5 Keys to a Successful Patient Engagement Strategy

Healthcare practices have always strived for successful patient engagement. Today, patient engagement has become an essential strategy that affects every healthcare stakeholder: It improves the patient’s experience of care, enables providers to meet new industry standards, and reduces the per capita costs of health care.

Technology is often viewed as the solution for an effective patient engagement strategy. However, achieving desired engagement outcomes requires fundamental changes in organizational behavior as well as ongoing process improvements. Healthcare staff, their skills, and the messages patients receive each influence the effectiveness of a patient engagement system.

To achieve success, organizations should consider these five elements in their patient engagement strategy. 

1. Clearly define a patient engagement plan. As with many business endeavors, success depends greatly on the time and effort that goes into planning. Before shopping for software solutions, define the primary reasons for implementing a patient engagement platform. Perhaps the primary goal is elevating Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores. Or maybe the focus is on completing improvement activities to increase performance under the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Determining a clear plan allows healthcare leaders to develop specific, measurable goals and expected outcomes based on the patient engagement vision.
2. Set the stage for stakeholders. Alignment among care management, physicians, operational leadership, and the many people who play a critical role in patient engagement is critical to the success of any engagement initiative. Each involved stakeholder, both an organization’s core staff and its patients, is more likely to be excited about a patient engagement implementation when they are involved in creating the strategy. Remember: Change can be enabled by a software partner, but it must be driven by leadership and those involved in the day-to-day operations.
3. Determine the best technology and partner. One of the most pivotal components of a patient engagement strategy is the technology and services that are used to implement that strategy. Determining the best technology and partner will be the main driver for patient engagement outcomes, as the platform will help drive and analyze everything from improved communication to patient satisfaction to more informed healthcare decisions. First look for a solution that operates seamlessly with other systems the organization is using, such as electronic health records (EHR), billing, and practice management. Other important features to look for include cloud-based services and software, an integrated patient communication platform, and compliance with healthcare standards and mandates. Also, a platform that is built and branded for specific organizations and has the flexibility to add and customize features while continuously updating will help successfully deliver on the organization’s patient engagement strategy.
4. Empower patients to become collaborators. While patient engagement has become a greater focus for organizations in recent years, a lack of tools and encouragement has long made it difficult for patients to engage in their health. Most patients are eager to connect with their providers outside of the care setting. Now it’s up to organizations to encourage patient-provider collaboration. Start by considering ways to incorporate regular patient input to refine patient engagement efforts.
5. Collect data and refine processes. Remember a successful patient engagement strategy isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it scenario—it requires active participation and presents an incredible opportunity for incremental organizational improvement. Using the measurable goals and expected outcomes established during the planning phase, organizations should collect and analyze baseline data. After a patient engagement platform is launched, regularly updating and reviewing these metrics allows organizations to refine processes and improve patient engagement and experience.  

Patient engagement is an essential component in today’s healthcare environment. Having an organization-wide plan, stakeholder buy-in, and the right technology will put the pieces in place to achieve a successful patient engagement strategy.