Healthcare CRM in 2024: Benefits, Key Features & Suggestions

In the healthcare industry, customer relationship management is more crucial than ever because healthcare providers deal with highly sensitive data (e.g., patient medical history), and the decisions made can have a direct impact on patients’ lives. That’s why providing top-notch service can be both challenging and critical.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software provides companies with an overall view of their customer data and operations, ensuring that healthcare providers provide the best service to their customers. Indeed, research shows that satisfied patients are 5-6x times more likely to return and use other services provided by the same healthcare organization (See Figure 1).

Source: McKinsey

Figure 1. The choices of satisfied patients

This article explains what healthcare CRM tools are, their benefits, and the essential features to look for in medical CRM software.

What is a healthcare CRM platform?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software can assist healthcare providers by:

• Managing and securing patient data
• Enhancing patient-provider communication
• Streamlining administrative tasks
• Optimizing services

Thus, CRM healthcare software can improve patient satisfaction and healthcare delivery.

Healthcare CRM vendors

Here, we identified the top healthcare CRM software in the market. For a more detailed comparison of healthcare CRM vendors, check out our benchmarking.

Benefits of CRM for healthcare organizations

Source: SotaTek

Figure 2. A comprehensive workflow in CRM healthcare software

1- Improved patient experience

CRM software allows healthcare providers to maintain comprehensive records of patient interactions, preferences, and medical history. For instance, reminders for appointments or medication refills can be customized and sent automatically. Besides, marketing automation capabilities of CRM software enable healthcare professionals to provide more personalized care and a better patient experience. These can lead to increased customer satisfaction and better patient acquisition.

For those interested, here is our article on how customer sentiment can be used in the healthcare industry to provide a better service.

2- Quality treatment

By using a CRM, healthcare providers can consolidate patient data such as past diagnoses, treatments, and responses to different medications from various sources into one centralized system. This helps identify trends or patterns in patient health, which can contribute to early diagnosis or preventive care.

3- Advanced communications

CRM systems often include tools that allow for streamlined and efficient communication between healthcare providers and patients. A CRM system can also enable better internal communication and coordination among employees, ensuring everyone involved in a patient’s care has the same up-to-date information.

4- Security and compliance

CRM solutions for the healthcare industry are generally built with robust security measures to protect sensitive patient data. They are also designed to be compliant with various healthcare regulations, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This ensures that patient data is not only secure but also managed and used in a way that respects patients’ rights and privacy.

Source: CodeIT

Figure 3. A summary of how CRM helps solve issues in the healthcare industry.

8 essential features of healthcare CRM solutions

1- Business management processes

Patient data management

This refers to the collection, storage, and retrieval of patient records, including demographic details, medical history, and treatment plans. This component ensures the right information is accessible at the right time, enhancing clinical decision-making and patient care.

Task management

This feature enables the efficient assignment, tracking, and completion of tasks, leading to improved team productivity and a smoother patient journey.

Lead management

This function supports the identification, tracking, and conversion of potential patients, hence increasing the healthcare provider’s reach and influence.

2- Communication tools

In a healthcare setting, providing top-notch communication plays a crucial role in streamlining interactions between healthcare professionals, as well as between healthcare providers and patients.

Communication between healthcare professionals

These may be instant messaging platforms, email systems, or team collaboration technologies that enable real-time communication among various team members or departments inside the healthcare company. These tools help with rapid decision-making, teamwork, and overall operational efficiency.

Communication between healthcare providers and patients

These could include secure messaging systems, video conferencing for telemedicine, and automated reminders for appointments or medication. These tools allow healthcare providers to efficiently communicate with their patients, provide timely care, improve patient engagement, and enhance patient satisfaction.

3- Security and compliance

Given the sensitivity of healthcare data, a CRM must offer top-tier data protection and regulatory compliance. This includes measures such as encryption, access controls, and compliance with healthcare legislation such as HIPAA, which protects against data breaches and associated legal difficulties.

4- 360-degree customer view

In the healthcare sector, having a complete view of each patient’s interactions with your organization is crucial. This includes all touch points, like emails, calls, appointments, and clinical data. A comprehensive CRM provides this view, enabling healthcare providers to deliver personalized and responsive service.

5- Analytics and reporting

The CRM should provide tools for data analysis and reporting to provide insights into the organization’s operational performance, patient trends, and financial health. This enables data-driven decision-making, fostering continuous improvement and growth.

Suggestions in choosing the right healthcare CRM system for your business

1- Identify your needs and priorities

This is the most important and initial stage in the selection process for a healthcare CRM. You need to know the specific needs of your healthcare business. Consider your organization’s size, the services you offer, the patient demographics, and your long-term commercial objectives. List the features that are most important to you in a CRM system in order of importance.

2- Make sure that the vendor provides top-notch data security measures

You should ensure that the CRM vendor has robust security measures in place. They should be compliant with healthcare data regulations such as HIPAA or GDPR, and should provide features like data encryption, access controls, and audit logs.

3- Check out our benchmarking study on healthcare CRM software

In order to provide you with an unbiased view of the different healthcare CRM software available in the market, we have conducted a comprehensive benchmarking study. The vendors included in this study have been selected based on their market presence and the size of their employee base.

We’ve analyzed each vendor with respect to the key capabilities that are essential for a healthcare-specific CRM platform, such as calendar and automated notifications, sales forecasting, 360-degree customer view, and data compliance.

Here, you can take a look at our study.

4- Try out before you buy

Many CRM vendors offer a demo or a trial period for their software. This can be an opportunity to understand whether it satisfies your needs. For instance, you can check whether it’s easy to use, if it integrates well with your existing systems, and whether it meets all your needs. Try to involve users from different roles within your organization in the trial to get feedback from multiple perspectives.

For those interested, here is our data-driven list of CRM software.

Reach us if you need help in your vendor selection: