Improving the health condition of people and making treatment affordable to them is the primary goal of the healthcare organization. That is why hospitals are now giving more importance to patient engagement in healthcare to maintain strong relationships even when patients are already treated.
In other words, with the engagement plan, it is easy for an organization to keep a check on their patient’s health and improve outcomes. The care plan is focused on building a deeper relationship with individuals. However, to clearly understand its importance, let us discuss in detail what actually is patient engagement?
In a nutshell, patient engagement is a care plan where patients are informed about their possible treatment options, recovery and other systems to support them. Thus, in the program, the medical professional and the patient work together to improve health conditions.
It is seen that when hospitals increase patient engagement, it improves the health outcome of the institute by helping their patient. This is because the patients are empowered with knowledge and actively takes part in care plans.
While an organization cannot force people to engage, they can still play their part by practising engagement. For the purpose, the healthcare institutes take the help of technologies like mobile applications, wearable, smart devices and patient portals.
When hospitals adopt patient engagement, they not only benefit patients but themselves too. Some of them are as follows:
It is no doubt that adults nowadays are more distracted to give attention to their health and are highly engaged in carrying their duties. It is the case for all age groups, whether kids going to school or adults going to the office. In fact, they don’t pay attention to the doctor’s advice because of the thought of upcoming events or tasks.
So, the option healthcare professionals can carry is implementing a patient engagement program. As a result, the patients are better prepared to ask the right questions, make an appointment to improve health and pay attention to details.
These days people change their decision very often, which is also applicable in the case of medical check-ups. One day patient may visit your hospital, and the other day another one. But when patients feel more connected and supported, they continue to stick. Through engagement programs, it becomes easy to build a relationship with the patient.
If still wondering why patient engagement matters consider the recent study of Concentra where 170,000 patients were divided into two groups. One group was given normal medical support, while the other group was given advanced level support with proper engagement. The patients who had comprehensive support had fewer cardiac surgeries and re-admission to the hospital. Also, the overall cost of medical care was less.
Best healthcare institutes prioritize patients and thus put pressure on getting the best patient engagement plan for themselves. If you are one of them, these tips will help you
You will only be able to find the best engagement plan when your vision is clear. For example, what do you want to achieve from the plan? Also, make sure to involve your staff and management when finding out the vision for better care.
In the digitalized world, the key to finding the best plan largely depends on what technology and services it supports. For example, look at whether it offers online booking, patient feedback form hospitals, online conversation with a doctor, etc. Make sure to find only the best-featured patient engagement program.
It is difficult to predict the workings of the solution, like how good it will work for your healthcare institute. So, carry small trial runs of the solution to be sure. Also, carry out an effective evaluation of the plan for a better decision.
It is not possible to provide the best service when all the processes need to be carried manually. Thus, an engagement plan should contain an automation feature. As a result, your institute can reach and influence a larger base of people. For example, you could streamline the billing process, schedule appointment reminders, automate delivery material information, etc.
The program must incorporate a system of carrying ROI in patient engagement. The key metrics that need evaluation include not only financial but also non-financial gains. The financial gains involve evaluating the healthcare outcomes, revenue generated from carrying tasks and savings in financial terms. On the other hand, non-financial gains involve factors of decreased time work, increased patient satisfaction, increased patient knowledge, etc.
When deciding on the best engagement solutions, never ignore the metrics. It is a strategic approach to record data in areas you want to improve and review their metrics later. It will also help if you set up timely meetings with your team and leaders to know the progress.
Patient engagement is a crucial decision to make for empowering patients and the health care system. It gives a boost to your staff and makes them more effective. Not only this, but increased engagement has resulted in reduced hospitalization, improved recovery and higher satisfaction. Having an EHR software helps in carrying such tasks effortlessly. Moreover, it gives the hospital power to communicate to its patient effectively and efficiently.
