WhatsApp for medical clinics

In this period outlined by new restrictions and social distancing, WhatsApp is radically changing the way we communicate, in the most varied sectors. In this article, we will explain how WhatsApp features can be exploited by medical clinics

With the recent pandemic that has radically changed the world we were accustomed to, social relations are changing, and with them the communication methods that companies must adopt in order to maintain a relationships with their customers.

In this scenario, WhatsApp is becoming ever more powerful, due to the increasing need of people to get in touch, in the most diverse industries, from retail to automotive, from tourism to healthcare.

Among the businesses that most need to avoid face-to-face contact (and in which the risk of a potential infection is higher), in fact, are medical clinics, where doctors visit and treat their patients every day. Precisely in this context, alternative methods of communicating with patients, such as WhatsApp, are taking on an increasingly important role.

Why can WhatsApp help medical clinics?

In a clinic, the need to better organize the flow of patients becomes fundamental, so that the infections are contained or even eliminated. In this regard, WhatsApp can be of great help to all clinics who decide to quickly manage their communications.

WhatsApp bases its strengths precisely on its feature of being an instant messaging app, making it an instant and accessible means of communication. Any user can be reached through this messaging app at any time and wherever they are.

WhatsApp guarantees a high message open rate that other messaging apps can’t reach. Estimates speak of an open rate of 98%, incredibly higher than that reached by emails (just 22%).

With WhatsApp it is possible to interact effectively with patients who intend to run specific exams, and respond to their requests in real time, without too many obstacles.

To make it clear how useful a platform such as WhatsApp can be, in the health sector, just think that the World Health Organization (WHO) also opened its own account in March 2020.

How WhatsApp can be used in clinics

A medical clinic can use WhatsApp in a variety of ways, for example:

1) To manage bookings:it is extremely important to know how to best organize bookings in a medical clinic, in order to avoid overcrowding and, consequently, to decrease the chances of contagion;

2) To offer medical advice: send medical advice or possible therapies to their patients through a simple message, without having to leave the house, thus limiting travels;

3) To send medical prescriptions:the ability to send and receive documents, images or videos can facilitate  sending medical prescriptions or referrals, directly to a smartphone;

4) Send questionnaires for the evaluation of services: you can send surveys to evaluate the quality of the services offered by your clinic directly via WhatsApp. In this regard Outside Voice is the most appropriate tool.

5) Send alerts about your activities: notifying updates on timetables, booking changes, or anti-contagion information is possible with a simple message.

These are just some of the activities that can be carried out through the now ubiquitous messaging app, while taking into account all the privacy regulations that different countries adopt.

Use WhatsApp on multiple devices in clinics

Now that we have clarified the advantages of using WhatsApp within a medical clinic, we must specify what are the limits of the native platform offered by WhatsApp. Although the Business version of WhatsApp can be opened via desktop through WhatsApp Web, it does not allow use on multiple devices. This means that each patient care operator must have their own account.

This can be a big problem, especially in clinics with large numbers of operators, which risk confusing users who simply want to interact with healthcare professionals quickly and efficiently.

In this regard, Callbell offers the possibility to integrate WhatsApp within its own platform, which allows you to manage the same account between different agents, in a structured and organized way, and with a series of features that help in the multi-agent management of a WhatsApp number.

Through the platform, you can structure your network of assistance operators in an organized way, allocating conversations within the team automatically or semi-automatically. In addition, it is possible to set up quick replies, in case there are frequent questions, or to create tags to classify the different patients who interact with the clinic, so that they can be identified more easily.

In addition, Callbell allows you to integrate even the most used messaging apps, such as Facebook Messenger and Telegram, and keep in touch with your audience on all the channels in which they are present. All this and many other features are present within the Callbell platform. You can try the platform out for a limited time by creating an account directly from this link.

We hope this article has been useful for you to learn about the potential of our platform! Remember to like or leave a comment, see you next time!