Recent studies have shown that patients who are more engaged in their health care have better health outcomes, generate lower costs, and are more satisfied with their care. Now a new survey from the Healthcare Intelligence Network has identified a range of tactics currently used by health care organizations to improve patient engagement and satisfaction.

“The current thinking is that engaged patients not only are healthier and more liked to report a positive overall experience but also may incur fewer costs than the non-engaged. To this end CMS and private payors include patient engagement as a critical quality marker.”
Melanie Matthews, Healthcare Intelligence Network.

The inaugural Patient Engagement in 2015 survey benchmarks the efforts of 133 healthcare organizations to engage patients and health plan members in patient engagement initiatives. Twenty-five percent of survey respondents were hospitals or health systems; 20 percent were population health management organizations; 12 percent were physician practices; 12 percent were health plans, 5 percent were independent practice organizations (IPOs), and 30 percent categorized their organization type as ‘Other.’

The survey determined that 79 percent of respondents are striving to improve patient engagement, employing a range of tactics and e-tools.  Seventy-two percent of survey respondents reported that patient and caregiver education is the top strategy deployed to engage patients, with technology playing a pivotal role.

Sixty-six percent of respondents have a patient portal, whose top use is education, while almost half of respondents—48 percent— possess an electronic health record (EHR) that helps to identify patients most in need of engagement.

More than 60 percent of healthcare organizations reported that their patient engagement programs have elevated patient satisfaction, care plan adherence and overall quality metrics.  At Oneview we see first-hand how technology can help transform healthcare facilities and help them realize their ambitions to engage patients and significantly improve outcomes.  View our latest case study to see how Epworth Eastern Hospital, part of Epworth Healthcare, a leading innovator in Australia’s health system, has successfully integrated the Oneview solution with its clinical systems to improve patient satisfaction levels.

See also the 8 principles of patient centred care