Best CRM for healthcare in 2024

In the healthcare industry, building strong relationships with patients and managing sensitive data efficiently are critical to providing high-quality care. So it's perhaps unsurprising how healthcare providers increasingly rely on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to streamline patient interactions, enhance communication, and ensure compliance with privacy regulations.
In this blog post, we will dive into the best CRM solutions for healthcare in 2024, focusing on five leading platforms: Folk, Zoho, Pipedrive, Salesforce, and HubSpot.

Why you need a CRM

Implementing a CRM can change how you manage your healthcare technology company, providing a structured approach to handle customer relationships and streamline operations.

Challenges without a CRM

Below are a few common challenges we see from the healthcare industry, from businesses who don't currently use a CRM.

• Disorganization: Without a CRM, keeping track of patient and client information becomes chaotic, leading to errors and inefficiencies.
• Missed opportunities: Potential leads and follow-ups can slip through the cracks, resulting in lost revenue and growth opportunities.
• Inefficient processes: Manual processes consume valuable time and resources that could be better spent on patient care and innovation.
• Lack of insight: Without centralized data, gaining actionable insights to make informed decisions is challenging.
• Inconsistent communication: Communication with clients and patients can become fragmented, leading to misunderstandings and decreased satisfaction.

Benefits of a CRM

Once you're ready to consider a CRM, there are some key benefits you can be sure to reap including the following.

• Centralized information: All patient and client data is stored in one place, making it easy to access and manage.
• Enhanced efficiency: Automate routine tasks, freeing up time for more critical activities and improving overall productivity.
• Improved customer relationships: Personalized communication and timely follow-ups enhance patient and client satisfaction.
• Better decision-making: Data-driven insights help you make informed decisions that drive better healthcare outcomes.
• Increased sales: Track leads and opportunities effectively, ensuring no potential revenue is lost.
• Consistent communication: Maintain a consistent and professional communication strategy, improving trust and reliability.

Key features of a CRM for healthcare

But with a saturated market, it can feel a bit overwhelming when it's time for you to consider which CRM is right for you. So below are a few key features you should look out for to get the most out of your CRM system.

• Automated processes: Streamlines tasks by automating repetitive workflows.
• Contact enrichment: Automatically finds Leads, Customers email addresses and contact information, enhancing efficiency.
• Structured pipeline: Tracks Leads, Customers through defined stages, ensuring process clarity and effectiveness.
• Email sequences: Increases communication efficiency with follow-up templates and automated sequences.
• LinkedIn connection: Seamlessly imports Leads, Customers from LinkedIn and tracks conversations within the CRM.
• Analytics: Provides essential data analysis and predictive insights for better planning.

How to boost your efficiency in healthcare with a CRM

Wondering how a CRM can help busy teams in the healthcare industry boost their efficiency? Below are a few key things you should expect from a good CRM.

1. Mapping your process

Mapping your healthcare processes is crucial for optimizing patient care and administrative efficiency. You can use a CRM to start identifying key stages such as patient intake, appointment scheduling, treatment plans, and follow-up care. Use your CRM to define these stages and track progress in real-time, ensuring that no step is overlooked and every patient receives timely care.

2. Lead qualification

Effective lead qualification in healthcare involves assessing patient needs and determining their suitability for specific treatments or services. Use your CRM to gather patient data, such as medical history and symptoms, to create a scoring system. This helps prioritize leads and ensures that high-need patients are addressed promptly, improving patient outcomes and satisfaction.

3. Outreach and follow-up

Automated outreach and follow-up are essential for maintaining patient engagement and adherence to treatment plans. Implement automated email campaigns to remind patients of upcoming appointments, share health tips, and provide post-treatment care instructions. Use your CRM to schedule and track these communications, ensuring consistent and personalized patient interactions.

