Rush University System for Health is a top-ranked academic health system in Chicago, dedicated to delivering high-quality care across its hospitals, clinics, and outpatient services. Focused on innovation, equity, and community health, Rush is known for its innovative approaches in patient care, offering cutting-edge treatments and personalized services.
Committing to Personalized, Meaningful Care
The healthcare industry can be both complex and competitive, demanding forward-thinking strategies to connect with patients and deliver truly personalized care. Connecting people with the ideal provider at the ideal time and location can be essential, and Rush is continuously rethinking how to enhance patient communication to help streamline access to services, especially for their marginalized populations.
As a healthcare provider, research hub, and educational institution, Rush faces a unique challenge: delivering personalized, consistent experiences not just for patients but also for students, employees, donors, and other stakeholders. While the leadership team had already invested significantly in various technology platforms, they turned to PwC and Salesforce to help them reimagine the experience within the clinical setting and across every point of interaction.
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As the SVP and CIO, Jeff Gautney, explains: “Access to care is a massive issue, but on top of that, there’s the friction in getting that care. It’s not just about scheduling appointments. It’s all the work you need to do before and after, whether it’s a surgical visit, a well visit, or physical therapy. There’s often a lot of friction in the system.”
To help address these challenges, Rush set out to harness fragmented data within their EHR and other non-clinical systems and advance their system wide vision.
Building a Unified Foundation for Enhanced Service and Efficiency
In collaboration with PwC, Rush leadership leveraged the Salesforce platform to break down data silos, enable system-wide consistency, and support purpose-driven experiences that unified each touchpoint. PwC delivered a holistic roadmap to transform Rush’s contact center and patient access by guiding leadership on data integration, workflows, and automation. This helped the Rush team mobilize their data, turning it into a strategic asset that drives better patient care and operational efficiency.
By implementing Salesforce’s unified platform, specifically Health Cloud, Data Cloud, and Agentforce, Rush created a comprehensive Person360 view that includes:
- Seamless integration with Epic facilitated by MuleSoft
- Utilization of Data Cloud to help manage preferences and reduce storage costs
- Integration of Marketing Cloud to enhance patient access
This unified platform helps confirm that each patient’s interaction is informed, timely, and tailored to individual needs.
Uncover the Full Story
Hear from RUSH University System for Health and PwC in a 2-minute video
Leveraging Data to Improve Access to Care
These new capabilities surface unique data elements in Salesforce, including billing information, to optimize the revenue cycle while interacting with patients. These enhanced data insights also support and streamline key patient services, such as prescription filling, where automation plays a vital role.
Prescription refill requests were one of the top reasons patients called Rush’s contact center. With the implementation of Agentforce, this process was automated, allowing patients to receive real-time updates without waiting on hold. Agentforce ensures fast and accurate refills, making it easier for patients to access the medications they rely on while freeing up valuable staff time.
Similarly, the new HealthCare Provider Locator with advanced search features helps patients quickly find the right provider based on their preferences. Accessible 24/7 through a simple chat feature on Rush’s website, this tool cuts down on the number of clicks needed to get information, eases the burden on call center staff, and helps prevent missed appointments or confusion about where to go.
By streamlining access and making it easier to connect with care, Rush is improving patients’ experiences from the first interaction.
Gautney confirms: “We’re all part of the healthcare mission because we want to be with our patients and learners, operating at that level. What I’m seeing more and more is that our agents can now spend time with patients, without having to manage basic tasks like resetting passwords, guiding someone to a clinic, or rescheduling appointments. Those are handled by automated agents.”
Looking Ahead with Agentforce
Rush envisions a future where healthcare is truly personalized, predictive, and proactive. This means adopting tools like Agentforce and AI to help deliver tailored treatments, engage patients in their care, and empower staff members to provide the highest-quality service. They plan to take this further with Agentforce, potentially expanding across the organization to other departments.
With this strong digital foundation, Rush has overcome common industry hesitations and positioned itself as an innovative, forward-thinking healthcare leader. By embracing transformative technology, Rush sets a new industry standard for patient care that is accessible, efficient, and centered around the individual’s unique health journey.
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