What is PHI (Protected Health Information)?

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What Is PHI, And Why Does Your Healthcare Organisation Need To Secure It?

There are two things that every person wants to keep private – their browser history and health history. Most of us feel insecure and somewhat embarrassed to reveal our health history to anyone, and we do all we can to keep it safe and secure.

For the same reason, healthcare organisations must protect their patients’ healthcare information. And the first step you need to take to protect this information is to understand the PHI Protected Health Information concept.

Below we discuss PHI in detail and why it is essential for ensuring the security of your patient’s healthcare information. So let’s start by first explaining what PHI is and how it applies to your healthcare organisation.

What is PHI?

If you are working in healthcare or insurance, the chances are that you have come across the term PHI. And you have wondered what is PHI and whether it is relevant to your organisation.

PHI is short for Protected Health Information but is also referred to as Personal or Patient Health Information by some. To be more elaborate, PHI includes various health-related information about a person, such as

• Demographic information
• Medical history
• Lab and test results
• Mental and physical health conditions
• Health insurance information
• And more

To put things more simply, PHI Protected Health Information is any health-related information that could reveal the patient’s identity. Every organisation dealing with PHI must ensure its protection unless you want to risk strict legal actions, including a hefty fine.

But who decided which information is worth protection as PHI and which isn’t?

And when and where does this PHI apply?

To answer this question, you must first learn about the HIPAA act and how it protects PHI Protected Health Information. But worry not; we will discuss all of that below.

ePHI

The PHI health data also include Protected Health Information in electronic or digital format. ePHI refers to electronic PHI data and receives the same protection and privileges as regular PHI. For all practical reasons, ePHI and PHI are considered the same. Most people use the term PHI interchangeably with ePHI.

What is HIPAA, And How Does It Apply To Your Organisation?

PHI is integral to HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. HIPAA governs or regulates the use of PHI data from a legal perspective, and it applies to the use, access and disclosure of PHI in the US.

Hence, the legal consequences of sharing PHI only apply to your patients in the US. However, PHI Protected Health Information applies to every healthcare organisation worldwide from a security perspective.

Unlike most privacy laws, HIPAA specifically deals with PHI Patient Health Information and elaborates on how you can ensure the security of PHI. HIPAA compliance means you have set all necessary measures to protect patient information.

What does that mean for your organisation? Well, it means you can ensure your PHI’s security and prepare yourself for national and international healthcare/privacy laws.

Why Do Healthcare Organisations Need to Comply With Privacy Laws?

As you know, PHI Patient Health Information is crucial for every individual. No one wants their PHI data to fall into the wrong hands. Every country, including Australia, has a set of privacy rules. In Australia, we have the Privacy act of 1988. In Europe, it is GDPR and HIPAA in the US.

One thing is common in all of these rules. They are all designed to safeguard the PHI Patient Health Information. Every organisation must comply with healthcare privacy laws, including healthcare and insurance providers. Following are some compelling reasons why you should ensure HIPAA compliance for your healthcare organisation.

International Healthcare Services And Consultations

The world is a much smaller place than it used to be. Today, accessing healthcare consultations and services is so quick and convenient. Healthcare apps and online services have only brought international healthcare services to the forefront. And the PHI Protected Health Information is shared across several spectrums.

Hence, healthcare organisations must ensure that they are compliant with the relevant laws. HIPAA and GDPR are two major privacy laws that your healthcare organisation must watch out for. You must protect the PHI Patient Health Information as these privacy laws may have severe consequences for non-compliance and data leaks.

Enhance The Security For Your PHI Protected Health Information

Privacy rules like HIPAA come with detailed guidelines to protect your PHI Protected Health Information and ensure HIPAA compliance. It includes a detailed description of how to store PHI and the safeguards to protect it from malicious attacks or unauthorised access.

Hence, ensuring HIPAA compliance means that you can put preventive measures to protect your PHI Patient Health Information. As a result, you can ensure the security of your patient’s healthcare data even if you do not have international patients.

Easier Transition For New Compliances

For most privacy laws, there are many standard security requirements you need to meet. For example, let’s say that you ensure HIPAA compliance for your healthcare or insurance organisation. The security measures you implement for HIPAA may also require another privacy rule like GDPR.

In, other words HIPAA compliance makes it easier for your healthcare organisation to offer its services to new audiences. For instance, a hospital can quickly launch a healthcare consultation app that lets patients from different countries access its services.

How? Because the transition from one compliance to another is more accessible than starting from scratch. In other words, it becomes easier for you to use, access, and disclose PHI Protected Health Information according to the relevant standards.

What Is Protected Health Information Under HIPAA?

Under HIPAA, Protected Health Information includes any health information used, accessed, or disclosed by a covered entity that can reveal the patient’s identity. We will explain what exactly is a covered entity as we move forwards.

For now, all you need to know about PHI Protected Health Information is that you must safeguard every bit of identifiable information. But, what precisely is this information that you need to defend?

HIPAA provides a list of 18 identifiable information that becomes PHI when you couple it with health information. Some identifiers don’t have to pair with healthcare information to identify a person. Whereas others can identify a person when paired with health information. The identifier under Protected Health Information includes the following.