4. Nurture existing leads and customers

Nurturing existing patients involves strategies for upselling and cross-selling healthcare services. Leverage your CRM to identify opportunities for additional treatments or services that could benefit your patients. For example, if a patient has completed a physical therapy program, your CRM can suggest follow-up wellness programs or preventive care services, enhancing patient care and increasing revenue.

How to evaluate and choose a CRM platform

There are a few things you should keep top of mind as you create a short list of the CRMs that you want to consider investing in.

1. Define your requirements

Start by identifying the key features your practice needs. Consider functionalities like patient management, appointment scheduling, secure communication channels, and integration with existing healthcare systems. Customization options and data analytics capabilities are also crucial for improving patient care and operational efficiency.

2. Budget considerations

Balancing cost and return on investment is essential. Evaluate the pricing models of various CRM platforms, considering both upfront costs and long-term expenses. Affordable healthcare CRM solutions in 2024 should offer scalable options, allowing you to expand features as your practice grows without incurring prohibitive costs.

3. Selection process

Research thoroughly to choose the right CRM vendor. Look for vendors with a strong track record in the healthcare industry, positive customer reviews, and robust support services. Request demos and consult with vendor representatives to understand how their CRM solutions can meet your specific needs.

4. Get a demo

Trial and compare different CRM platforms tailored for healthcare. Make use of free trials or pilot programs to asses their usability, integration capabilities, and overall performance. Collect feedback from your team and consider how each CRM aligns with your practice's goals before making a final decision.

3 tips for implementing a CRM

1. Import your data in your new CRM

Transitioning to a new CRM involves migrating your existing data. Start by exporting your data as a CSV file from your current CRM. This ensures that no valuable information is lost during the transition.

2. Create your first pipeline

Once your data is imported, the next step is to set up your first pipeline. Tailor the pipeline stages to reflect the unique processes within your healthcare organization. For instance, stages could include "New Patient Inquiry," "Initial Consultation," "Treatment Plan," "Ongoing Care," and "Follow-Up." This customization ensures that your CRM aligns with your healthcare workflow, making it easier to track patient progress and manage relationships effectively.

3. Onboard your team

Effective CRM implementation requires that your entire team is on board and well-trained. Conduct training sessions to familiarize your staff with the new system, emphasizing how it will benefit their daily tasks and improve patient care. Encourage feedback and address any concerns to ensure a smooth transition. A well-informed team is crucial for maximizing the potential of your new CRM and achieving your healthcare goals.

The 5 best CRMs for healthcare

1. folk

folk is a modern CRM platform for managing contacts, workflows, and relationships, offering customizable pipelines, AI-driven tools, and integrations to enhance deal management and prospecting.

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Key features

• Contact enrichment: Automatically enriches contact details by finding emails and LinkedIn URLs, enabling efficient outreach without manual data entry or additional costs for email services.
• LinkedIn integration: Seamlessly import contacts from LinkedIn, track conversations within folk, and use templates for quicker, streamlined communication.
• Email integration: Full email sync, templates, and tracking features, enabling users to manage all communications directly from the CRM.
• AI-powered features: AI tools assist in managing contacts and relationships, automating routine tasks, and suggesting actions to improve productivity.
• Integrations: folk integrates seamlessly with over 6,000 apps, including Gmail, Zapier, and Make, allowing users to centralize their workflow and reduce manual data entry.

Pros

• Ease of use: folk is praised for its intuitive interface, making it accessible even to non-technical users with quick onboarding and a minimal learning curve.
• All-in-one: folk streamlines your workflow by allowing you to import contacts from LinkedIn, automatically find their emails, reach out through customizable email sequences, and track interactions in a pipeline, eliminating the need for multiple tools and saving time and money.
• LinkedIn integration: Seamlessly import contacts from LinkedIn, track conversations within folk, and use templates for quicker, streamlined communication.
• Customizability: Custom fields, pipelines, and workflows.
• Integrations: folk integrates seamlessly with over 6,000 apps, including Gmail, Zapier, and Make, allowing users to centralize their workflow and reduce manual data entry.

