Patient engagement is an essential part of patient-centric care and needs to be adopted in every practice, large or small. In this blog article, our Professional Education Manager, Cheryl, shares her insights on the top five tips for patient engagement.
Patient engagement, in it's simplest terms, is about health providers engaging with patients to work together and promote positive health behaviours. Patients who actively collaborate or participate with practitioners are able to make better informed decisions and this leads to better health outcomes, whether the goal is to prevent illness or for the management of long-term conditions.
Patient engagement is an essential part of patient-centred care and needs to be adopted in every practice, large or small. It focuses on enhancing the patient's experience from beginning to end. But it's not just about the doctor-patient relationship. Patient engagement must include staff, the patient's family or carers, and other health care providers or third parties who have an interest in the patient's health and well-being.
With lockdowns and restrictions placed on patients, practitioners need to commence patient engagement activities and shift to a hybrid model of care, using a combination of both in-person (face-to-face) and virtual healthcare options. Utilising virtual care options (such as Telehealth) will also mean that your 'contactless healthcare' environment is safer for your staff and reduces healthcare risks as we've outlined in the recent Top 5 Medical Practice Risks in 2021 webinar.
Here are the top five tips for patient engagement in a simple, step-by-step format:
Step 1 - Create a Patient Engagement Strategy
- Create a vision which reflects on who your practice wants to be now and in the future. It must be customer focused!
- Identify your patient's needs
- Establish short-term and long-term goals
- Collate ideas into a single document
Step 2 - Create an Engaging Workplace Culture
- Lead by example!
- Involve your staff and get their buy-in
- Engage with your patients in every part of their journey (from phone calls to face-to-face)
Step 3 - Invest and Utilise Digital Technology
- Use the Patient Portal as much as possible (for online registration forms, checklists and referral uploads)
- Personalise and automate SMS messages (which reduces appointment no-shows)
- Streamline the Telehealth experience to make it easier for patients (and health providers)
- Use social media (think of different ways to engage with your patients whether it's Facebook, Instagram, blog or a newsletter)
Step 4 - Empower Your Patients
- Educate and encourage your patients to take more control of their own health!
- Explain or show your patients the different tools they can use to communicate with your practice and reduce stress and anxiety (whether via telephone, SMS, or within the Patient Portal)
Step 5 - Continuously Review and Evolve
- Regularly review your plan as technology changes
- Obtain feedback from patients and staff
- Implement improvements on a regular basis, no matter how small.
For more information on Clinic to Cloud and how it can help transform your practice click here or contact us today.
