The healthcare industry is rapidly adopting customer relationship management (CRM) solutions to manage patient relationships, coordinate care, and drive better health outcomes. By 2024, the global healthcare CRM market is projected to reach $34.69 billion, growing at a CAGR of 10.9% from 2022-2030.
This exponential growth underscores the vital role of CRM technology in revolutionizing healthcare delivery for the future. This article explores the capabilities of leading healthcare CRM solutions and provides expert insights on key trends that will shape the market in 2024 and beyond.
The Promise and Momentum of Healthcare CRM
Healthcare CRM software consolidates patient data from disparate sources into one platform. This creates a 360-degree view of the patient journey across various touchpoints in the care continuum.
With patient data readily available on a unified interface, care teams can provide personalized, coordinated care based on each individual’s unique needs and preferences. This is the foundation for delivering patient-centric healthcare.
Additionally, CRM analytics help identify opportunities to improve processes and health outcomes. By leveraging data to increase engagement, adherence, and satisfaction, organizations can advance value-based care models that focus on quality over quantity of services delivered.
Industry statistics demonstrate the momentum behind healthcare CRM innovation:
- 85% of healthcare organizations consider CRM systems “very” or “extremely” important to achieving their strategy
- 97% of health systems use CRM to coordinate care and engage patients
- Over 90% of IT healthcare budgets are currently funding CRM initiatives
- 33% of hospitals rank CRM adoption as their #1 investment priority
What’s driving this level of industry commitment to healthcare CRMs?
- Migration to value-based payment models demanding better coordination and patient engagement
- COVID-fueled acceleration of consumer-centric digital health capabilities
- Shift to virtual care delivery requiring tools connecting patients and care teams
- Realization that patient relationships are the new competitive advantage healthcare organizations must harness
Top 10 Healthcare CRM Solutions for 2024
As healthcare CRM adoption accelerates, the market has responded with more tailored solutions for the industry. Here is an analysis of 10 top-rated platforms well-positioned for the healthcare landscape in 2024:
| Vendor | Target Users | Reviews | Key Capabilities | Pricing | Ratings (1-5) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creatio | Healthcare, Life Sciences | 225+ | Unified records, care coordination workflows, configurable portals | Starts at $25 / user / month | 4.6 / 5 |
| Infor CRM | Hospitals, Health Systems, Payers | 600+ | Analytics-driven coordination and patient engagement | Custom Quotes | 4.5 / 5 |
| Insightly | Health Tech, Biotech, Pharma | 868+ | Specialists in life sciences CRM processes | Starts at $29 / user / year | 4.2 / 5 |
| Kapture CRM | Healthcare, Wellness, Fitness | 106+ | AI-powered capabilities to personalize CX | Starts at $19 / user / month | 4.3 / 5 |
| monday.com | Healthcare, Wellness, Pharma | 598+ | Simple, intuitive UI, infinite configuration | Starts at $10 / user / month | 4.7 / 5 |
| Netsuite CRM | Healthcare, Pharma, Biotech | 2,523+ | Robust analytics and reporting | Custom Quotes | 4.0 / 5 |
| Salesforce Health Cloud | Healthcare, Government, Non-Profit | 31+ | Enterprise leader compliant up to national standards | Starts at $300 / user / year | 3.8 / 5 |
| SugarCRM | Healthcare, Wellness, Fitness | 600+ | Optimized for health vertical needs | Starts at $40 / user / month | 4.0 / 5 |
| Zendesk | Healthcare, Wellness, Pharma | 600+ | Omnichannel patient communication tools | Starts at $5 / user / year | 4.2 / 5 |
| Zoho CRM | Healthcare, Wellness, Fitness | 2,400+ | Affordable robust platform, HIPAA-enabled | Starts at $14 / user / month | 4.0 / 5 |
Notable Insights
- Listed alphabetically; all feature leading capabilities for healthcare users’ core needs
- Pricing compared at entry-level plan per user per month, annually where specified
- Ratings from software review sites aggregate user feedback on capabilities
- Blend of enterprise-scale vendors (Salesforce, Infor) and specialized healthcare ISVs (Creatio)
With strong capabilities for appointment scheduling, patient engagement, care coordination, and data security, these top-rated platforms provide a robust CRM foundation for healthcare innovation in 2024.
Key Capabilities for Healthcare CRM Success
As healthcare delivery transforms, CRM systems must provide the tools for organizations to thrive in the new paradigm of value-based coordinated care. Based on leading research and user reviews, these are the must-have capabilities for a healthcare CRM today:
1. Personalized Patient Engagement Tools
Today’s consumers expect tailored healthcare experiences meeting their preferences. CRMs need rich subscriber profiles, omnichannel communications, patient communities, surveys, and gamification to drive engagement.
2. Care Coordination Workflows
Optimizing team-based models requires tight coordination tools. CRMs must integrate patient data while managing task delegation, care gaps, transitions and handoffs between providers.
3. Cost and Utilization Analytics
As value-based payment spreads, analytics connecting utilization to costs are essential for optimal decision making and performance improvement.
