Want to cut costs and improve patient experience? Start communicating.

Now the bad news: The same respondents identified two obstacles in particular as “very difficult” to overcome in striving to improve communications:

1) Documentation-heavy payment and regulatory systems that take providers away from patient care; and

2) Fragmented, uncoordinated care characterized by such hassles as multiple hand-offs and the lack of a nationally integrated healthcare information system.

I don’t know about you, but this comes as little surprise to us. There are times in my own healthcare travels as a patient when I almost can’t tell whether I’m dealing with a doctor’s office or the cable company.

Now, while that’s a drastic example, and your organization may be taking steps to reach out and connect more personally with patients, it never hurts to see how you can broaden your communication efforts to your entire organization and staff.

Michael Campana joined Ricoh in 2012 as Senior Manager of Healthcare Marketing. He brings 27 years of experience to the role to lead the market positioning and strategy for Ricoh’s healthcare industry vertical in the Americas. Campana began his career in the healthcare industry upon graduating from the University of South Florida. He has worked for a number of healthcare organizations, including most recently Siemens Medical Solutions Health Services.