The importance of effective communication between healthcare professionals

Healthcare challenges continue as hospitals discover ways to stay open, provide care, and maintain a workforce. Burnout, hiring, and planning for budget constraints and capital losses due to the economy remain a top focus for healthcare professionals.

From hiring to daily hospital operations, healthcare professionals will need to embrace technology even during budget restrictions in order to alleviate the burden on healthcare professionals.

Automating workflows including communication will be a key factor in healthcare success. Hospital SMS messages can provide effective communication strategies between healthcare professionals.

“As the industry continues to experience high rates of burnout and workforce shortages, organizations will make it a priority to embrace technology and processes that make workflows easier, handling tasks that doctors and nurses do every day that take them away from the bedside or the patient.” -HealthLeaders Media

If healthcare shortages continue due to burnout, hospitals will need to find practical ways of performing day-to-day activities that may take up time.

A good example of this can be found in communication. Clinical staff need to be informed about hospital initiatives, but do not have the time while they are on their feet all day with patients to check their email and read through long paragraphs. Texting in healthcare allows bite-sized important information to get into the right hands and elicit quick responses.

According to our own text message usage, healthcare is in the top three industries with the best response rates — coming in at 46%!

Healthcare users are automating more of their text messages and creating campaigns specifically to the right audience. These automated sequences still provide customization and personalization to contacts that increase engagement.

Healthcare Hiring Trends

One of our partners, Bullhorn, released a report with the top healthcare hiring trends for 2023. Some of the most important statistics for effective communication among healthcare professionals include:

  • The healthcare staffing industry is projected to reach $50B in 2023.
  • Healthcare staffing firms put their recruiting difficulty at 3.7 out of 5.
  • 73% of healthcare candidates want recruiters to reach out at least once a week with opportunities.
  • One out of every three healthcare workers surveyed said they dealt with a time-consuming onboarding process in their most recent assignment.
  • 70% of respondents reported abandoning a promising opportunity because the process took too long.
  • Two out of three respondents said their recruiter didn’t reach out about future opportunities before their assignment end date – including 45% who actively wanted to work with their firm again. of respondents reported abandoning a promising opportunity because the process took too long.

Texting in healthcare allows recruiters to quickly keep in touch with candidates while taking advantage of a fast-paced industry.

With healthcare staffing firms believing that recruiting is semi-difficult in the current economy, using automated healthcare text messages can alleviate the burden on staff while also easily reaching and placing candidates.

You don’t want to be one of the statistics that falls victim to losing a promising candidate because your process to recruit took too long.

Clinical positions are not the only jobs on the rise in healthcare; hospital administrative roles are also in demand. According to a :

  • 67% of healthcare managers plan to hire more contract professionals in the first half of 2023 (up from 46% in July-December 2022).
  • 46% of healthcare employees are looking or plan to look for a new job in the first half of the year.
  • 48% of healthcare professionals desire a fully remote position.
  • 50% healthcare professionals desire a hybrid position.
  • 28% healthcare professionals desire a fully in-office position

Seeing healthcare candidates looking for flexible opportunities and hospital administrators planning to hire more contract staff, hospital SMS messages can provide the flexibility for remote or hybrid workforces that keep candidates and employees connected and feeling valued.

“I predict toward the middle of 2023 you are going to start to see a separation between the health systems that modernize and automate workforce functions and those that don’t. The innovative health systems are going to attract staff by being able to create a work environment that is inviting and less prone to burnout.” —Eric Eskioglu, MD, MBA,  former executive vice president and chief medical and scientific officer, Novant Health

SMS Marketing in Healthcare

Eskioglu emphasizes that, “In healthcare, workers want to do meaningful work—not repetitive work that does not add much value to patient care. I see automation evolving rapidly in healthcare over the next two to five years because of the workforce shortages.”

How do you automate healthcare tasks while facing workforce shortages and burned out staff?

Automated touchpoints for new hires

Create automation workflows that easily onboard new hires —eliminating what one out of three healthcare workers reported as a “time-consuming process.”

Survey prompts

You can easily push out surveys — both in the form of survey links as well as quick pulse checks with candidates. For example, you could text a candidate asking for a reply with a 1-5 on where they are at in the job search process. This will let you know where they are; plus, they are more likely to respond back with one number than take a call or reply back with a long email message they have to think about crafting.

Automated SMS check-ins

An astonished 73% of healthcare candidates want recruiters to reach out at least once a week with opportunities. Not checking in is a huge miss, but it can be easy in a busy industry like healthcare to forget to reach out unless you have an exact match or reason. Set up automated, weekly text messages to give information or just check in on candidates. While this can specifically help meet candidate expectations, it also can apply to clinical and non-clinical staff and checking in on their wellbeing in a stressful environment.

