Even before the incidence of virtual visits exploded with Covid-19, the term, “the digital front door” had started to appear in healthcare literature. The digital front door has been defined as an integrated digital strategy for engaging patients first with digital intake and then at all of the major touchpoints of their healthcare journey. The goal is to offer patients a more connected experience –that allows them to more easily initiate engagement, obtain information, communicate with care providers and obtain the care they need via technology.

For health systems and hospitals, the digital front door can deliver a framework for better utilization of resources, improved productivity, improved customer satisfaction and retention and reduced costs. Touchpoints can include: online self-scheduling, mobile preregistration and checkin, web and mobile payments, a patient portal, online self-help and screening tools and telehealth interactions. Although all of these technologies exist today, the next generation of the digital front door will need to be easier to use, more intuitive and completely integrated to provide patients with a connected patient experience and health systems with results they seek.

Discussion Questions:

• How does your organization define digital front door? What has been your journey to date?
• Given the experience of patient interactions during the Covid-19 pandemic, where is the expansion of a digital front door on your priority list?
• How are you planning medical imaging services and data in your digital patient experience?
• How can you leverage current digital assets into an upgraded, more cohesive strategy and approach? What are the accelerators and barriers?
• Do you see a digital front door strategy providing you with the ability to expand into new service lines or being more agile to respond to current and future competition?
• What service lines do you believe are best suited to a digital front door approach?

During this Virtual Think Tank, Frost & Sullivan's Greg Caressi, will moderate a discussion and the contents of your collective conversation will feed an article Frost & Sullivan is writing titled "The Digital Front Door". Based on past experiences, we expect you to leave with a ton of great takeaways and new connections with industry peers.