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Posts Tagged ‘digital health’

Improve the Patient Experience with Personalized Patient Engagement

Tuesday, November 7th, 2023

Patient expectations of healthcare providers have dramatically changed in the last decade. The introduction of technology and the widespread adoption of digital communications in other industries have increased the pressure on healthcare providers to provide a comparable experience.

The 2023 Healthcare Consumer Perspectives on Digital Engagement and AI report conducted by Dynata Research found that more patients are adopting digital tools to manage their health and want their providers to provide a consistent experience across all channels. To improve the patient experience, a personalized patient engagement strategy is necessary.

Personalized Patient Engagement Improves the Patient Experience

Healthcare organizations manage so much data that can be used to improve the patient experience. As audience segmentation and personalization techniques have become more common in other industries like e-commerce and personal care, consumers are starting to expect the same experiences from their healthcare providers.

For example, media streaming services make personalized recommendations for new shows based on what you have previously watched. People like these features because it helps them discover new content they may not know about. Likewise, patients are beginning to expect a similar personalized patient engagement experience from their healthcare provider. Suppose a patient wants to control their diabetes diagnosis and communicates with their provider about this at an appointment. Afterward, when they log into the patient portal or receive follow-up information, they expect to receive relevant information that aligns with that provider’s conversation.

survey data patient preferences

Proactive, personalized patient engagement can also drive patients to make the right choices in managing their health. By sending patients the correct information at the right time in the context of their individual health journey, it is easier for them to manage their own health.

Shifting Preferences for Digital Tools Enable Personalized Patient Engagement

As more people are open to incorporating digital tools into their healthcare journeys, it has revealed new patient engagement opportunities. Several reasons led healthcare organizations to embrace digital tools. The coronavirus pandemic kicked off a necessary wave of digital transformation because of the rapid transmission of the disease through close contact. The desire to use these tools has remained strong even after institutions largely reopened in 2021. Patients have also shown no desire to go back to the way things used to be. Digital channels and tools like patient portals, email, medical devices, and mobile applications all make it easier for patients to manage their health on the go.

shifting digital preferences survey data

As patient preferences have shifted to embrace digital channels and technologies, organizations that can implement digital-first personalized patient engagement strategies intelligently are more likely to have satisfied and healthier patients. However, healthcare organizations must strive to provide a consistent experience across both in-person and digital avenues. According to the survey, the number one reason consumers would consider changing their healthcare provider is “complex or confusing experiences.” Poorly implemented and executed patient engagement can negatively impact the patient experience and retention, so it’s essential to be thoughtful in your approach.

How to Personalize the Patient Experience

Traditionally, HIPAA compliance requirements have made it difficult for healthcare providers to utilize protected health information (PHI) in personalized patient engagement efforts. Using PHI in communications is vital to craft messaging relevant to the patient’s health journey. However, when transmitting and storing PHI, HIPAA regulations must be followed to protect patient privacy.

The first step to executing personalized patient engagement involves selecting the right tools. Many traditional digital engagement tools are not designed to meet these stringent encryption and security requirements. By selecting tools that meet HIPAA’s technical requirements (like LuxSci’s Secure Marketing and Secure High Volume Email) and properly training employees, healthcare teams can employ the same segmentation and personalization techniques to reach patients with relevant and consistent communications.

Conclusion

Personalizing patient engagement is one way to improve patient marketing and retention. Contact us today to learn more about improving the patient experience with secure email communications.

Tags: digital health, email marketing, ePHI, hipaa compliance, patient engagement, patient experience, personalization, segmentation
Posted in Email Marketing
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Overcoming Barriers to Successful Digital Health Patient Engagement

Tuesday, October 31st, 2023

Effective patient engagement is a goal for many healthcare organizations because of the benefits. When patients are engaged in their healthcare, illnesses are diagnosed sooner, bills are paid faster, and patient satisfaction is increased, leading to better business outcomes for the healthcare organization. Advances in technology have made it easier to achieve successful digital health patient engagement. Nevertheless, barriers remain when using digital channels to engage patients effectively. This article discusses the main barriers to digital patient engagement and how to overcome them to drive better results.

hand pointing at ipad with digital health symbols

Barriers to Digital Health Engagement

Patient engagement involves encouraging patients to make informed decisions about their health. Engaged patients are activated patients, meaning they participate in positive behaviors to manage their health. Proactive management of healthcare conditions helps improve outcomes and achieve lower costs. Digital health tools offer scalable ways to engage patients but must be thoughtfully implemented and deployed to achieve the best results.

Let’s review the most common barriers to digital health patient engagement and potential solutions for these issues.

Limited Access to Technology

Digital patient engagement tools may be a poor choice for patients without access to the internet, smartphones, or other digital devices. Though broadband access and smartphone users have risen over the past few years, the individuals without access are often the most in need of patient engagement efforts.