• Names
• Addresses
• Phone numbers
• Email addresses
• Social security numbers
• Medical record numbers
• Health plan beneficiary numbers
• Account numbers
• License/certificate numbers
• Fax numbers
• Vehicle identifiers, such as license plate numbers
• Serial numbers and device identifiers
• Website URLs
• IP addresses
• Biometric identifiers, such as finger and voice prints
• Full-face photographs and photos of identifying characteristics
• Dates, except years
• Any other unique identifying numbers or codes

Essential Terms In PHI Protected Health Information You Need To Know

If you are learning what is PHI, you might not have heard about terms like covered entity or business associate. And if you are familiar with these terms, then you probably wonder what they mean.

It is crucial to understand these terms to ensure HIPAA-compliant communication for your business. Below we discuss just two significant terms in HIPAA-compliant communications, and they are

• Covered Entity
• Business Associate

What Are Covered Entities?

According to HIPAA, any organisation or individual that handles PHI health data is a covered entity. That makes your healthcare or health insurance organisation a covered entity too. The HIPAA regulations are primarily aims covered entities as they are often the source for PHI.

Covered entities must follow HIPAA privacy and security rule. Numerous organisations use, access, or disclose PHI health data regularly, but not all are not considered covered entities. According to HIPAA, covered entities come in three categories, and they are

• Healthcare Providers
• Health Plans
• Healthcare Clearinghouses

Healthcare Providers

Healthcare providers like hospitals and clinics often source most PHI health data. But you are wrong if you think hospitals, clinics, and doctors are the only entities that come under healthcare providers. HIPAA classifies the following entities as healthcare providers.

• Hospitals
• Doctors
• Clinics
• Psychologists
• Dentists
• Chiropractors
• Nursing Homes
• Pharmacies

So, suppose you see your business organisation in the list above. In that case, you need to take special care of PHI Protected Health Information.

Health Plans

Health plans include government programs for medical expenses, such as Medicare in Australia. But more importantly, it provides healthcare insurance providers because they often deal with sensitive Protected Health Information.

Health Maintenance Organisations or HMOs also come under the health plan as a covered entity. The HMO is much similar to a typical health insurance provider. HMOs and health insurance providers deal with the same type of PHI health data. However, there is one clear distinction between an HMO and a regular healthcare insurance provider.

The HMO limit its services or coverage to healthcare services from doctors who are in a contractual agreement with it. And finally, health plans also include company/organisation health plans. It means if an employer or institution provides health insurance, they also become a covered entity.

Healthcare Clearinghouses

Healthcare clearinghouses are organisations that process nonstandard health information. The standardisation process usually uses standard electronic format or data content. Healthcare clearinghouses obtain the PHI Protected Health Information from an entity.

It then standardises the data obtained and submits the output to a different entity or organisation. As you can see, the PHI data merely passes through the healthcare clearinghouses, and still, they require HIPAA compliance.

It should give you an idea of how serious it is to deal with PHI health data for your organisation.

What Are Business Associates?

Sometimes covered entities may have to share PHI Protected Health Information with other organisations for their internal processes. For example, consider all the important documents and patient statements hospitals send to their patients.

The chances are that hospitals share the PHI health data with a Managed Print Service like PostGrid for printing and sending medical documents. Here, service providers like PostGrid may use the same PHI as the hospital, but that does not make it a covered entity.

PostGrid and other similar services to whom covered entities, including healthcare providers and health plans, outsource their operations are called business associates. In other words, business associates are subcontractors or vendors of a covered entity with access to PHI health data.

What Happens To PHI Protected Health Information Given To Business Associates?

The purpose of a business associate is to let you perform a business function or operation that uses PHI health data. For example, HIPAA-compliant service providers like PostGrid ensures security features to protect the PHI.

At the Collision Conference 2022, we met with marketing experts from some leading healthcare organisations and insurance companies based in Australia and the US. They wanted to know if and how they could use a direct mail marketing tool like PostGrid for their other internal operations.

Our CEO explained how PostGrid’s direct mail and address verification services could streamline their business processes. Everyone was awed by the applicational use of our direct mail and address verification tools. Some of the applicational use of PostGrid that impressed the crowd included its ability to

• Confirm patient identity for HIPAA requirements
• Process distribution of prescription medicines
• Avoid medical identity theft
• Onboard and register patients remotely
• Streamline healthcare communication from top to bottom

You must use HIPAA-compliant service providers like PostGrid to share PHI health data with them. Using business associates often takes a load off healthcare providers and health plans.

For example, PostGrid makes sending billing statements, collection letters etc., becomes significantly easy for hospitals and health insurance providers. Covered entities can use similar HIPAA-compliant business associates to streamline operations like

• Data storage or document storage services
• Data transmission services
• Communication services
• Portals/interfaces for sharing patient details via ePHI

Business Associate Agreement

A Business Associate Agreement or BAA is an agreement signed between a covered entity and its business associate. Signing the BAA is crucial to maintaining HIPAA compliance for your organisation. It states how and when the business associate can access your PHI health data.

Besides this, the Business Associate Agreement also specifies the nature of the outsourced service’s use of PHI Protected Health Information. The agreement must explicitly state that the business associate will either return or destroy the PHI you hand over to it after task completion.

It is also worth noting that while the business associate has custody of PHI health data, it must maintain HIPAA compliance. Hence, you must choose a HIPAA-compliant business associate like PostGrid for your business operations.

Security Of PHI Protected Health Information

The HIPAA security rule is crucial because it lays out the security measure for protecting PHI health data. Companies across all spectrums and industries use the HIPAA security rule guidelines to optimise their security. It regulates the storing and transferring of PHI and defines who can access the PHI.

HIPAA security rule applies to PHI and ePHI data. The biggest takeaway of the HIPAA security rule is the three security safeguards it defines for covered entities.

