Transforming Access and Virtual Care at Virtua Health

• Erica Carney notes healthcare faces workforce shortages and growing patient needs due to aging and chronic disease.
• She emphasizes virtual care technologies can help prioritize patient face time and improve provider work-life harmony.

Malik Bahar and Erica Carney highlight how Virtua Health is transforming patient access and virtual care by integrating advanced technologies including agentic AI to simplify workflows and enhance patient experience.

Malik emphasizes that simplifying access through AI and providing a seamless, comprehensive patient view is essential, especially as patients increasingly compare healthcare experiences to top service industries like Chick-fil-A or Disney.

Erica adds that virtual care technologies are not only improving efficiencies and reducing clinician burnout but also enabling patients to virtually include loved ones during vulnerable moments, overcoming traditional barriers.

A crucial strategy is blending technology with human touch, using storytelling within the organization to frame the narrative around these changes and support effective adoption without supplanting human interaction.

Together, these efforts aim to position Virtua Health as a premier choice regionally and nationally by delivering a personalized, simple, and favorable healthcare experience.

• Malik Bahar shares how Virtua's contact center team operates mostly remotely with 200 staff and achieves a 92% retention rate.
• He highlights how patient expectations are now shaped by top consumer experiences like Chick-fil, influencing healthcare service demands.