Introduction
In today’s fast-evolving healthcare landscape, communication challenges remain at the forefront of patient and clinic experiences. As private healthcare services rise in popularity, particularly with patients migrating from NHS services to private clinics, ensuring streamlined, personalised, and efficient communication is key. Cymphony, a leader in communications solutions, has been working closely with healthcare providers to transform how clinics interact with their patients, drive operational efficiencies, and enhance customer care. In this interview, Pharma IQ spoke to Sophie Kynnersley, Transformation Director at Cymphony, to explore how they are addressing these challenges, and leveraging both AI and human-centred communications to improve patient outcomes.
Transformation in Healthcare Communications
Pharma IQ: Can you expand on how Cymphony’s client care team is driving transformation in healthcare communications, particularly in addressing pain points in customer interaction?
Sophie Kynnersley: “We’ve identified that the healthcare sector is crying out for communications support, particularly when it comes to private clinics. Healthcare professionals can provide the best quality care in the world, but without the necessary communication lines and administrative support, the business side can easily fail by comparison. In recent years, this has become especially important to uphold, as more and more patients migrate away from strained NHS services to choose private options for a premium level of care. While the demand for more healthcare options has increased, smaller clinics may lack the front-of-house support to cope. This is where a communications provider can come in.”
AI & People-Led Communications
Pharma IQ: You mention that while AI is improving communications, human interaction remains irreplaceable. How does Cymphony balance AI-driven efficiencies with the personalized, human touch that patients seem to prefer?
Sophie Kynnersley: “Technology plays a crucial role in enabling our team to perform at the quality standard needed, but it also has glaring weaknesses when it comes to both the more one-to-one individual needs healthcare patients may have, as well as providing a personal touch that care needs in general. So rather than use AI to replace the human operator element entirely, we use technology to complement existing teams, improve efficiency, and shore up weaknesses. We want to give our teams the tools they need but not replace the human element that keeps patients happy.”
Customer Experience in Healthcare
Pharma IQ: Given the unique challenges of healthcare communications, what differentiates Cymphony’s people-led approach from more automated services in the market?
Sophie Kynnersley: “From the perspective of clinics and other healthcare centres – automated responses do cut costs and can save time. But whilst this more short-term fix can be cheaper to onboard and set and forget, automated response chatbots alone don’t provide the quality service needed in the long term. Interacting with customers and reassuring them that there is a real person at the end of the line is critical to providing a meaningful, comprehensive interaction, and to understanding their individual needs. Service offerings should extend beyond conventional customer service functions. We enable this by providing tailored care and assistance across all back-end areas, including appointment scheduling, follow-ups, billing inquiries, and post-treatment check-ins. Our integrated approach ensures that each interaction is handled with the highest level of care and attention, resulting in a more seamless and satisfying experience for the patient.”
Handling Healthcare’s Logistical Issues
Pharma IQ: Healthcare is facing increasing logistical challenges. Can you share specific examples of how Cymphony’s services have helped private clinics streamline operations and improve patient care?
Sophie Kynnersley: “Many clinics cannot afford to employ multiple reception team members, so what happens when a patient arrives and needs to be greeted, the phone is ringing, and there are a dozen unanswered emails from patients? One or two people can’t guarantee an exceptional patient experience for every patient, so by choosing to outsource calls, secretaries and in-house team members can focus on what they do best. In addition, for clinics with multiple locations and multiple clinicians, using an online diary system can facilitate seamless collaboration between in-house staff, and external team members, ensuring less confusion, more accuracy, and a more streamlined experience for patients.”
The Role of Data in Driving Operational Improvements
Pharma IQ: You mentioned that data is key to driving improvements in healthcare operations. How does Cymphony’s communication service help clinics gain greater visibility and make more informed business decisions?
Sophie Kynnersley: "The greater demand for private clinic options has boosted business for premium options, but this also places greater stress on their existing reception and admin options. What’s more, healthcare clinics may believe that they are operating at maximum capacity simply because they don’t know exactly what business they are missing out on due to only having one inbound communications line. One active line can only pick up so many inquiries, with zero records of what they’ve missed. Out-of-hours operations are therefore a massive way to boost communications for clinics, who may otherwise miss a completely untapped market due to their current lack of available comms. This is just one way to provide a significant boost to available business for healthcare providers, who may not understand exactly how much potential business growth they could be appreciating.”
Future of Healthcare Communications
Pharma IQ: Looking ahead, what emerging trends or innovations in healthcare communications do you believe will have the biggest impact on patient care and clinic operations?
Sophie Kynnersley: “Now more than ever, patients are seeking timely and efficient ways to communicate with their healthcare providers. We’re already seeing that Millennial and Gen Z demographics are turning to private healthcare in droves. These younger generations are keen for fast responses to their inquiries, be it via webchat, email, or on social media. While telephone communication with a real person will always be important to patients, we expect to see a need in coming years for clinics to provide alternative contact methods to suit the immediacy younger generations expect. Cymphony’s upcoming LeadSuccess tool, which is set to launch later this year, will allow us to contact potential new patients in an instant, converting those inquiries into bookings immediately. We hope to lead by example when it comes to proactive patient contact and customer support.”
Conclusion
As healthcare communications continue to evolve, the balance between AI-driven efficiencies and personalised, human-led interactions is becoming crucial. The shift towards digital tools is reshaping how clinics manage operations and engage with patients, with data-driven insights playing a pivotal role in enhancing patient care. The future of healthcare communication will likely hinge on seamlessly integrating technology with human touchpoints, ensuring that patient satisfaction and operational effectiveness go hand in hand.