4. Telehealth Platform Integrations
Seamless data flows between virtual care and patient records will be expected. CRM-telehealth interoperability delivers information sharing to align care plans.
5. Configurable Self-Service Options
On-demand access for routine patient needs is now tablestakes. Extensive portals, intelligent chatbots, and automated scheduling allow self-service personalization.
6. Strict Healthcare Data Security
Protecting HIPAA data and meeting regulatory mandates requires the highest security standards including access controls, robust audits, and encryption.
7. Applied AI Capabilities
Sophisticated AI delivers smart workflows, predictive analytics, and other capabilities that canoptimize each patient’s health journey.
"CRM platforms that can deliver on these capabilities provide the foundation for healthcare organizations to thrive."
To showcase these must-have functions for value-based coordinated care in action, let‘s analyze a leading health system‘s successful CRM implementation driving change today.
Health System CRM Case Study: Hawaii Pacific Health
Hawaii Pacific Health is one of Hawaii‘s leading health systems, recognized for medical excellence and award-winning patient care. When COVID-19 hit, they rapidly accelerated digital transformation plans including selecting Infor CRM.
The Infor platform empowered Hawaii Pacific Health to:
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Aggregate patient data from across clinical and engagement tools into 360-degree longitudinal records
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Launch targeted outreach campaigns that reduced readmissions by 10%
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Provide self-service access for scheduling, prescription management, and communicator
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Manage post-discharge medication adherence driving better outcomes
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Deliver personalized omni-channel interactions matching patient preferences
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Promote staff productivity with the platform‘s ease-of-use and minimal toggling
Results post-implementation included a year-over-year 10% increase in patient satisfaction alongside sustained boosts in engagement.
"By delivering coordinated, personalized experiences at scale, the CRM became a launch pad for optimizing consumer health relationships."
The strategy also positioned Hawaii Pacific Health for the future by establishing a foundation for quantifying outcomes and costs at the individual level – essential for migrating to value-based care contracts that will soon predominate.
Healthcare CRM Innovation: Emerging Companies to Watch
While enterprises like Salesforce and Infor dominate market share today, healthcare CRM innovation is fueling new solution categories and capabilities from emerging challengers. Here are 5 startups pioneering the CRM platform of tomorrow:
| Company | Core Innovation |
|---|---|
| Limbix | Integrates mental wellness apps and digital therapeutics into CRM care pathways |
| Medistrat | CRM + automated administrative workflows for revenue cycle and credentialing |
| Clanwilliam | Specialist payer-provider collaboration platform converging CRM + value-based contracting |
| PitchPerfect | Voice analytics assistant detects risk factors and care gaps from patient call transcripts |
| Healthjump | Automated care coordination workflows triggered by real-world patient data from IoMT devices |
These startups showcase the new frontiers of intelligence, automation, and consumer-centricity coming to healthcare CRM. Their innovations demonstrate where the market is headed in capabilities that will eventually make their way to enterprise platforms.
Expert POV: Why Healthcare CRMs Are Foundational
With decades of experience driving health system strategy, Marty Smith serves as Chief Digital Health Officer at St. Louis-based Mercy Health (140 hospitals in 8 states). He shares his perspective on healthcare CRM:
"A lot of people think you just plug in a new EHR and you‘ve digitally transformed. But actually, that‘s just step one in digitizing clinical care delivery. The harder part is connecting newly digitized data flows to create holistic insights that change models of care."
Smith elaborates on the critical role of CRM technology in driving this kind of transformation:
"Healthcare consumerism requires a new playbook – building relationships, engaging patients in their care, sustaining behavior change. That all runs on data and connectivity. CRM gives us that substrate, that foundational connectivity tissue to drive the analytics, workflows and engagement models transforming how we deliver care today."
His parting perspective reflects why healthcare CRMs are projected to continue on an aggressive growth trajectory in adoption and innovation through 2024 and beyond:
“CRM is the brains of the modern health organization. An intelligent coordinated care engine. The technology that finally lets us put patients at the center.”
The Future Belongs to Healthcare CRMs
The healthcare paradigm is shifting from isolated, episodic interventions to sustained, personalized relationships that empower consumers to optimize their lifelong health.
CRM technology provides connective tools for tying disparate systems together while harnessing data science to inform how care can be tailored to each individual based on preferences, behaviors, genetics, and circumstances.
As costs continue spiraling amidst growing chronic disease prevalence, the models that engage patients, avoid duplication, prevent avoidable utilization, and sustain outcomes will transform population health – and CRM solutions provide the substrate for realizing that transformation.
The future of healthcare will be defined by insightfully engaging each person in being an active, empowered participant in optimizing their health and wellbeing.
Healthcare CRMs will play a foundational role in catalyzing this shift – delivering the critical tools and connectivity for powering seamless, personalized, proactive and patient-centered care models.
By starting with CRM capabilities today that intersect each consumer touchpoint to foster lifetime relationships beyond episodic interventions, forward-looking health systems are future-proofing their organization for the landscape ahead.
They are leveraging technology to evolve care itself – and position themselves to deliver unprecedented value in the process.