“79% of patients are increasingly likely to choose a provider who provides health interactions online, on a mobile device, or at a self-service kiosk.”
In our eBook, “Best Practices for Patient Engagement and Retention,” we focus on the new and ever expanding role that patients seek to take in their healthcare process. We focus on some reasons why you as a physician and your practice should consider and possibly invest in this desired shift that the patient engagement role is playing. After reading this blog post, we hope that you not only find some answers to the questions you have about patient engagement, but also be intrigued enough to make some strides implementing new tools within your practice.
Interesting Patient Engagement Statistics
Perhaps the most interesting statistic about patient engagement mentioned in our eBook, is that 9 out of 10 patients want shared decision-making with their healthcare provider. Meaning that the majority of patients new and old seek to play a more active role in their healthcare decisions, which justifies the need for patient engagement tools. While this alone may justify their implementation, it’s just as important to note that 2 out of 3 patients would be willing to switch physicians if their new physician provided them access to their medical records online, or offered a patient portal of some sort. Here, this statistic demonstrates that not implementing technology-based patient engagement tools can be detrimental to medical practices – not just in terms of gaining new patients, but also, retaining existing ones.
Engaged Patients Want to Be Healthier
The increase in desire of patients to be more involved in their healthcare actually signals a desire of people, as a whole, to be healthier. This is exciting news. Patients who want to be kept in the loop, both about the decisions being made regarding their health, as well as the routine scheduling and processes, demonstrate a commitment to being healthier – which is indispensable in the fight to create a healthier population. Such patients are individuals who take their healthcare as seriously as you do, and they want to see a brighter future for themselves. Because of the scope of people who seek to see this kind of change in their practice experience, it can be inferred that the scope of people working towards being the healthiest versions of themselves is just as broad. Since the goal of any physician is to ensure the best health and care they can for their patients, seeing such a desire in them to be healthier should create some excitement for healthcare providers to take steps that help the process along.
Bottom Line: Patient Engagement Tools are Essential
As you can see, these are just some of the reasons why physicians should consider moving in a more patient engaged direction. Research has shown that patients want to be more involved in their healthcare and it should be the goal of the healthcare provider to meet their needs. Whether it is the use of a patient care portal, an online scheduler, or a simple electronic intake form, there is a wide array of options for practices to choose from in order to fulfill patient requests. Yes, there can be challenges, but they are far outweighed by the benefits of increasing patient engagement and satisfaction.
For further information on the subject, download our eBook “Best Practices for Patient Engagement and Retention.”
Want more information on Patient Engagement?
Download our free eBook “Best Practices for Patient Engagement and Retention.”