Solution: Invest in Consumer Technology

Some organizations have experimented with providing low-income, at-risk populations with the tools they need to monitor their health digitally. Providing smartphones, internet-connected medical devices, and even mobile hotspots can help increase access to digital health tools that drastically improve patient lives.

Low Health Literacy

If you’ve ever received a bloodwork report and struggled to understand what it meant, you can relate to the struggles that patients with low health literacy face. Suppose the digital health patient engagement tactics you employ are heavy with medical jargon and unclear to lay people. In that situation, patients cannot act on the information to improve their health.

Solution: Create Content for Users

Strip technical jargon from patient communications and keep patients from being overwhelmed with information. Engagement messages should be easily understood and clearly define the patient’s next step.

For example, if you use remote patient monitoring tools for patients with diabetes and send weekly reports on their average A1c levels, you must 1) make sure the patient knows what the reading means and 2) provide a clear direction for what the patient should do with that information. If the reading is too high, clearly state that and provide some next best steps. If the reading looks good- celebrate that and encourage them to continue to make the right choices to manage their diabetes.

Privacy and Security Concerns

It’s no secret that healthcare data is valuable to cybercriminals, and many high-profile breaches have made patients wary about digitally sharing health information. Patients may be concerned about the privacy and security of their personal health information, particularly if they are unsure how it is used.

Solution: Invest in Tools Designed for HIPAA Compliance

Ensure that the digital tools you use to engage with patients have recommended security features, including encryption and access controls like multifactor authentication. You can also work with your legal and security teams to craft policies that outline how patient data is used and when it will be securely disposed of. Patients have a right to control their data, and these policies can help build trust and increase confidence in your patient population to boost the adoption of digital health tools.

Limited Provider Support

Patients may be less likely to engage with digital health tools if they do not receive adequate support or encouragement from their healthcare providers. Even basic patient portals are more likely to be used by patients to review their health information only once prompted by their healthcare provider.

Solution: Work with Providers to Encourage Adoption

Digital health patient engagement tools must have buy-in from providers to be effectively deployed. Eighty-five percent of patients say they always trust their healthcare providers, meaning their support can influence patient adoption rates. Having providers explain the solution, why it is in use, and how patients can utilize it to improve their health can significantly increase engagement with the tools.

Age and Cultural Differences

Patients from different ages and cultural backgrounds may have different preferences and expectations regarding digital health tools. We are all familiar with the stereotypes of older people not understanding how to use technology. That does not mean digital health engagement tools cannot be used, but instead must be deployed in a culturally specific way.

Solution: Improve Accessibility and Invest in Training

Based on the patient’s comfort level with technology, allocate resources to help educate and train individuals on how best to use the tools. Make sure any technology you use is adequately designed to support individuals with disabilities, i.e., is accessible by screen readers and can support assistive technologies. Also, make sure the digital health tools support the patient’s first language and are personalized to their cultural context.

Lack of Personalization

Digital health engagement tools that do not account for individual patient preferences or needs may not be as effective at engaging patients as tools tailored to their specific needs. After the 2020 pandemic, patients have higher expectations for personalized digital experiences. 90% of patients surveyed want to receive communications that reflect where they are in their healthcare journey. If your tools cannot provide a personalized experience, you may be annoying patients rather than helping them.

Solution: Adopt Tools That Enable the Use of PHI

Use digital health engagement tools that are secure enough to transmit protected health information. When patient data is adequately protected, it can be used to transform your digital patient engagement efforts and improve the patient experience.

Conclusion: Successful Digital Health Patient Engagement starts with the Right Tools

Digital health tools for patient engagement can be quite effective if properly configured and deployed. When looking at ways to improve patient engagement, ensure you are using tools that are easy for patients to use and fit seamlessly into their day-to-day lives. With over 90% of adults already using email, secure email messaging is an effective way to reach patients and provide them with the information they need to improve their health. Contact LuxSci today to learn more strategies for improving patient engagement with digital health tools.

Tags: digital health, email personalization, health literacy, patient engagement, personalization, phi, technology access
Posted in LuxSci Library: HIPAA
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Prevent Patient No-Shows with Automated Appointment Reminders

Tuesday, September 6th, 2022

Missed medical appointments are not only bad for your business, but they can also negatively impact patient health outcomes. You can improve attendance and health outcomes without adding to administrative overhead by automating appointment reminders and customizing them according to patient preferences.

auto appointment reminders

Why Implement Automated Appointment Reminders

There are many reasons to introduce automated appointment reminders. People are busy, and many rely on digital calendars to stay organized. Many businesses outside the healthcare industry use digital appointment reminders to improve attendance and make scheduling and rescheduling appointments as easy as possible.

Changing Consumer Preferences

Most (88%) of customers said receiving automated appointment reminders via phone and text is important to them, according to a CVS Health survey. The rapid digitization of the healthcare system due to the Covid-19 pandemic has led patients to expect a healthcare experience that fits into their lifestyles. Reminders for haircuts, car appointments, and other personal care services are extremely common, and people expect that from their healthcare providers. In addition, communication preferences are changing. Very few people answer phone calls from unknown numbers. Instead, the majority of patients prefer less intrusive email and text reminders.

