Matching the right patient engagement strategy to your specialty

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As healthcare technology continues to evolve, patient expectations are shifting, with patients increasingly placing value on engagement. Now more than ever, patients want to be fully involved in their care process, with physicians who are just as fully engaged and committed to their care. In fact, 67% of respondents to a survey by ModMed found it important that their doctors are personable and engaged.

To meet these evolving demands, more private practices have developed new strategies to enhance patient engagement, from providing self-scheduling options to convenient payment options. However, patient engagement should go beyond just administrative work and scheduling appointments. Given the direct impact these strategies have on clinical health outcomes, it’s important to understand there is no one-size fits all approach. To enhance patient satisfaction and improve overall outcomes, private practices have to leverage the right forms of patient engagement based on the unique needs and nuances of their specific specialty.

Enhancing patient education in surgical specialties

For surgical specialties, placing an emphasis on effective patient education is key to achieving optimal health outcomes. In ophthalmology for example, preoperative anxiety can often lead to post-surgery dissatisfaction, making it even more critical to foster a strong relationship where patients feel like they are part of their own care process right from the beginning.

Before surgery, physicians should lay the proper groundwork and ensure their patients fully understand the nuances of the procedure, their treatment plans, and expected outcomes. One key way physicians can facilitate this full process is by providing patients with the right educational tools to fully understand the stages of their care journey.

Polling suggests that while around 94 percent of patients crave educational material, about a third don’t have access to the resources they are looking for. Providing patients with physical handouts and online digital resources that detail information on their different options for surgeries, what the type of surgery entails, and what they can expect during the post-op period is a simple, yet effective, way to ensure they feel confident about their procedure. While all of this information is critical to communicate during actual appointments, asynchronous materials also enable patients to seamlessly share information and educate the caretakers and family members who will be involved in their recovery process.

As patient expectations evolve, we’re also seeing more desire for educational materials to be visual and interactive. Leveraging the right software platform that allows patients to visualize surgical treatments and results can also go a long way in elevating patient trust. Research suggests that the use of digital aids in consultants before cataract surgery, for example, can help enhance patient knowledge, reduce anxiety and improve the overall decision-making process.

These asynchronous tools are valuable for ongoing patient reassurance, but of course, the art of direct communication cannot be overlooked — especially during the recovery process. Actively engaging with patients via telehealth appointments or direct secure messaging during the post-op period helps ensure patients are not experiencing any complications, allows them to ask any questions, and further builds provider-patient trust.

Empowering patients through automation

For specialties where long-term patient adherence is a major factor in driving positive health outcomes, it’s imperative patients not only have access to the right resources to fully understand their care, but also avenues that streamline the communication process and empower them to make more informed decisions. Patients are the most critical member of their own healthcare team, and the data shows when patients are involved in their care decisions, they experience a higher level of satisfaction.

This is where the significance of utilizing the right technology for your practice comes into the picture. Patients want direct two-way communication with their care providers, and lest they start sharing their personal phone numbers with patients, patient engagement platforms can fill that void. In specialties like allergy and immunology, for example, where patients regularly take medication and follow treatment plans to manage their ongoing conditions, the right practice management software with built-in digital engagement tools is key in navigating patients through their care journey.

Online 24/7 patient portals, for example, ensure patients have access to the right resources at all times, including handouts and materials related to their medications, allergy testing and other information pertaining to their in-person visits. These portals also provide patients with the opportunity to actively ask pertinent questions or raise any concerns, enabling them to become a consistent participant in their own care.

These solutions also pose significant benefits on the provider side. Leveraging a software solution with built-in, automated e-prescribing tools that can remember provider preferences and generate new prescriptions not only promotes medication adherence, but also allows providers to actively monitor patient conditions efficiently. Through the power of automation, providers can save several hours per week that would otherwise be spent on manually formulating allergy prescriptions, allowing them more time to spend on necessary face-to-face patient communication.

Emerging advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) also have the potential to enhance and streamline patient engagement even further — for patients, providers, and even front-office staff. While we’re already seeing the implementation of AI throughout the healthcare space to improve operational efficiency and reduce administrative burden, conversational AI tools such as ChatGPT may be able to streamline patient education even further by helping to field patient questions.

Personalizing your practice approach

It’s easy for practice owners to get wrapped up in the idea that just implementing the latest cutting-edge technology is the most straightforward solution to enhancing patient satisfaction. But effective patient engagement begins with the understanding that using one approach won’t move the needle for either the patient or the provider. Leveraging the right technology that streamlines patient communication and education, while also enabling providers to tailor approaches to meet every patient’s unique needs, is the first step in crafting a truly effective patient engagement strategy.

Michael Rivers, MD, is Senior Director of Ophthalmology, and David Lehman, MD, is Senior Medical Director for Otolaryngology at ModMed