WhatsApp Chatbot for Healthcare : capabilities and Use Cases

According to stats, the healthcare industry will grow. By the end of 2022, the global health sector will be worth $11,908 billion. But, healthcare businesses keep facing unique challenges.

Healthcare facilities use the call center to interact with patients. But, the solution lays more problems on their way.

The low adoption of mobile Apps stressed the struggle. But, some healthcare centers started using WhatsApp for a while. They leverage the solution to improve customer relations.

With 2 billion global users, healthcare centers can make much use of the channel. In addition, the solution offers healthcare facilities many benefits they can't miss. For example, they can now have instant chats with patients. This factor will help them to grow.

Moreover, agents can now use the same number to contact clients. As a result, they can reach many customers at the same time. This feature created a solution that sounds like that of a call center.

From September 2021, Facebook has allowed WhatsApp marketing campaigns. Thus, businesses can now promote their services and products on WhatsApp.

In this article, we will learn about WhatsApp's capacities, use cases, and benefits in the healthcare field.

WhatsApp capabilities in the medical field

A chatbot can be as helpful as a mobile app or a self-service gate. The chatbot's power derives from linking it with back-end systems. An example of healthcare chatbots is an appointment booking chatbot.

Customer Service Through Agents

Connect the chatbot to your back-end systems. This link allows you to have the self-service feature. In addition, chatbots can answer an unlimited number of questions. But, you need to train the chatbot and select the questions. It happens that the customer requests to speak to an agent. Also, chatbots may not be able to solve the problem. As a result, it will direct the conversation to an agent. Therefore, your agents can save efforts to solve more complicated issues.

Both WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business allow one user per number. In contrast, your agents can use the same number thanks to WhatsApp Business API. You can activate the solution on your landline. Or, you can use your unified number (9100 or 800).

Transactional Notifications

Connect WhatsApp Business API to your back-end systems. Then, you'll be able to send transactional messages to your patients.

Use WhatsApp API to automate several healthcare activities. For example, you may send appointment reminders or medical reports.

Healthcare businesses can boost their conversion rates with an open rate of more than 70% for WhatsApp. Thus, conversational commerce via WhatsApp would be beneficial.

Promotional Engagement

Healthcare facilities can advertise new doctors through WhatsApp API. They can also use it to promote new services.

First, build an opt-in database of your patients. Then, you can share crucial information. You can also send updates and offers. For instance, whenever a new doctor joins your medical team, share the news. Or, invite your clients when you open a new cardio center. The options are limitless!

Every day, 175 million people use WhatsApp Business accounts. Therefore, using WhatsApp for marketing means higher open rates for your campaigns.

WhatsApp Use Cases In the Medical Field

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When it comes to communication technologies, hospitals are lagging. For example, they do not use mobile apps or web portals. Instead, customers contact hospitals and health facilities by phone. But, call centers require many resources. Moreover, customers as well find them inconvenient. Therefore, healthcare businesses need to use more proper channels.

Here are a few ways in which you can use WhatsApp in the healthcare sector.

Appointment Booking

The most common use case for healthcare is appointment scheduling. Patients can save time by using a self-service chatbot to book appointments.

Chatbots make it simple for patients to book doctor visits. Patients will not have to put much effort into completing the process. They can select their doctor and the best time for them. A chatbot can even cancel the appointment for the patient. Therefore, patients can book appointments in 2 minutes using a chatbot.

Make sure to connect the chatbot to the back-end systems. You could, for example, integrate it with the hospital's information system. The chatbot will then save appointments at the appropriate record.

A chatbot is beneficial to both the business and the customer. The solution streamlines the scheduling procedure. Besides, this step reduces the amount of work that agents have to do.

Frequently Asked Questions

A chatbot makes it easier for patients to get information. For instance, the chatbot can respond to common and repetitive questions. Thus, patients will no longer need to contact the clinic.

Chatbots can answer frequent questions like branch locations and working hours. They can also provide information about doctor vacancies. Furthermore, your chatbot can showcase the hospital's available specialties.

You can program your bot to address client issues 24/7. As a result, it will provide client assistance without disturbing the staff. When necessary, it can also forward the conversation to an agent.

Insurance Inquiries

In the healthcare sector, you can use a chatbot to track insurance status. It's one of WhatsApp Business API's most popular uses.

Chatbots can handle insurance queries. It has the potential to provide patients with the resources they need. They're not even required to wait. 68% of customers prefer chatbots because they provide speedy responses.  

Chatbots can send notes whenever customers' insurance status changes. You can also automate the process of insurance claims verification. Furthermore, patients can check their healthcare billing as well.

