The digital era presents healthcare leaders with a formidable challenge: a tidal wave of online health misinformation shaping patient behaviors and decisions. A single viral social media post can ignite widespread confusion, driving patients to pursue treatments, medications, or services that may—or may not—relate to their condition or patient journey. Healthcare organizations then scramble to manage surging call volumes, strained resources, frustrated patients, and a compromised healthcare experience.
The solution to combating misinformation lies in conversational intelligence powered by speech analytics. By capturing and analyzing interaction data across channels like call centers, websites, and mobile apps, conversation data provides an invaluable window into the patient mindset. Healthcare leaders can leverage these insights to detect emerging trends, identify pain points, and ultimately help patients navigate the complex web of online information.
Combating Misinformation in Real-Time
The prevalence of health misinformation is staggering. A JAMA Health Forum study found that one in 20 COVID patients used questionable treatments championed by groups spreading misinformation online. And the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that nearly 25% of adults use social media to find health information and/or advice weekly. With so many people exposed to potentially inaccurate information, proactive measures to safeguard patient trust and promote evidence-based health literacy are essential.
Conversational intelligence supports this effort twofold. Continuous real-time monitoring of patient conversations allows healthcare organizations to rapidly identify surges in misinformation-driven inquiries. AI and natural language processing pinpoint the sources and patterns behind these trends, functioning as an early warning system to get ahead of crises before they spread widely.
From Insights to Action: Operationalizing Conversations
Harnessing conversation data is critical, but decisive action is required to translate them into tangible improvements for patients. This effort involves a two-pronged approach: first, leveraging conversations to inform strategic communication efforts across digital channels, and second, utilizing these insights to optimize internal processes for a more streamlined and relevant patient experience. Informed by conversations, healthcare organizations can:
- Update website FAQs, push clarifying app notifications, and refine chatbot dialog to promote transparent patient communication.
- Deploy marketing campaigns and equip call center agents with scripts to provide evidence-based guidance addressing misinformation during high-demand periods.
- Analyze customer service agent struggles with inquiry types to identify coaching opportunities and update training materials accordingly.
Beyond the practical benefits, wielding conversation intelligence for accurate information dissemination carries a strategic impact in identifying widespread topics and trends across high volumes of conversations happening across the enterprise. Healthcare organizations field thousands of inquiries daily, and conversational intelligence empowers them to listen at scale. This enables leaders to proactively address misinformation trends and build trust through transparent communication. This not only improves individual health outcomes but strengthens brand reputation and improves operational efficiency.
Beyond Misinformation: A Goldmine of Patient Insights
While misinformation management is a powerful use case, conversational intelligence capabilities extend far beyond this application. By capturing conversation data across the entire patient journey, healthcare leaders can glean valuable insights from AI tools, including:
- Knowledge Gaps: Recurrent questions about medications, side effects, or diseases reveal knowledge gaps. This awareness guides enhancements to patient education resources, empowering patients to make informed decisions.
- Process Frustrations: AI illuminates frustrations related to processes like prior authorizations or appointment booking. Armed with this knowledge, healthcare leaders can streamline processes and improve the patient experience.
- AI-powered Assistants: The data provides a training dataset for AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants, allowing these tools to provide accurate, empathetic responses that improve patient self-service interactions.
- Emotional Intelligence: Analyzing emotion and sentiment data guides messaging strategies to better resonate with patients’ needs and mindsets. Conversation data can provide organizations with a goldmine of insights into what truly matters to patients, enabling care experiences designed to genuinely improve lives.
- Employee Empowerment: Equip employees to answer questions confidently and with all necessary information to provide support and clarity. By aggregating and sharing information about trends, leaders can empower their employees to assist caller inquiries with a higher degree of relevance
The Power of Listening in the Digital Age
In a world saturated with online health information, both accurate and misleading, the ability to truly listen to patients has become critical. Conversational intelligence empowers healthcare leaders to do just that. By analyzing the emotional tenor and sentiment within patient interactions, conversations unlock areas of opportunity and pinpoint critical insights. This translates to targeted support for patients, clear explanations for complex processes, and the expression of genuine care and concern — all essential elements of a human-centric healthcare experience.
Conversational intelligence isn’t just about reacting to misinformation but proactively shaping exceptional patient journeys. By leveraging AI insights, healthcare organizations can understand the patient experience from beginning to end, personalize care and education, and anticipate emerging needs. This data-driven approach fosters trust, builds stronger connections between patients and providers, and ultimately empowers patients to make informed decisions about their health. By embracing conversational intelligence, healthcare institutions can navigate the complexities of the digital age and ensure patients feel heard, understood, and empowered on their path to well-being.
About Amy Brown
Amy Brown is the founder and CEO of Authenticx – the software platform that analyzes and activates patients’ voices at scale to reveal transformational opportunities in healthcare. Amy built her career as a rising executive in the healthcare industry, during which time she advocated for underserved populations, led and mobilized teams to expand healthcare coverage to thousands of Indiana residents, and learned the nuance of corporate operations. In 2018, Amy decided to leverage her decades of industry experience to tackle healthcare through technology. She founded Authenticx with the mission to bring the authentic voice of the patient into the boardroom and increase positive healthcare outcomes.