Episode Description
What if the biggest risk to patient care isn’t clinical, but simply the inability to reach someone?
In this episode of Straight Out of Health IT, Damon Covey, General Manager of Unified Communications & Collaboration at GoTo, discusses how fragmented communication systems are failing small- and mid-sized healthcare practices and impacting real patient outcomes. He explains that most practices rely on 5–7 disconnected tools, which create inefficiencies and missed interactions. He highlights how these gaps lead to staff burnout and poor patient experiences. He emphasizes that this is not just an operational issue, but a clinical and safety concern.
He also explores the value of unified communications as a solution to this growing problem. By bringing calls, texts, scheduling, and data into one platform, practices gain visibility and control over patient interactions. This reduces context switching and administrative burden for staff. It also enables faster, more consistent responses for patients.
Finally, he discusses the role of AI in transforming healthcare communication workflows. He shares how AI can automate routine tasks like scheduling and call routing while analyzing sentiment in real time. He stresses that AI works best when embedded into existing workflows rather than as a separate tool. He also warns against adopting too many point solutions, predicting consolidation into trusted platforms.
Tune in to learn how simplifying communication, not adding more tools, can transform patient care and practice performance!
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