Even though HIPAA compliance deals with PHI Patient Health Information, these safeguards can help every industry vertical and business organisation.

The three safeguards as per the HIPAA security rule are

• Administrative Safeguarding
• Physical Safeguarding
• Technical Safeguarding

Administrative Safeguarding For PHI Protected Health Information

Administrative safeguards make up nearly half of the HIPAA security rule protecting your PHI health data. The administrative policies and actions establish security measures around

• Selection Management
• Security Maintenance
• Implementation
• Conduct Management

It is best to investigate your existing administrative safeguards thoroughly to ensure HIPAA compliance. Doing so helps you evaluate your security systems and assess the risk factors.

You should also note that these security features or measures are unique for every organisation. Hence, there is no quick way around it other than to carry out a clean security analysis. The administrative safeguards you should have in place to ensure the security of your Protected Health Information includes

• Security Management Process
• Risk Analysis
• Risk Management
• Sanction Policy
• Review Information System Activity
• Assigned Security Responsibility
• Workforce Security
• Information Access Management
• Periodic Training And Security Awareness
• Security Incident Procedures
• Contingency Plan
• Evaluation
• Business Associate Contracts And Other Arrangements

Physical Safeguarding For PHI Protected Health Information

The physical safeguards protect the PHI health data from any physical damage it may face. Like the administrative safeguards, you need to conduct an in-depth analysis of the physical security measures. It includes analysing your security posture, documentation, and potential risks.

Any policies, procedures, and physical obstacles you use to protect the PHI Protected Health Information of a covered entity are physical safeguards. Some of the major components involved in ensuring the physical security of the PHI include the following.

• Facility Access Controls: It involves limiting the physical access to your PHI data to authorised personnel only. Additionally, it addresses the procedure for identifying individual workforce members/Business Associates.
• Workstation Use: The workstation use standard requires you to establish security protocols and procedures for accessing workstations. It is considered a weak point in storing and processing PHI health data. Hence, you need to pay special attention to this part of the security.
• Workstation Security: It dictates how covered entities must protect workstations from unauthorised physical access. Using secured/locked rooms for ePHI and PHI data is an example of workstation security.
• Device and Media Controls: It involves the transfer of electronic and hardware media relevant to the PHI Protected Health Information. Device and Media Controls governs the policies and procedures for devices and media that help them in
  • Tracking PHI
  • Identifying PHI
  • Disposing PHI
  • Reusing PHI

Technical Safeguarding For PHI Protected Health Information

As you are well aware, the tech you use for day-to-day business operations keeps changing and evolving. Technical safeguarding involves creating policies and procedures concerning technology for protecting PHI health data. 

Today, healthcare providers can quickly access and use PHI conveniently through cloud storage aided by other advanced technologies. At the same time, it raises concerns about risks associated with accessing and sharing PHI health data.

The HIPAA Security Rule does not dictate the technologies you need to use as safeguards. It means you have the flexibility to accommodate a new technology if necessary. Hence, it would be best to use procedures and policies surrounding technical safeguards that stick to specific core principles.

• Access Control: You may use an extensive range of access control methods and technical controls for securing PHI Protected Health Information. HIPAA does not specify access control methods as long as you implement the necessary policies and procedures.
• Audit Controls: You must submit recordings and information system activity per HIPAA compliance requirements. Audit controls help you identify potential security violations. However, HIPAA does not mandate you to review specific data or dictate the frequency of review.
• Integrity: It governs alteration to the PHI Protected Health Information. In other words, it requires you to implement procedures and policies to ensure the integrity of PHI.
• Person or Entity Authentication: You are responsible for ensuring the validity of individuals accessing the PHI. As the covered entity, you must authenticate the person’s proof of identity accessing the PHI data.
• Transmission Security: The transmission security standard requires you to review their existing methods for transferring and transmitting PHI health data. Once the review is over, you must ensure sufficient technical safeguards for your data delivery methods.

Conclusion

Healthcare organisations like hospitals and clinics with sensitive Protected Health Information and security are non-negotiable. Following HIPAA guidelines to ensure the security of PHI optimises your organisation’s data security.

Using advanced HIPAA-complaint tools like PostGrid further enhances the protection of PHI health data. Furthermore, PostGrid ensures active and effective communication for your healthcare organisation.

Healthcare organisations and insurance providers should make it a point to use service providers that deliver the highest quality services. Using HIPAA-compliant tools like PostGrid ensures quality service, even when dealing with crucial data like PHI.

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The post What is PHI (Protected Health Information)? appeared first on PostGrid.

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Direct Marketing: What Why How and Examples

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What Is Direct Marketing, And What Are Its Benefits For Your Business?

Imagine seeing an advertisement on YouTube. The skip button is the first thing you look for even before finding what the ad is about. Now, imagine getting a personalised postcard addressing you personally with a product/service you are interested in or like.

Which of these ads is likely to grab your attention? If your answer is the postcard, then you already understand the effectiveness of direct marketing in a broad sense. As a business owner or marketer, wouldn’t it make more sense to market your business similarly?

Learning how it works and the different ways you can market your business directly to customers could be a game-changer for your company. Below we discuss what is direct marketing and why it is so crucial and beneficial for your business.

So, let us take a deeper look at direct marketing and how you can implement it for your business.

What is Direct Marketing?

Every business owner and marketer has at least once heard about direct marketing and its potential to boost sales. As the name implies, direct marketing involves marketing products and services directly to a pre-selected target audience. 

