How can Healthcare companies take patient engagement to the next level? 

In addition to having an adverse impact on businesses, the pandemic has spurred technological adoption. It has compelled us to acquire the skills necessary to embrace technology to offer a better client experience. 

The healthcare industry has always been quick to adopt new technologies to save lives and enhance the patient experience. AI and automation, in particular, have propelled the medical industry to new heights. Smart wearables and remote patient monitoring allow healthcare providers to treat patients while closely monitoring their vital signs. Healthcare providers can now offer a more thorough experience thanks to improvements in patient engagement solutions. 
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What is Patient Engagement? 

Patient engagement ensures that patients and clinicians collaborate to improve the patient's health. To develop patient engagement techniques that allow patients to become actively engaged in acquiring information and making decisions about their symptoms, illnesses, and treatment options, clinicians must empower patients to have a voice in their healthcare experience. 

Patients connect with their health and take an active role in their treatment and recovery. They can choose to be more or less invested in their health, but the patient ultimately determines the level of their participation. 
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Why is Patient Engagement Important in Healthcare? 

Effective patient engagement solutions and strategies are essential in healthcare. While improving the patient's general health, it lessens the strain and workload on healthcare providers. The following are a few benefits of engagement: 

• Improved Customer Satisfaction and Retention: Patients who participate in their care feel respected and heard. 
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• Improves Patient’s Long-Term Health and Well-Being: When patients are actively involved in their health, they make better long-term decisions about their health and well-being. 
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• Reduces Waste: Disengaged patients do not read fliers, leaflets, or aftercare instructions. 
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• Reduces Potentially Preventable Readmissions (PPR): Unengaged patients do not adhere to aftercare guidelines, and as a result, they are more likely to be readmitted within 30 days of discharge. 
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• Reduces overall costs: Engaged patients require fewer visits, have lower no-show rates, and actively arrange follow-ups. 
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Patient Engagement Solution – A Boon for Healthcare 

Many healthcare providers are attempting to deliver a patient-centered approach. Patients can now access and share their electronic health information through wearables, have in-depth discussions about their health with doctors, and do much more thanks to the patient engagement solution. 
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You can use the patient engagement solution to — 

• Share e-prescription 
• Send a summary care 
• Provide patient access 
• Online/text message scheduling 
• Pre-visit planning 

A patient engagement solution acts as a conduit between patients and healthcare providers. Patients can easily engage in healthcare discussions by contacting their clinicians by phone, text, or email.  
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Best Strategies to Improve Patient Engagements 

1. Automate Patient Engagement 
   Even for a single patient, active and meaningful patient engagement takes significant time. Rather than handling each engagement manually, use technology to automate patient engagement. Automated patient engagement tactics are just as successful and can improve the effectiveness of patient aftercare and even patient payment collection. 
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2. Segment Patient Populations 
   The best patient engagement solution takes an individualized approach for each patient. What can be an excellent opportunity for patient engagement for one patient might not work for another. Segment your patient population according to their demographics, psychographics, and/or social determinants of health (SDOH) to make sure you are interacting with the right group of patients. 
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3. Begin Engagement Prior to a Patient Visit 
   You can begin to build patient engagement before a patient encounter a doctor. If the first time your clinic or institution thinks about a patient is when they arrive, you're already behind the track in patient engagement. Patient engagement solution begins with simple pre-visit procedures such as intake questionnaires, clinical reminders, and appointment reminders. The doctor and the patient benefit from sharing this information before the patient comes. 
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4. Maintain Engagement During Aftercare 
   A patient's release does not imply that they are healed. Aftercare is essential to any patient's treatment plan, but sadly, more than 40% of patients misunderstand, disregard, or refuse to follow aftercare instructions. Nonadherence might reach 70%  
   
   Engagement with the patient during the aftercare process increases adherence to the aftercare guidelines. Additionally, it contributes to the development of a relationship based on trust and understanding because it demonstrates your concern for them even when they are not admitted under your care. 
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5. Exercise Shared Decision Making 
   Traditionally, patients go to a hospital or clinic where healthcare experts use their knowledge, training, and experience to diagnose what is wrong and how to fix it. Patients are thought to be uninformed and unqualified to discuss their ailment. Shared decision-making contradicts normal healthcare norms, yet it increases patient engagement and can help reduce hospital admissions and yield better patient outcomes. 
   By democratizing healthcare, shared decision-making alters that narrative. Instead of a dictatorship in which a clinician makes all decisions, shared decision-making places the patient on equal footing with the therapist. They collaborate to decide on necessary tests, treatment alternatives, the patient's final care plan, and the patient payment collection process. 
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Benefits of Patient Engagement in your Practice

Engagement of patients is not always simple. In a poll of 555 healthcare leaders and doctors, 63% stated that the largest obstacle to integrating patient engagement into care delivery is "time investment by healthcare team."

Here's one justification: Companies that actively engages their patients must spend more time with each one, which limits the number of people they can see each day and lowers revenue. However, that is not the whole story. In addition, patient engagement in healthcare results in increased profits and time savings.

According to research on patient engagement, patients who are less engaged are twice as likely to put off getting treatment and three times more likely to have unmet medical needs. We observe "greater levels of preventive health behaviors and preventative care, as well as enhanced self-management of health issues" as patients are more actively involved in their care. Some major benefits of patient engagement solution are as follows –  

• Patients are more likely to actively participate in their own health, wellbeing, and healthcare decisions when they have more knowledge and awareness, which results in better care and fewer ER visits.
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• Patient engagement not only enhances treatment but also offers financial benefits as it decreases no-shows, helps boost revenue, and retains your patient base.
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• Healthcare professionals can make better decisions about a patient's health, strengthening the patient-provider bond and increasing patient retention, by working together and involving patients in the decision-making process.
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• Doctors are better equipped to treat patients in the most efficient manner feasible, eventually saving time and money.
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Patient Engagement Technology: What People Want 

In the past, the absence of a complete patient history was a serious challenge for healthcare service providers with several locations. If a patient switches from a healthcare provider in Location A to a healthcare provider in Location B, some files won't be accessible. This increased the risk that clinicians would lack a complete understanding of the patient's history. 

According to Accenture's recent Digital Health Consumer Survey, 39% agree that good digital engagement significantly impacts the patient experience. For high-quality digital services, more than 26% are willing to move to a new provider. Most crucially, 50% of those surveyed claimed that a negative digital encounter with a healthcare provider destroys the entire experience and makes them unlikely to return to the healthcare provider.   
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Improve your Patient Engagement Strategies with AnodynePay

AnodynePay offers a patient portal that sends voice, text, and email using automated workflow, promoting patient involvement and improving outcomes. We offer full patient billing services to healthcare professionals who seek to improve patient engagement and satisfaction.  Schedule your demo today to learn how you can outperform the competition in marketing techniques and patient engagement solutions. 
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Key Takeaways

• Patient engagement platforms have been advanced with AI and automation. 
• The practitioners must empower patients to have a voice in their healthcare experience. 
• Patient engagement is critical as it reduces the stress and load on healthcare providers while increasing the patient's overall health. 
• Automating patient engagement and segmenting the patient population can enhance patient engagement. 
• Maintaining engagement throughout aftercare is very critical to take patient engagement to the next level. 
• Patients are concerned about the quality and data security during their treatment.