Cons

• Reporting: Currently lacks reporting features, but there are plans for future implementation.
  
  

Pricing

You can try folk for free with a 14-day free trial. After that, a monthly or annual subscription plan is as follows

• Standard: $20 per user, per month
• Premium: $40 per user, per month
• Custom: Starts from $60 per user, per month

2. HubSpot

HubSpot CRM is a user-friendly, scalable platform offering integrated tools for managing sales, marketing, customer service, and operations efficiently.

Key features

• Marketing hub: Includes email marketing, ad tracking, landing pages, and lead generation tools, essential for healthcare providers to engage patients and promote services effectively.
• Sales hub: Provides deal tracking, pipeline management, sales automation, and reporting, helping healthcare organizations manage patient acquisition and retention efficiently.
• Service hub: Offers customer service tools like ticketing, live chat, and knowledge bases, ensuring that patient inquiries and issues are resolved promptly.
• Operations hub: Syncs and automates business processes across different systems, crucial for maintaining seamless operations in a healthcare setting.
• Lead scoring: Prioritize leads with predictive scoring to improve sales efficiency, helping healthcare providers focus on the most promising patient leads.

Pros

• User-friendly interface: The intuitive and easy-to-use interface makes it accessible for healthcare professionals of all skill levels.
• Comprehensive free plan: Offers a robust free version that includes essential CRM features, making it ideal for small healthcare practices and startups.
• Seamless integration with marketing tools: Integrates smoothly with marketing, sales, and service hubs, creating a unified platform for patient engagement and management.
• Automation capabilities: Provides powerful automation tools for tasks like email marketing, lead nurturing, and patient communication workflows, saving time and improving efficiency.
• Extensive learning resources: HubSpot Academy offers a wealth of free courses, certifications, and resources to help healthcare providers get the most out of the platform.

Cons

• High cost at higher tiers: HubSpot’s pricing can become expensive as you move to higher tiers, which may be prohibitive for small healthcare practices as they scale.
• Limited customization in free plan: The free plan and lower tiers have limited customization options, which can restrict flexibility for growing healthcare organizations.
• Complexity in advanced features: Some advanced features, such as custom reporting and workflows, have a steep learning curve and may require additional training.
• Email marketing limits: Email marketing functionality in the free plan is restricted by limits on the number of emails you can send, which can be a drawback for healthcare providers with larger patient lists.
• Dependence on HubSpot ecosystem: The platform works best when fully integrated with HubSpot's other tools, which can limit flexibility if you use other software.

Price and plans

On an annual subscription plan, HubSpot's CRM suite plans are as follows.

• ‍Starter: $15 per user, per month.‍
• Professional: $450 per user, per month.‍
• Enterprise: $1,500 per user, per month.
  

3. Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a web-based CRM for small businesses, offering lead management, automation, email integration, and customizable pipelines to optimize sales.

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Key features

• Lead and deal management: Centralized tools to manage patient data, interactions, and treatment pipelines, helping healthcare providers act quickly on patient needs.
• Sales automation: Workflow automation to handle repetitive tasks, such as patient follow-ups and appointment reminders, allowing healthcare teams to focus on patient care.
• Email integration: Full email sync, templates, and tracking features, enabling users to manage all communications directly from the CRM.
• Advanced reporting and analytics: Real-time data analytics and custom reporting tools to track patient outcomes, forecast healthcare trends, and gain actionable insights.
• Customization and security: Options to customize pipelines, fields, and user permissions, with robust security measures to protect sensitive patient data.

Pros

• User-friendly interface: The CRM is known for its intuitive and visually appealing interface, making it easy for healthcare providers to navigate and manage patient records.
• Customization: The platform allows for a high degree of customization, enabling users to tailor the CRM to their specific healthcare processes with custom fields and workflows.
• Automation features: Includes automation tools that help streamline repetitive tasks, such as sending follow-up emails and scheduling appointments, saving time and boosting productivity.
• Mobile app: The mobile app provides full access to CRM features, allowing healthcare providers to manage patient interactions on the go.
• Lead management: Offers effective lead management features, including lead scoring and tracking, which help healthcare teams prioritize and convert patient inquiries more efficiently.