Rich media

Try sending job requirements as a rich media PDF text message. You can attach a PDF to your text message just like you do with emails — the only difference? Candidates are more likely to respond to a text message than an email. They may see the notification and take a look at the document faster than waiting to sift through all of their emails to find it.

Integrations

Automated workflows that are integrated with your ATS or CRM means that all users can see conversations and status of applicants in real-time. It also encourages collaboration with employees by keeping everyone on the same page and not wasting time having the same conversation because you didn’t know a colleague already had it. These quick solutions can go a long way in healthcare.

“If I’m on a doctor’s page in Salesforce, and they don’t answer, I immediately text them from the Chrome Extension because it’s so convenient right there. It’s the easiest way to start a new thread with a new physician without having to enter all the info into the web version, which I ALSO keep open at all times, it will just grab the doctors’ names and match them to their numbers from the Salesforce page and I don’t have to enter anything.” -From TextUs Survey

Effective Communication Strategies between Healthcare Professionals

The importance of effective communication between healthcare professionals increases with the rise of travel nurses as well as the need for administrative staff wanting to work remotely. Healthcare texting is a great way to keep remote staff connected — both with administrative tasks as well as with staff morale and office culture — even if they are not inside of the hospital. Hospital SMS can remind travelers when credentialing items are expiring as well as reminding them for timecards. 

We have seen the importance of using hospital SMS messages to share rich media such as photos to spread joy and good news during challenging days in the hospital. One of our customers was even on Oprah where she talked about the importance of staying connected during COVID-19. 

Photos are not the only rich media text message you can send in healthcare, you can also use it to send shift schedules, send out an image with the exact entrance of the hospital, let staff know where their packages are, send calendar invites, and share GIFs to increase positivity. 

“In 2023, there will be a renewed emphasis on caring for our physicians, advanced practice practitioners, and other healthcare workers. We need the care providers to be well in order to take care of patients.” – Ankita Sagar, MD, MPH, system vice president for clinical standards and variation reduction, CommonSpirit Health

SMS Templates for Healthcare

The ever changing regulations in healthcare has increased the speed in which healthcare has embraced technology.  One of the tools that is easiest to implement to improve healthcare is text messaging.  Since texting is something everyone is used to and is more convenient, it can help you communicate and check in on your staff easily.  Working long shifts in stressful surroundings can impede staff morale and wellbeing.  Facing staff shortages and recovery from the financial burdens of the pandemic, you are finding the best ways to move forward and rebuild. Here are some text messages you can start using immediately to care for your staff. 

SMS Templates for Healthcare Staff

Bob - We have low staff coverage this Saturday. Are you available to work an extra shift? Please reply “YES” or “NO” Thanks! -Nancy

How are you feeling today? I know we have a lot of cases.

Rachel - Chipotle has bought our unit lunch to thank healthcare heroes in the area! Come by the staff lounge tomorrow between 12-2pm for a burrito bar!

Nelson: There was a glitch with timecards last week. Have you checked to make sure yours is accurate? Please respond: 1 - Yes, mine is good to go 2 - Not yet, will check later 3 - Yes, and mine was incorrect

Recruiting and maintaining the healthcare workforce is essential right now.  The industry is facing a massive shortage of workers and an increase in demand for care.  Knowing how to reach, recruit, place, and train candidates to be ready to go quickly is critical.  Texting for healthcare allows you to reach candidates about jobs that may open and close rapidly, onboard candidates with ease, and check interest without wasting time. Here are texting templates to start sending to candidates today!

SMS Templates for Healthcare Candidates

Brendan: We have an immediate opening in Arkansas. Offers a 5K sign-on. Are you interested in learning more? Please reply “YES” or “NO” Thanks, Cynthia from MedHire

Sarah: We are hiring LPNs at Northwell Health. Please respond with your interest: 1 - Night shifts 2 - Day shifts 3 - Not interested at this time

Ally: Are you interested in a 3day with 25OB/75GYN in Madison, WI? Please reply “YES” or “NO”

Nina: Thank you for applying to the travel nurse position! Do you have geography preferences? Please reply 1 - Northwest 2 - South 3 - Midwest 4 - West. Thanks! Maddie from TravelNursesInc.

Hospital SMS messages provide effective communication among healthcare professionals — a top priority for the industry as you look to balance profit, patients, and positivity. Healthcare texting is an easy-to-use technology because you are already familiar with it, but the benefit to business SMS means you can automate, track your success, and integrate with your ATS and CRMs to keep all communication in one place. 

If you are ready to optimize your healthcare workflows with communication, contact us today.