Building Trust: How Branded Calling Improves the Patient Experience

People are wary of answering their phones these days — and with good reason. Fraudsters are savvy and relentless.

According to research conducted by Robokiller, in 2022, scammers sent 78 billion robocalls — a 43% increase in just two years — which cost Americans more than $65 billion in estimated losses. Scam calls, robocalls, spoofing and more have devastated trust, and consumers have stopped picking up the phone — unless they know exactly who’s calling.  

For healthcare providers, it’s no different. Nearly 30% of healthcare providers that participated in a recent Omdia survey (which served as the basis for the TransUnion 2023 Healthcare Enterprise Call Experience Report) said the phone is the number one channel for communicating with patients. However, 80% reported nearly 20% of their outbound calls were blocked or unanswered in the past six months, and 77% said more than 10% of their calls were being mislabeled as SPAM.

Ultimately, even if the call doesn’t appear as blocked or isn’t mislabeled as SPAM, patients may not recognize the phone number and simply ignore the call. Because calls are blocked or patients don’t answer the phone, outbound call volumes are rising as providers must repeatedly try to reach patients. Nearly 60% of providers reported call volumes increased in the past six months, while a mere 4% said outbound call volumes were significantly lower.

Low answer rates and higher call volumes could impact costs, revenue and patient satisfaction. To meet organizational objectives — and patients’ care needs — you need them to pick up when you call.

Download the full Healthcare Enterprise Call Experience report.

Boosting patient confidence with added context

How do you overcome patients’ fears of being a victim of a scam or fraud?

One way is through the use of branded calling. With TransUnion TruContact™ Branded Call Display, each time you call patients, your full business name and location appear on the mobile display. With a quick glance, patients can trust it’s your healthcare organization calling, increasing the likelihood they’ll answer and enabling you to improve answer rates. There’s no confusion.

What’s more, these calls have been verified with STIR/SHAKEN call authentication, indicating the call has not been spoofed. That’s an added layer of protection for patients who are sharing their personal information and want to be sure the call can be trusted.

Protect your brand in the process

But patients aren’t the only ones who benefit. An astounding 100% of healthcare providers surveyed said the call experience is important to their overall brand perception. With branded calling, you maintain complete control over how your brand is presented.

When patients know they can trust the call, they pick up more frequently. That means you not only can improve operational efficiency and protect your brand reputation, you can dramatically increase answer rates and engagement with patients — which can have a profound impact on revenue and quality of care.