One thing that makes this marketing strategy unique is that one of its primary goals is to initiate a personal relationship with the customer. A direct marketing campaign can use more than one marketing channel to convey the message efficiently to the target audience.

Traditional marketing channels randomly target prospects and hope the relevant audience will notice them. Direct marketing allows you to narrow down on relevant audiences, which ultimately results in higher response and conversion rates.

How Does Direct Marketing Work?

We have already established that direct marketing campaigns communicate directly with the target audience. Companies can use any communication channel that best suits their requirements for their direct campaigns. The most preferred channels for direct campaigns are

• Mail
• Email
• Social media
• Phone/SMS

You are likely already using at least one of the above communication channels for marketing purposes. But are you using those channels to their full potential? That is the question that you need to ask yourself.

Quality Over Quantity

You may notice that every one of the channels above is more than capable of reaching out to a massive number of people. Yet, experienced direct marketing experts never make the mistake of focusing on quantity rather than quality.

Prioritise Personalisation

The success of direct marketing Australia is not in its extensive reach but in sending personalised marketing messages that connect with the target. Personalised marketing means everything from the offer you pitch to using the customer’s name in the marketing message.

The more personalised your direct marketing, the more likely you will get a positive response from your target audience. Of course, it also depends on how well you target your campaign. There is no point in sending flyers for a bike insurance package to an elderly community, even if you address the audience by their name.

Always Have a Call To Action (CTA)

Another noticeable aspect of direct marketing is that it always has an attractive CTA or Call To Action. The CTAs are an integral and essential part of direct marketing. It urges your target audience to respond to your marketing message. Typically the type of response in your direct campaign includes

• Scanning a QR code
• Clicking on a link
• Calling a toll-free phone number
• Sending a reply card
• And more

Any response to your direct marketing campaign is a positive indicator. Hence, it would be a good idea to take your time to come up with an attractive CTA for direct response marketing.

Why Is Direct Marketing Important For Your Business?

Now that we know what is direct marketing and how it works, it is time to answer the more important question. Why is it so crucial for your business organisation to use direct response marketing?

What is the reason why more and more businesses are adopting direct marketing? We can give you not one but four reasons why your business needs direct response marketing.

1. Direct Marketing Enables Your To Reach Customers Fast

As we explained, you can use several channels to deliver your direct marketing message. It includes communication channels like email, text messages, etc. These communication channels can send your marketing message directly to your customers instantaneously.

Furthermore, several direct marketing tools can help you create and streamline your direct campaigns. You can optimise your direct mail campaigns using advanced tools like PostGrid. It minimises the time for printing and delivering marketing materials significantly.

2. Direct Marketing Is Perfect For Your Promotional Strategies

As we have mentioned above, the best aspect of a direct marketing campaign is its ability to target a specific audience. Suppose the audience of your marketing campaign is genuinely interested in what you are offering. In that case, it is more likely to generate a response.

Furthermore, the focused nature of the campaign ensures the maximum efficiency of your promotional message. In other words, you can create a marketing message with a particular customer persona in mind. It is almost like writing a personal letter to someone you know well.

3. Direct Marketing Is Customisable

What makes direct marketing such a formidable strategy in marketing is its ability to be personalised or customised. Personalised messages have a significant impact on prospective customers. Of course, this is under the assumption that you have the relevant customer data required for the personalisation.

For instance, let’s say your customer database includes information about your target audience, such as

• Age
• Income range
• Browsing habits
• And more

You can use all this information to determine which product/service, tone of voice, etc., is ideal for your direct marketing campaign. In other words, you can develop customised marketing content for all your prospective and existing customers.

4. Direct Marketing Is Measurable

Measuring the effectiveness of your marketing campaign is much easier for a direct marketing campaign. All you have to do is keep track of the response you get for a specific CTA you used for the campaign. If it’s a toll-free number, count the number of calls you received.

But, many advanced options provide better measurability and insights for your marketing efforts. For example, you can use a QR code in your direct mail campaign to take the customer to your website or landing page.

Once the target audience reaches your website/landing page, you can gather necessary information using your existing analytic tools.

What Are The Benefits Of Using Direct marketing For Your Business?

There are numerous advantages of using direct marketing for your business. You may have already noticed some of these benefits from what we discussed so far. But, to be safe, let us list and explain the benefits of marketing your product or service directly to your target audience.

Targeted Marketing

Perhaps, the most compelling benefit direct marketing Australia offers your business is the ability to target marketing/advertising. When your target prospects are genuinely interested in the product/service you provide, you effectively increase the chance of a conversion.

Better targeting also leads to better marketing content and messages, which you can repurpose for future marketing campaigns. In short, direct marketing allows you to understand your target audience better and develop more effective marketing communications for your business.

Budget Marketing

Employing direct marketing for your business enables you to focus on specific demographics you want to target. What does that mean for your business? You might wonder. Well, it lets your business set feasible sales targets for your business.

As a result, your business can improve sales while keeping your marketing budget in check. It means your company can run direct marketing campaigns at a fraction of the cost of standard broadcasting promotions.

You can also consider using advanced automated systems for your marketing campaigns as they minimise wastage. For example, a direct mail automation system like PostGrid ensures accurate delivery of your marketing materials. It saves you valuable time and money on direct mail marketing and optimises your marketing expenses.

Increase Sales To Existing And Lapsed Customers

As you know, it is significantly easier for companies to generate sales from their existing customers than to pursue new leads. It is true in the case of direct marketing too. Your current customers are already familiar with your brand, and some trust already exists in them.

