David Boucher Interview

1. How do you see the integration of technology and human touch reshaping patient experience in today’s healthcare landscape?

Clearly, the first place is in the measurement of patient satisfaction and NPS. What’s measured can be improved…. what’s rewarded can be repeated. Secondly, with the effective use of a CRM, like Salesforce.com can improve the management of the patient relationship pre-, during-, and post-service. Chat bots are not ready for prime time.

2. Can you share specific examples or case studies where technology has significantly enhanced patient engagement and experience in your practice or organization?

Sure, in 2020 Salesforce Service Cloud helped Bumrungrad Int’l Hospital lower our turnaround time on consumer requests from over a week to under four (4) hours. Implementing Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) between our new CISCO phone system and Salesforce allowed our phone agents to have full understanding of the caller before actually answering the incoming call (for existing patients only, of course).

3. What challenges do healthcare providers face when balancing technological advancements with maintaining a personal, human touch in patient care?

Too much time looking and keying into a computer screen. One day, voice-to-text will mature so that providers can spend more time engaging with patients.

4. In your opinion, what are the key technological trends that will drive the future of patient experience and engagement?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) at some point in the next 20 years may be able to improve patient engagement. Certainly wearables and telemedicine are improving this engagement today.

5. How do you ensure that technological innovations in healthcare are accessible and user-friendly for both patients and healthcare providers?

Depending upon the organization, “ensuring” this can be exhausting. So many healthcare organizations are fat & happy with the status quo. Need to lead from the front in increase the likelihood

6. What insights or key takeaways do you hope to share with the attendees at the 4th Annual Patient Experience & Engagement Summit in Bangkok?

This is difficult to project. We’ll have fun in the session and see where the conversation takes us.