assistant to provide real-time support to clients when they have questions or face technology challenges, like resetting a password. The virtual assistant can even provide personalized recommendations to clients based on their frequent actions. Consumers have greater trust in JPMorgan Chase as a result of the timely and personalized support from the virtual assistant.

Health care example: Providence’s AI-powered chatbot

During Covid-19, Providence launched Grace, their AI-powered chatbot, to provide real-time care navigation and customer service. With Grace, patients can share their symptoms and schedule same-day or next-day appointments, receive patient education, and be directed to their nearest clinic. Basically, Grace plays the part of an efficient and informative contact center representative so that patients can get the quality service they want.

Self-service refers to a customer’s ability to solve their own problems, make decisions, and perform tasks autonomously. Within health care, self-service often looks like shifting administrative tasks to patients who prefer completing them at their own convenience, which can ease the administrative burden for the organization.

Out-of-industry example: JPMorgan Chase’s online banking

The banking industry is a leader in self-service. As an example, JPMorgan Chase allows consumers to manage their checking and saving accounts, deposit checks, and transfer money through the app without having to call or talk to a representative. Customers find this service extremely appealing—47 million customers use JPMorgan Chase’s online banking services, with an average of 15 or more logins per month.

Health care example: Cedar’s self-service billing features

From pre-service to post-billing, Cedar makes it easy for patients to stay on top of their medical bills. The solutions provide patients with financial options prior to care and allows patients to input information like insurance documents, eliminating duplicative information requests. A benefits tracker allows patients to see how much a service will cost and when their deductibles will be met. Most importantly, patients can easily pay their bills through Cedar’s app or website. By shifting some of the tasks to patients (especially things like bill pay, which patients manage in other industries), Cedar help their health care clients improve patient satisfaction, while also increasing efficiency and generating cost savings.

Personalization offers consumers customized experiences based on factors such as their demographic data, engagement, location, and articulated needs. In practice, companies target tailored content to consumers based on their user profile.

Data shows that 72% of consumers will only engage with personalized messaging and that 93% of companies with a personalization strategy have experienced an increase in revenue. In health care, personalization is especially poised to help better activate and engage patients. Personalization shows patients that health care organizations are attempting to holistically understand each patient as a person and that they are willing to invest in their needs.

Out-of-industry example: Netflix’s “taste communities”

Netflix uses consumer engagement data to provide personalized content recommendations. However, instead of developing individual content suggestions for its millions of users, which would be resource-intensive, Netflix aggregated its consumer data to develop “taste communities” where consumers with similar content preferences are grouped together. These groups then receive similar messaging and content recommendations, driving viewer engagement and streams.

Health care example: Oscar Health Plan’s messaging campaign

Oscar Health Plan selectively targets almost 200 messaging campaigns to specific members based on their communication preferences (via text, email, or phone call) and demographic data. For example, individuals who opt-in to share their sexual orientation with Oscar receive tailored messaging about the benefits that best pertain to them. The personalized messaging helps prevent information overload and information fatigue, while keeping patients engaged in their own care.

Omnichannel experiences provide consumers the same high-quality experience across multiple channels, both digital and in-person. Allowing consumers to move seamlessly from digital to in-personal channels is essential to retaining consumers and keeping them happy. Data suggests 40% of consumers won’t do business with an organization if they can’t use their preferred channel.

Omnichannel experiences in health care are vital in an increasingly hybrid care world, and can improve patient satisfaction and communication between providers, caregivers, and patients. Some examples of channels a patient might move through in health care include: chatbots, appointment scheduling, telehealth, portals, and online bill payment, and in-person visits.

Out-of-industry example: Amazon

Amazon customers have the same quality shopping experience whether they purchase on the website, the app, through Alexa, or in stores. By providing an omnichannel experience, Amazon embeds itself in customers’ day-to-day and allows customers to access Amazon’s platform wherever they are and however they want.

Health care example: Walgreens’ “Find Care” platform

Walgreens’ “Find Care” digital platform allows patients a seamless experience across its pharmacy, retail, and health care offerings. Customers can request a virtual or in-person visit via the app and website. They can scan their medicine bottle through their phone to trigger a refill that they can then pick up in a store. Walgreens’ various partnerships with provider organizations make this seamless experience from digital platforms to brick-and-mortar stores possible.

Most health care organizations, including Walgreens, are still experimenting with omnichannel experiences as relatively new offerings. We expect that more organizations will explore omnichannel solutions in the wake of the widespread adoption of virtual and hybrid care that we saw during the pandemic.