When re-establishing relationships with lapsed customers, direct marketing could be the ultimate tool at your disposal. For example, you could send a direct mail postcard to your lapsed customers with a custom discount offer. It can be an effective way to reconnect with your customers.

Not to mention the personal nature of direct mail postcards, which boost the chance of generating a response. One of the best direct marketing examples is systems like PostGrid even offer a scheduled mail feature. It allows you to set a time when the system can automatically send mailers to your inactive customers.

Enhance Customer Loyalty

Another benefit of direct marketing Australia business organisations should be aware of is its ability to enhance customer loyalty. When building and maintaining customer relationships, you can’t find a better option than communicating directly with the customers.

Think about it; direct marketing is one of the few strategies that appeal directly to the customer using personalised content. And since you are targeting your existing customers, you already have all the data you might need.

You have the customer’s basic details and know what kind of product/service the customer is interested in. So, all that’s left for you is to use this data to reconnect with the customer and strengthen the relationship.

Combining your business’s customer loyalty programs with your direct marketing techniques cements your bond with customers. Some effective strategies for boosting customer loyalty include

• Giving discount offers
• Sending birthday cards
• Inviting customers to special events
• Early access to online sales

Excellent Launching Pad For New Businesses

If your business organisation is relatively new, direct marketing Australia can be an excellent launching pad for your business. By facilitating effective communication with your target audience, direct campaigns increase sales.

More to the point, you can create genuine advocates for your brand through effective direct marketing techniques. Furthermore, direct response marketing makes it easier for new business organisations to adapt and respond to changing market requirements.

Some of the other ways new businesses can benefit from direct marketing include

• Market-specific products and boost their sales
• Efficiently clear discontinued stock
• Easily renew sales
• Boost customer retention rates
• Cultivate customer loyalty
• Conduct follow-ups on promotional offers

Measure product performance

Suppose you are trying to determine the demand for a specific product or service your company offers. In that case, direct marketing might be your answer. As you know, marketing directly to the customer enables you to try out new markets and evaluate your sales result.

Furthermore, it allows you to measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts for specific products/services. As a result, marketers can adjust or modify their marketing efforts to get the best possible outcome for their direct marketing campaigns.

However, to do this effectively, you or whoever is in charge of marketing must monitor and analyse marketing results. It is significantly more manageable if you use a direct marketing tool like PostGrid because it lets you access detailed insights and analytic data.

Types Of Direct Marketing You Can Use For Your Business

Business organisations can categorise their direct marketing efforts into different groups depending on their communication channel. Below we discuss some of the best and most effective ways to market your business directly to the target audience.

Direct Mail

Some might think that a traditional marketing channel like direct mail is out of place in this list. But, hear us out. There is a reason why business organisations, including large enterprises, continue to use direct mail as one of their trusted direct marketing channels.

The short answer to why you must use direct mail as a marketing channel is that it is highly effective. It is so effective that its ROI is significantly higher than most direct and digital marketing campaigns. Furthermore, mailing or sending bulk mail for your business is no longer a messy and endless process.

Automated direct mail tools like PostGrid enable you to send direct mail to your target audience effortlessly. You can easily customise the direct marketing campaigns by integrating PostGrid’s API into your existing systems or CRMs.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is another famous example of direct marketing that can benefit your business. There is a reason why marketers call email the currency of the internet. Almost every person browsing the internet has an email address, which makes it an ideal marketing channel.

Email marketing is an excellent way for businesses to generate leads. However, you may find that the open and response rate for email marketing is below that of direct mail. Because, let’s face it, we all tend to ignore our email, sometimes without a valid reason. 

On the other hand, email marketing is much faster and more flexible for your direct marketing needs. And there are so many specialised tools in the market that you will have no problem automating your email campaigns.

Social Media Marketing

They say- to reach the right audience, you must go to the right place, and social media is THE right place. Where else can you find millions of people brandishing aesthetics and celebrating their taste more openly than on social media? Social media platforms are a perfect fit for direct marketing. 

You can use organic social media marketing to build a community for your brand and develop customer relationships. But what makes it one of the best direct marketing examples is that it enables you to target specific audiences. 

Social media giants like Facebook (Meta) have so many advanced targeting and marketing features that some companies depend entirely on social media marketing. Hence, it is easy and convenient for businesses to execute direct marketing campaigns via social media platforms.

SMS Marketing

SMS marketing is an example of direct marketing, which involves sending permission-based text messages to the target audience. The basic working of SMS marketing is no different from email marketing, except that here you use the customer’s phone number.

You can send all kinds of marketing messages via SMS marketing, including 

• Updates 
• Promos
• Discount offers
• Event Invitations
• Sales notification
• And more.

The upside of using SMS marketing is that it offers a quick and cost-effective way to reach out to your prospects. On the flip side, SMS or text messages can only accommodate text content, and you miss the chance to utilise pictures.

Telemarketing

Telemarketing is what marketers might call a classic example of direct marketing. It involves calling prospective customers over the phone and convincing them to take the desired action. In most cases, this desired action is buying a product or service from your business.

The typical process in telemarketing involves multiple sales representatives reaching out to potential customers. Of course, you also have the option to outsource call centres. One significant advantage of this direct marketing is the human capability to be persistent and convincing to the audience.

Besides that, you also get a real-time response from the audience. Hence, there is no waiting around, hoping the customer will take your bait and get in touch with you. It is no wonder that telemarketing is still one of the most commonly used direct marketing examples.