Cons

• Limited advanced features: Lacks some of the more advanced CRM features, such as extensive marketing automation and AI capabilities, which are available in other platforms.
• Basic reporting in lower tiers: The reporting and analytics features in the basic plans are somewhat limited, requiring upgrades to access more in-depth insights.
• Restricted customization options: While customizable, it does not offer as many advanced customization options as some other CRMs, which can be a drawback for healthcare providers with complex needs.
• No built-in email marketing: Does not include built-in email marketing features, requiring users to integrate with third-party email tools for such functionality.

• Price increases with add-ons: The cost can increase quickly when additional features or integrations are added, making it less cost-effective for growing healthcare practices.
  

Price and plans

An annual subscription plan basis from Pipedrive is as follows.

• Essential plan: Starts from $14 per user, per month.
• Advanced plan: Starts from $29 per user, per month.
• Power plan: Starts from $64 per user, per month.
• Enterprise plan: Starts from $99 per user, per month.

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4. Salesforce

Salesforce is a robust CRM platform for large enterprises, offering tools for sales, marketing, service, and analytics, with extensive scalability.

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Key features

• Comprehensive ecosystem: A unified platform offering CRM, marketing automation, customer service, and custom app development, suitable for the varied needs of healthcare providers.
• Customization and scalability: Salesforce is highly customizable and scalable, allowing healthcare organizations to tailor the platform to specific workflows and manage significant growth.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration: Salesforce Einstein offers AI-driven analytics and automation, providing insights that help healthcare providers optimize patient care strategies.
• Extensive integration capabilities: With Salesforce's AppExchange, healthcare organizations can integrate the platform with a wide range of third-party applications, ensuring seamless operation across different healthcare systems.
• Enterprise-grade security and compliance: Salesforce provides robust security measures and compliance features, critical for healthcare organizations handling sensitive patient data.

Pros

• Comprehensive feature set: Salesforce offers an extensive range of features covering patient management, service, marketing, and more, making it a powerful tool for managing all aspects of patient relationships.
• Highly customizable: Salesforce is highly customizable, allowing healthcare providers to tailor the platform to their specific needs with custom fields, objects, and workflows.
• Extensive integration capabilities: Salesforce integrates with a vast array of third-party applications, as well as its own ecosystem of tools, enabling seamless data flow across healthcare platforms.
• Scalability: Salesforce is highly scalable, making it suitable for healthcare providers of all sizes, from small practices to large hospitals, with the ability to grow with your organization.
• Advanced analytics and reporting: Salesforce provides powerful analytics and reporting tools, allowing healthcare providers to gain deep insights into patient data and make informed decisions.

Cons

• High cost: Salesforce can be expensive, especially for small to medium-sized healthcare providers, with high licensing fees and additional costs for add-ons and customization.
• Steep learning curve: Due to its extensive feature set and complexity, Salesforce often requires significant time and training for healthcare staff to become proficient.
• Complex setup and customization: Initial setup and customization can be challenging and often require expert help or certified consultants, which adds to the overall cost.
• Overwhelming for small teams: Salesforce’s robust features may be overkill for smaller healthcare teams or practices, leading to underutilization of the platform’s capabilities.
• Integration complexity: While Salesforce offers extensive integration capabilities, integrating it with third-party healthcare applications can be complex and require technical expertise.

Price and plans

An annual subscription plan with Salesforce is as follows.

• Starter Suite: $25/user/month provides basic CRM features for small businesses
• Pro Suite: $100/user/month includes advanced tools for growing businesses
• Enterprise Plan: $165/user/month offers extensive customization and automation for large companies
• Unlimited Plan: $330/user/month provides comprehensive features for large enterprises
• Einstein 1 Sales: $500/user/month provides AI-driven insights and advanced features for large enterprises

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5. Zoho

Zoho is a CRM system with a strong sales focus. Its got features such as journey orchestration, sales process management and workflow automation. There's also something for marketing teams, including lead hurting, event management and customer segmentation.