Medical Reports and Analyses

The call center solution doesn't support file attachments. Therefore, it's hard for patients to get reports without going to the hospital. The email, on the other hand, takes a long time to send. Therefore, WhatsApp is still the best option in this situation.

Using WhatsApp to share medical records is a good idea. For example, patients can acquire their medical results via WhatsApp. Doctors as well can use the chatbot to examine medical records.

Both parties can use the chatbot to track, update, and monitor reports. As a result, the approach will improve the medical staff's potential. It will raise customer satisfaction as well.

Reminders

Sometimes, patients fail to keep their doctor's appointments. This point is one of the most serious issues in the healthcare industry. A chatbot, on the other hand, could be the answer to this dilemma.

Patients can receive automatic reminders from the chatbot. For instance, the chatbot sends a reminder 12-24 hours in advance. The patient can then confirm or reschedule the appointment.

Personalized Promotional Offers

Healthcare facilities are for-profit enterprises. Therefore, they must market their services as well.

Healthcare businesses can use WhatsApp to promote new services or doctors. Another promotional campaign idea is the launch of a new package. These types of campaigns have a high ROI.

Furthermore, hospitals can use WhatsApp to share customized campaigns. They can, for example, provide health tips and sell services. They can also share discounts and special offers.

WhatsApp Benefits in the Medical Field

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It is a fact that WhatsApp Business API has excellent abilities. Businesses can use it in different cases to solve specific problems. But, compared to other means, using WhatsApp to contact patients offers more benefits. Let's look at the benefits that WhatsApp grants to health centers.

24/ 7 Service

Chatbots are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, unlike call centers. As a result, they may provide care to patients at any time. Furthermore, they are available even during non-working hours. Chatbots, unlike humans, do not require sleep.

Scalability

Thanks to self-service, chatbots can serve an unlimited number of customers. Your agents won't even need to waste time on simple issues. Instead, chatbots will eliminate repetitive tasks and handle different customer queries. This benefit reduces human work excess.

Salesforce claims that agents who employ AI chatbots use their time better. 64% of customer support agents can spend most of their time solving complex cases.

Kartly.io offers you a platform that helps your agents deal with conversations efficiently. Our platform has all the features you need to engage with customers and collaborate with colleagues.

Cost Reduction

IBM predicts that chatbots can help reduce 30% of customer service costs.

Chatbots can transfer the chat to an agent. But, the chatbot takes the decision based on a precise set of choices. Therefore, the time an agent spends on solving the problem will be less. Thus, less time equals much less cost.

Let's set another example of reducing costs with medical chatbots. A call center agent can handle one call at a time. But, by using WhatsApp API, they can handle up to 5 chats.

Kartly.io offers you a platform to manage all customer conversations at one place.

Customer Satisfaction

Using WhatsApp will upscale your client satisfaction. The features that chatbots offer will excel your patients' experience. For example, your patients won't have to wait in the call center queue. Plus, chatbots are available 24/7.

Estimates say that 95% of consumers consider that chatbots benefit clients the most.

High Open Rate for Outbound Campaigns

WhatsApp is the favored personal communication app for 80% of people. It is also 100% spam-free.  Plus, it supports a variety of media formats.

All these factors raised WhatsApp's open and conversion rates. Besides, you should choose the channel your customers use. This step will increase the Return on Investment (ROI) of your ADs.

Single Contact Number

You can create a WhatsApp API account with your call center number.

Furthermore, all of your agents can use the same phone number. As a result, your patients will recognize your company's phone number.

So, this approach raises your brand's awareness. That's because you will build a personal relationship with your audience.

Using Kartly.io your team can reply to clients on a single number.

Customer Information History and Record

The right solution provider offers a record of your customer chats. Therefore, you will automatically collect data. Your marketing team can then use that data to send customized campaigns. Customized marketing campaigns mean higher engagement rates. Thus, the record should include all the customers across their life journey.

Kartly.io offers you a complete history of all customer conversations. Using our platform you can also get a full view of all your customer's details from name, phone number, email, ect.

Conclusion

The healthcare business is evolving thanks to communicating via WhatsApp. The use of WhatsApp API is auspicious in the medical field. CNBC predicted that chatbots would handle 75%-90% of healthcare queries by 2022.

If you are interested in the solution, don't hesitate to contact us. Schedule a free demo with Kartly.io now. The demo includes a healthcare chatbot. It will show you how we helped healthcare businesses reach their goals.

Kartly.io is a leading conversation management platform in the GCC. We help medium and large firms activate the solution. Also, we offer your agents a simple platform that allows managing chats at a scale through an intelligent chat box.

Kartly.io enables you to build a chatbot that automates replies. As a result, we can help you take your communication to the next level. We aim to help you engage with your customers like you never had before.

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