Leaflet Marketing

Leaflet marketing is one of the best direct marketing examples for small businesses. Small-scale businesses love leaflet marketing because it offers a simple and affordable way for businesses to reach out to their customers.

In addition, leaflet marketing has an outstanding response rate provided that you execute it right. You can even automate the whole process using tools like PostGrid. Your direct marketing campaign becomes a whole lot easier with an automated solution.

And since Australia Post offers Unaddressed Mail, you can have your leaflets delivered directly to their doorstep. Of course, you would have to figure out local areas with clusters of target audiences. Luckily, PostGrid even offers geocoding and Geomapping capabilities to streamline your direct marketing campaign.

Other Direct Marketing

There are several other direct marketing examples that you can try out for your business, such as

• Direct selling
• Catalogues
• Push notification marketing
• And more

The key is analysing your marketing requirements, target audience, and budget to narrow in on the most appropriate direct marketing method. You should also consider if you can automate the marketing campaign as it can save a lot of time and eliminate errors.

Conclusion

It is high time that business organisations learn what is direct marketing and why it is essential in today’s business environment. Many companies are still in the dark about marketing their business directly to the customers.

If done correctly, direct marketing can offer so much for businesses. The sooner you realise it, the better it is for your business. Implementing direct advertising for your business is not that big a challenge if you have the right set of tools.

Take PostGrid, for example. It is a direct mail automation tool that lets your print and delivers personalised marketing messages to the target audience. As a result, your direct marketing campaigns become much more streamlined and error-free.

Similarly, other advanced automated solutions for various direct marketing channels can help you. Hence, every company must make it a point to do its research to run effective marketing campaigns that yield the best possible results.

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Hospital Communication Management

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Importance Of Communication In Hospital: How Can You Streamline Healthcare Communication?

Hospitals today are equipped with ultra-modern equipment for providing better healthcare services to their patients. But there is one thing that most healthcare organisations overlook, and it could be costing your business without even you realising it.

We are talking about the communication in hospitals and the below-par attention it gets from healthcare providers. Most healthcare organisations do not realise just how crucial healthcare communication is and continue to ignore it.

Here, we discuss the importance of communication in health care and how you can optimise it in the most convenient way possible.

What is Healthcare Communication Management?

Healthcare communication management involves effectively managing the communication within healthcare organisations such as hospitals and clinics. It is vital to closely monitor and assess communication in hospitals because any flaws in it could potentially risk patients’ lives.

As you know, the care of a single patient involves several different individuals. You have nurses, doctors, lab in-charges, and many more people working in tandem to provide better healthcare to patients. Hence, the importance of communication in health care is now more prevalent than ever.

Furthermore, you can also observe that we are now incorporating new communication technologies to support healthcare services. The numerous conversations between healthcare professionals are enough to create a complex web of information.

What Is The Importance Of Hospital Communication?

Did you know that one of the primary contributing factors in unanticipated events that happen in hospitals is communication errors? Streamlining communication in hospitals is vital to ensure quality healthcare services in your healthcare organisation.

Even managing healthcare communication within a single hospital is challenging. Now, imagine managing and transferring healthcare data at transitions of care. The absence of effective communication in the hospital can lead to poor health outcomes and improper patient care.

But, it would be wrong to think that the importance of hospital communication is limited to providing accurate healthcare services. Yes, it is a significant part of healthcare communication, but there is a bigger picture that you may be overlooking. Here are some compelling reasons why you need proper communication for your hospital.

• Patients need to be able to freely and honestly communicate their health problems so you can administer the most effective treatment for them
• The healthcare professional should convey treatment plans to the patient and administrative staff
• The sharing of healthcare data between healthcare providers and administrators in an ethical way. It protects the confidentiality of healthcare data
• Healthcare providers must bridge the communication gap between stakeholders through culturally responsive communication

What Are The Barriers To Communication In Hospitals?

The thing about healthcare communication is that it comes in layers, just like the healthcare system itself. In other words, each layer in the healthcare system has its communication system. There is established communication in hospital within every individual department.

For example, the laboratory department inside your hospital has an established flow of communication. The same goes for every individual department inside your organisation and the communication between these departments.

However, there are specific barriers to communication in hospitals that may disturb the flow of information. Below are some of the significant obstacles to contact in a healthcare organisation.

Distrust Or Discomfort In Patients

One of the common barriers to communication in hospitals is the distrust or discomfort of the patient. It is understandable if a patient is somewhat reluctant to disclose sensitive information, even if they are talking to a healthcare professional.

For instance, the patient may have a substance misuse problem and don’t feel comfortable sharing that information with you. There are several reasons a patient may withhold information from the healthcare professional, which can affect communication in the hospital.

Some of the common reasons why patients withhold health information include

• The healthcare provider seems intimidating to them
• The patient feels that their healthcare provider does not listen to them
• The patient feels disrespected by the information requested by the healthcare provider
• The patient questions or lacks faith in medical advice in general
• The patient is going through physical or psychological trauma

Language Barriers

As a healthcare provider, you have likely encountered situations where no one in the hospital speaks the patient’s language. Language is a huge barrier that can halt communication in hospitals.

It is therefore vital that business organisations make way for culturally competent care. You should at least ensure you can effectively communicate with the indigenous and immigrant population. Considering the importance of hospital communication, it wouldn’t hurt to hire interpreters either.

It would be best to consider these measures because the language barrier can stop the patient from accurately conveying their symptoms and healthcare needs.

