Building Bridges for Patient Engagement

Anjali Arya

Increasingly, patients are expecting and demanding a greater control of their care. People are always looking for ways to be more proactive about their health and, as such, want resources that can help achieve those goals. In a world where people rely heavily on reviews to book their next vacation spot or find the best restaurant to go to, healthcare is also  starting to see an emerging trend of patients being more vocal with their feedback.

Patients are openly providing feedback which is giving patient experience teams insights into a patient’s journey. As the expectation around patient experience grows, health systems must look to juggle the different demographics and cater to all patients’ needs. A change a change that big in such a complex industry isn’t easy. To better the patient experience, providers need the ability to collect feedback, identify trends & areas of improvement and have actions in place to address those concerns, all while making sure that they cater to different demographics of the patients.

Patient Engagement in Healthcare: The Impact of the Patient Centric Model of Care

Healthcare has come a long way since the early 1900s. Previously patients were used to seeing a single physician for their various concerns. This physician knew the patient’s history and were able to reflect not only on their immediate medical concern, but also their personal context. As medicine has now become more specialized, patients typically see many doctors for their various concerns. This means that the patient is no longer at the center of care. “To become a patient-centric healthcare provider, hospitals and physicians must balance the most appropriate clinical outcomes against a patient’s personal circumstances and life goals”. Patient centric focuses on actions taken to address the patient’s needs, whereas patient experience looks at the patient’s journey and response to the care they receive. So how do these together impact the complexity and forever evolving needs of the healthcare system?

4 Insights on Patients' Top Concerns, How They Use Health Tech

Now-a-days, technology is the source of a lot of the changes that an industry adopts. Though technological changes can be rapid and forward thinking, for a complex industry like healthcare, they can be forced to play catch up to better understand what the patient’s needs are beyond a survey. This recent article published by the Becker’s Hospital Review shines some light on the latest trends and concerns healthcare institutes are faced with as they look to accommodate their patients’ needs. From younger consumers depending on digital health tools to effective communication with physicians, Patient Experience teams across the nation face many challenges when it comes to patient satisfaction.

Patient Engagement in Pediatrics

Kids are not traditionally solicited for their engagement and feedback about their healthcare experience. Most existing methods and tools cater to and are designed for adults. Patient Experience teams at hospitals want to be able to capture feedback and address those concerns in a timely fashion. Children’s hospitals such as Boston Children’s, National Children’s Hospital and Children’s Health are investing in technology that will engage young patients and their families during and after their stay to increase patient satisfaction. Take a look at what they found through this type of engagement.

As the healthcare industry works to optimize methods that puts the focus on patients, what methods and tools is your organization using to collect effective feedback from patients?

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