Key features

• Lead and contact management: Manages patient information, tracks interactions, and segments contacts for targeted healthcare campaigns.
• Customizable dashboards and reports: Allows healthcare providers to create and customize dashboards and reports for in-depth patient analytics.
• Multi-channel communication: Integrates with email, phone, and live chat to manage patient interactions seamlessly.
• Workflow automation: Automates routine tasks and processes to improve efficiency and reduce manual effort in patient management.
• Security and privacy controls: Provides robust security features including role-based access, data encryption, and HIPAA compliance.

Pros

• Affordability: Zoho CRM offers competitive pricing with various tiers, making it accessible to small and medium-sized healthcare providers.
• Customization: Extensive customization options allow healthcare providers to tailor the CRM to their specific needs, including custom fields and modules.
• Integration with Zoho Suite: Seamless integration with other Zoho products creates a comprehensive ecosystem for managing different healthcare functions.
• AI-powered features: Zia, the AI assistant, provides intelligent insights and task automation, helping to improve patient management efficiency.
• Strong security: Zoho CRM provides robust security measures, ensuring data protection and compliance with healthcare regulations.

Cons

• Steep learning curve: The extensive customization options can be overwhelming for new users, requiring a significant time investment to master the platform.
• Complex setup: Initial setup and configuration can be complex, particularly for healthcare providers without technical expertise or dedicated IT resources.
• Performance issues: Occasional reports of slow performance, especially with large datasets or complex operations, can hinder productivity.
• Limited third-party integrations: While Zoho integrates well with its own suite of products, integration with third-party healthcare applications can be limited or require additional effort.
• Data migration challenges: Migrating data from other CRMs to Zoho can be difficult and time-consuming, often requiring manual adjustments.

Price and plans

Zoho's free plan is limited to three users. After that, an annual subscription plan is as follows.

• Standard: $14 per user, per month
• Professional: $23 per user, per month
• Enterprise: $40 per user, per month

Conclusion

Choosing the best CRM for healthcare in 2024 is a crucial decision that can significantly impact your organization's efficiency, patient satisfaction, and overall growth. Whether you prioritize advanced automation, seamless integrations, or affordability, there's a CRM solution tailored to your specific needs. Platforms like folk, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce, and Zoho each offer unique features and benefits that can enhance your healthcare operations. Take advantage of free trials and demos to find the perfect fit for your practice. To start your journey towards a more organized and efficient healthcare system, try folk for free today.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a healthcare technology company use as a CRM?

Healthcare technology companies often use CRMs like folk, HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Salesforce. Folk is popular for its intuitive interface and contact enrichment features, while HubSpot offers a comprehensive suite of marketing, sales, and service tools. Pipedrive is known for its user-friendly pipeline management, and Salesforce provides extensive customization and scalability options.

Do I need a CRM?

Yes, depending on the complexity of your process. A CRM can help streamline your operations, enhance patient and client relationships, and improve overall efficiency. If your healthcare technology company deals with multiple clients, patient interactions, or complex workflows, a CRM becomes indispensable for managing these effectively.

How much does a CRM cost?

The cost of a CRM varies widely, typically ranging from $14 to $500 per user per month. For instance, Folk starts at $20 per user per month, while Salesforce can go up to $500 per user per month for advanced features. It's essential to evaluate the features and scalability of each CRM to determine the best fit for your budget and needs.

Does folk’s CRM respond to healthcare needs?

Yes, Folk’s CRM is well-suited for healthcare needs. It offers ease of use, customizable pipelines, and automated contact enrichment, which are crucial for managing patient and client information efficiently. Its LinkedIn integration and email sequence features further enhance communication and outreach efforts, making it a comprehensive solution for healthcare technology companies.