Patient Engagement And The Healthcare Industry

Many healthcare leaders are advocates for, and believe that patient engagement and experience has gained true importance and value in improving healthcare quality, it has easily become the ‘heart’ of the core definition of ‘quality care’. It is clear that patients are able to provide expertise beyond generic feedback on ways of improving the patient experience.

As consumers utilize smartphones, tablets, and other devices for other functions like social media and email, they are starting to look at these features to assist them with their healthcare. Mobile body area network devices will be a growing trend in the coming years as a way to get patients engaged in their healthcare and also to give providers routine updates on the status of patients with chronic conditions. As DeGaspari (2014) indicates, these devices can lead to improved functionality for other devices used in hospitals, such as sensors for monitoring patients that might get up and wander or be a fall risk. Telemedicine will continue to grow as payers, providers, and patients all start to realize the mutual benefits that can be

The American Recovery and Revitalization Act of 2009 brought meaningful use of patient records to help increase the improvement of patient care. With certified electronic health record technology, one goal is to improve quality, safety, efficiency, and to decrease health discrepancies. Some more goals are to get patient and family engaged in their care, continue to improve care coordination, and maintain privacy and security of patient health information. In order to achieve these goals, healthcare facilities must continue to stress the importance of patient engagement and to use the patient portal for healthcare information (“Meaningful Use Definition,” n.d.). Patient engagement is defined as a person’s continued participation in dealing

Healthcare reform has created incentives to increase patient engagement to increase accountability, healthcare outcome and lower healthcare cost. In the early days of this movement, web portals were created with basic functions of requesting appointments, prescription refills, and paying medical bills (Butterfield, 2013). Today, patient portals allow users to access dictated visit reports, labs, approve access controls combined with the function of the web portals. As more health information is pushed to the portals, the users (patients and family) are more involved with healthcare decisions and more knowledgeable on available options that meet individual need.

Advances in modern technology surrounds us in our day to day lives, allowing conveniences and efficiency at our fingertips. Great strides have been made over the years with technology, and the healthcare industry along with many other industries have adopted this new way of functioning; electronically. The effects of technology have come to the forefront in where our government has acknowledged the benefits and opportunities. “The promise of Health Information Technology for improving quality and safety of health care while reducing costs has caught the eye of policy makers and other leaders in health care” (Hersh, 2006). It deeply affects how we connect, interact, and communicate internally and externally, but also gives us a sense of control on how we engage ourselves to the innovative software and systems.

As healthcare reform initiatives progress organizations have focused on balancing the triple aim of access, cost, and quality to improve outcomes for patients while decreasing the overall cost of care. This focus has resulted in increased technology innovation as well as the development of new care delivery models. Population health management programs (PHM) supported by patient engagement innovations such as wearable's, remote monitoring and telehealth are facilitating the shift from episodic care to the comprehensive management of patient healthcare. The population health market is expected to grow from about 12 billion in 2013 to 40 billion by 2018 representing a compound average growth rate of 26%1. Along with population health management

The following research paper describes in detail the relevance of employee engagement to a healthcare provider. Engagement of employees is often an overlooked area of focus as hospitals look for ways to improve processes and reduce operating expenses. Healthcare is somewhat unique in that cost to the customer is not the main economic force driving patients to the various hospitals or healthcare providers. The focus of the following is to examine the importance of employee engagement hospital wide. There are factors that lead a prospective patient to choose one healthcare provider over another, assuming choices exist. When discussing engagement, emotions can play a

A wide range of studies have demonstrated that one of the benefits of patient engagement is better health outcomes (Weingarten, 2002; Deakin, 2005; Epstein & Street, 2008; Ng et al, 2012; Hibbard and Green, 2013). There is also evidence that patient engagement can lead to improvements in quality and patient safety but on the whole this is more limited (Coulter and Ellins,

The evolving practice of medicine and advancement in medical science/technology dictates that leading healthcare organizations should seek partnership with the patient community in order enhanced safety and promote quality of health care services. In order to achieve these goals, our organization

In this exploration to understand the linkages of health information technology(HIT) and patient experience, a comprehensive literature search was conducted using the key word, “information technology, HIT, patient experience, patient satisfaction, and technology”, on the MEDLINE, PubMed, and EMBASE database resulting in over 1,000 citations. Eventually, 35 of the most relevant articles were reviewed and 11 identified as key references to include in beginning to explore the question, as the transformation of healthcare continues, how can technology enable a positive return on investment to a patients’ perception of their care in an organization and how can technology impact the patent experience? The result revel there is in fact

In observation, (Fahnestock, McComb, & Deshmukh, 2013) stated "Information technologies are transforming the way healthcare is delivered. Innovations such as computer-based patient records, hospital information systems, computer-based decision support tools, community health information networks and new ways of distributing health information.” (p.3.2). In the sector of delivering healthcare using technology, has made it easier for healthcare professionals to access medical records, digitization of prescriptions and view test results. With the use of high-performance devices being used in the hospital, helps to make the jobs of healthcare professionals a little easier. As well as relieve anxiety from anxious patients that may be awaiting lab results to come back. Therefore, IT devices and services has been and continues to be a tremendous help and game changer for the healthcare system. However, there is still a lot of work to be done to help shape and reform the healthcare

Moreover, increasing costs of healthcare delivery and emerging trends toward patient empowerment and patient-centered care in order to achieve higher quality healthcare, needs patients to play a more active role in their

Agility and visiability, learning and improvement, and technology and system intergreation all play an important in health care. With the current advancements in health care it is important to be able to accept change while ensuring that the patient satisification remains high. By increasing the agility and visitability of the patients allows health care organizations to be able to improve effecienies and monitors outputs and patient intake. By supporting and involving physicians and nurses in a continued education and self improvement project will allow those individuals to take on more roles as well as be able to use the new technology and assist patients in a more efficeint manner. Technology and system intergration as advancing at a rapid

United’s consumer engagement efforts are aimed at changing the industry’s approach to transparency and access to information that enables members to make informed decisions about their care, where it is provided and by whom it is provided. Current consumer engagement tools allow members to access

Health care consumers are desiring and using a more retail approach. According to Coughlin et al. (2015) consumers want “convenience, service and support” (p. 170). They are looking for lower fee options at facilities with longer hours and convenient locations. They may obtain some of these options at clinics located in retail stores. The authors tell of a hospital that uses a retail techniques to offer warranties for some surgical procedures. As consumers assume the risk for their spending they are attracted to options such as these. They are also expecting better service and better experiences. They are willing to try new options such as convenient care centers, telehealth, mhealth (use of mobile phones or mobile solutions for delivery of health services). Consumers are using social media for support, information and influence. They want to know what their out-of pocket costs will be. Price transparency is highly valued. They have unique expectations, behaviors and preferences. They want convenience, high quality care and service that meets their expectations.