Rushing From One Appointment To Another

Healthcare providers often get stretched too thin with one appointment after another. No one can blame you for dealing with numerous patients in a small time gap. In such situations, the healthcare professionals may not be able to proper communication in hospitals.

They do not have the time necessary to establish a rapport with each patient. As a result, the importance of communication in health care may get lost in the process. Many hospitals sometimes use Automated Postcard Mailing to keep in touch with their patients and develop a rapport.

Of course, the first action should be to ensure that your healthcare professionals don’t come across as aloof or cold. Even on the busiest days, the importance of hospital communication does not change. However, the direct mail letter or postcard can be an effective failsafe for busy days.

For example, imagine you had a super busy day at a hospital or clinic, rushing through appointments. On such days, you can use an automated direct mail system like PostGrid to send them a letter or postcard. You can explain your busy day and how you are available if they have any questions.

Mismanagement of Healthcare Data

It is becoming more challenging to ensure effective communication between healthcare professionals daily. The healthcare data is constantly growing along with the number of healthcare teams and their reach.

It means different healthcare professionals may need to access the same patient information, perhaps simultaneously. Such situations can often lead to potential miscommunications and affect the patient’s treatment. However, you can consider using secure cloud storage for communication in hospitals.

Healthcare organisations must control how many individuals can access the patient’s healthcare data. It will help you optimise the communication in hospitals. Besides that, it enables your healthcare teams to communicate with each other accurately.

What Are The Elements For Effective Communication Between Patient And Health Professionals?

Implementing effective communication between healthcare professionals and patients has its challenges. However, certain elements can ensure effective communication for your healthcare organisation, and they are

• Fostering Relationships With Patients
• Two-way Communication
• Conveying Empathy
• Managing Uncertainties And Complexities
• Involving Patients In Healthcare Decisions And Planning

Fostering Relationships With Patients

The purpose of fostering relationships with your patients is to build a rapport for your healthcare services. Fostering good relationships with your patients leads to trust. And when the patient depends on their healthcare provider, communication in hospital becomes significantly easier.

When the healthcare professional establishes a relationship with the patient tends to be more satisfied with the healthcare service. Furthermore, interacting with a friendly face is ideal for your doctors and other healthcare staff. Hence, communication in-hospital benefits every party involved.

Remember how we talked about sending direct mail to your patients. Well, you can use such approaches to get closer to your patients. For example, consider sending them birthday cards using an automatic scheduled direct mail delivery. Such small gestures go a long way in fostering healthy relationships and streamlining the communication in hospital.

Two-way Communication

You must have two-way communication in hospital because it ensures an accurate diagnosis of the patient’s symptoms. But that’s not the only purpose for ensuring two-way communication. It allows you to engage with the patients and collect relevant healthcare information.

It also allows healthcare professionals to share their findings comprehensively with the patients. And instead of just throwing around complex medical terms, you can ensure the patient understands their medical situation. Hence, effective communication in-hospital positively influences diagnostic effectiveness and overall health outcomes.

As you can guess, effective two-way communication between patients and health professionals minimises medical errors. The healthcare professional also better understands the patient’s needs and care. Last but not least, the healthcare professional can make decisions after analysing accurate patient information.

Conveying Empathy

Being empathetic is an integral part of every successful healthcare organisation. Earning the patient’s trust and building a rapport for your healthcare business is vital for its success. Empathetic communication in hospitals is one of the most effective ways to gain the patient’s trust.

Naturally, a patient is likely to be satisfied with the healthcare experience at your hospital when you are empathetic towards them. Furthermore, compassionate communication in hospital(s) leads to an improved relationship between healthcare provider and their patients.

Managing Uncertainties and Complexities

To efficiently manage a patient’s expectations from your healthcare organisation, you need to manage uncertainties and complexities in healthcare. The key is to keep the patient informed on everything they need to know about their healthcare.

Communication between patients and health professionals ensures that the patient gets the care appropriate to their changing needs. Besides this, you can ensure the safety of critical patient information even if there are different medical teams involved.

The outcomes of such effective communication between healthcare professionals include a reduced distress potential. It means the patient does not have to go through feelings of anxiety because of an unexpected healthcare expense.

Involving Patients In Healthcare Decisions and Planning

Every healthcare decision requires the permission of the patient. But what usually happens is that explicit consent from the patients is only ensured in case of significant healthcare decisions, such as surgery. However, that is not one of the best examples of effective communication in healthcare.

Ideally, you should get explicit consent in all healthcare decisions and planning. However, that may not always be the practical option for your organisation. Ensuring consistent involvement of the stakeholder in healthcare decisions and planning lets you quickly reach healthcare decisions faster.

Involving patients in healthcare decisions and planning lets them get a good idea of their healthcare plan and treatment. Furthermore, this communication between patients and health professionals improves the patient’s compliance with the treatment process. As the patient is an active member in these healthcare decisions, they tend to self-manage their care too.

How To Ensure Effective Communication Between Patient And Health Professional?

There are three transition points you need to consider to optimise communication between patients and health professionals, and they are

• First engagement with the patient
• Transferring care to another healthcare provider
• Discharging the patient

First Engagement With The Patient

The first engagement with the patient is always crucial for your healthcare organisation. At this stage, you get all the information required for the clinical assessment, which affects the entire treatment process. Here is how you can optimise communication in hospital at the first engagement with the patient.

• Ensure that the healthcare professional attending to the patient introduce themselves personally.
• Check and ensure if the patient needs any assistance with communication.
• Assess the patient’s healthcare literacy, cultural/religious background and, of course, language barriers.
• Take preemptive measures to overcome any barriers to communication in hospital, including hiring an interpreter.
• Avoid medical jargon or complex medical terms and start using simple language the patient can understand.
• Always direct your communication to the patient, so they know you are addressing them. It applies even if you have an interpreter or family member present there.
• Get the go-ahead from the patient about sharing their information with family members or healthcare staff.
• Ensure active participation of the patient in the communication between patient and health professional.
• Encourage the patient to ask questions and raise concerns regarding medical procedures and plans.
• Check if the patient has an advanced care plan in place.
• Discuss realistic and possible healthcare goals and how you can incorporate them into the patient’s healthcare plan.
• Consider and address the concerns of the patient’s family and provide them with the necessary information.
• Document the patient’s healthcare goals, expectations, and preferences and accommodate them in the healthcare communication in-hospital.

Transferring Care To Another Healthcare Provider

Patient transfers can often be hectic for healthcare providers as any inaccuracies can lead to inappropriate treatment for the patient. Hence, it would be best if you did not underestimate the importance of hospital communication at this stage.

The basic requirements of healthcare data transfer are the standard ones you’d expect from any data transfer. You need to ensure that the data is up to date and accurate. Besides that, the communication in-hospital should ensure that they transfer the patient’s needs and preferences to the new healthcare provider.

Here is how you can optimise communication during the transfer of care to another healthcare provider.

• Get permission from the patient before sharing any protected healthcare information with the new healthcare provider.
• Describe the individual roles of each healthcare professional in the medical team.
• Inform the patient about their healthcare plan and let them know who should take care of their medical needs at any time.
• Ensure the participation of patients in their healthcare transition.
• Let the patient know that the communication in hospital is open, and they are free to ask questions or raise concerns.
• Involve the patient’s family/carer in the transition communication, but only if the patient gives you the go-ahead.
• Let the patient know about expected healthcare transitions and why it needs to happen.
• You can even include the approximate timeframes for the transition, including shift charges moving wards, etc.
• Before transitioning, check the patient’s requirements, preferences, and goals to ensure proper communication in hospital during the healthcare transition.
• If appropriate, acknowledge the pain and suffering the patient may be going through during the healthcare transition.
• Notify the patient’s family/carer about the transition or changes in the patient’s medical status.

Discharging The Patient

Another essential aspect of ensuring effective communication between patients and health professionals is discharging. The patient’s family or carer must understand the healthcare routine they need to follow for the patient.

Here is how you can optimise communication in hospital during the discharging of the patient.

• Provide a detailed discharge summary to the patient explaining the key aspects of the outline. The detailed overview should include the following details.
• The role of the patient/carer in the patient’s healthcare after discharging.
• The treatment plan for the patient and list of medicines.
• Inform about Follow-up plans, including lab tests and appointments.
• Items the patient should discuss with their GP.
• Symptoms and healthcare warning signs the patient should look out for.
• Ensure that the patient understands their healthcare requirements after discharge.
• Encourage the patient to ask questions and concerns and check whether they need the healthcare professional to repeat the instructions.
• Check out how capable the patient is in following healthcare instructions.
• Get feedback for the healthcare services you provided from the patient, their family or carer.
• Conduct a post-discharge follow-up via phone or email and ensure appropriate communication in the hospital.

How Can Postgrid Help You Streamline Communication Between Patient And Health Professional?

Sometimes it can be challenging to ensure accurate communication between patients and health professionals. However, using an automated tool like PostGrid can simplify healthcare communication for your organisation.

Automated Mailers For Effective Healthcare Communication

PostGrid offers a fully automatic direct mail tool to ensure timely communication for your healthcare organisation. PostGrid understands the importance of communication in health care and how vital it is to be punctual. It even allows you to schedule the printing and mailing of personalised healthcare mailers. You can send the following documents using PostGrid’s automated solution.

1. Explanation of Benefits (EOB)
2. Explanation of Coverage (EOC)
3. Patient billing statements
4. Patient letters and notices
5. Hospital and lab invoices
6. Appointment reminders
7. Medical statement inserts
8. Patient or physician mailers

Address Verification Tool To Ensure Accurate Patient Data

PostGrid’s address verification tool is perfect for you to ensure accurate patient data for your healthcare organisation. The address validation tool streamlines communication in hospitals and helps you in numerous ways. Here is how PostGrid’s address verification can help your healthcare organisation.

1. Confirm patient identity for HIPAA requirements
2. Protect patient information
3. Process distribution of prescription medicines
4. Avoid medical identity theft
5. Onboard and register patients remotely
6. Decrease wrong transfer, release, or updating of medical records
7. Circumvent losses because of deceitful claims and incorrect billing

Conclusion

Optimising communication in-hospital requires a lot of effort, and you may still not get it right without the right tools. Hence, every healthcare organisation must invest in advanced tools like PostGrid to streamline their healthcare communication.

The communication between patients and health professionals becomes a whole lot simpler with a system like PostGrid. It automatically sends critical healthcare documents, and you can schedule their delivery too. If that’s not enough, PostGrid also offers an address verification tool.

The address verification tool from PostGrid verifies patient data by checking it against AusPost’s official address database. Such a capability ensures efficient communication in-hospital and even adds security to your healthcare organisation.

However, it doesn’t matter how advanced your tools are if you don’t make a conscious effort to streamline your communication. Hence, every healthcare organisation must realise the importance of communication in health care and take steps to optimise their communication.

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