Improved Health Outcomes for Patients

As the saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Skipping appointments or delaying care puts patients at risk of developing more serious illnesses. Catching conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer early drastically improves prognoses and allows for less expensive and intrusive interventions. Most people don’t intend to skip medical appointments, but life happens. Sending timely appointment reminders before the visit gives overbooked individuals an opportunity to reschedule without a potentially costly missed appointment.

Reduced Administrative Overhead

If your administrative staff members are tasked with making phone calls to confirm appointments, automated reminders can allow them to prioritize other tasks associated with patient care. Keeping the phone lines open to help care for patients with urgent questions improves the patient experience and keeps staff members engaged.

How to Implement Automated Appointment Reminders

Most automated reminders are sent via email, text messaging, or phone calls. We recommend surveying your patient population to find out which communication methods they prefer. By sending the message according to their preference, it increases the likelihood that they will see it and respond appropriately.

Once that is determined, use a tool like LuxSci’s Secure High Volume Email or Secure Texting to integrate with your CRM or EHR and set up trigger points and reminder templates that pull information from the database. For example, maybe you find that five business days before the appointment is the best time to send the reminder. Patients need to have enough time to read the notification and reschedule if necessary. When the appointment is five days away, a message is automatically sent to the patient reminding them of the appointment. Ideally, this message will also include rescheduling options.

One caveat- notice that we mentioned “secure” email and texting. Appointment reminders imply information about health conditions and are PHI that is protected under HIPAA regulations. These messages must be encrypted and follow other HIPAA requirements for access controls, audit logs, and more. Review our HIPAA Compliance Checklist for more information.

Tags: appointment reminders, digital health, digital transformation, high volume email, operational efficiency, patient engagement, secure texting, Transactional email
Posted in Business Solutions, Email Marketing
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Accelerating Digital Health Transformation

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the digital transformation of the health care industry. Telehealth and virtual care delivery rapidly took off out of necessity, but this shift has been coming for a long time. Changing consumer preferences and new technologies are leading healthcare systems to pursue digital transformation.

digital health transformation

What is Digital Health Transformation?

According to HIMSS, “Digital health connects and empowers people and populations to manage health and wellness, augmented by accessible and supportive provider teams working within flexible, integrated, interoperable and digitally enabled care environments that strategically leverage digital tools, technologies and services to transform care delivery.”

Digital health transformation involves using a variety of technologies to improve the patient’s journey throughout the healthcare system. Transformation often starts with the implementation of electronic health records, but it doesn’t stop there. A survey of health care technology executives conducted by Deloitte, found that 92% wanted to achieve better consumer satisfaction and engagement from digital transformation.

Other goals that organizations seek to address with digital transformation include:

  • improving patient satisfaction and engagement
  • improving patient health outcomes
  • ability to compete with disrupters and alternatives
  • increasing revenue growth
  • improving cost efficiency
  • increasing agility and scalability
  • improving employee satisfaction

Why Pursue Digital Transformation in Healthcare?

Consumer preferences are driving changes to the healthcare industry. Today, consumers can order goods online with same-day delivery. There is transparency throughout the order, shipping, and delivery process. People are used to having instant access to consumer goods, and are starting to expect the same experience from their healthcare providers.

The healthcare system is notoriously slow and inefficient. Patients are used to waiting weeks or months for appointments and often have difficulty navigating the healthcare system. Provider referrals, prescription refills, and accessing medical records and lab results can be confusing. Digital transformation allows health care organizations to incorporate technology to meet patient expectations and improve their experiences.

Generational attitudes are also changing the healthcare industry. Younger populations are more likely to switch healthcare providers if their communication preferences are not met. A 2019 study found that patients aged 18 to 24 are three times as likely (61%) to consider switching providers over a poor digital experience compared to the over-65 population (21%).

In addition, the healthcare industry is also dealing with staffing shortages. Many organizations are looking for technology that can automate processes and alleviate administrative burdens, allowing providers to spend more time on patient care.

How to Digitally Transform the Healthcare System

It goes without saying that digital transformation is a long process that requires a clear strategy. After the pandemic-induced changes, many healthcare organizations are now stepping back to define their budget and strategy. A Deloitte survey found that 52% of organizations surveyed still had more than three years remaining on their implementation strategy. An additional 20% were still in the planning stage.

Introducing new technology without a clear purpose or strategy should be avoided. A poorly executed transition can lead to clinician burnout, a poor patient experience, and negative business outcomes.

The possibilities for digital health transformation are endless. For some organizations, transformation could include incorporating technologies like:

  • telehealth
  • AI and clinical decision making
  • Big data and predictive healthcare
  • Virtual reality
  • Wearable medical devices that feed data to a patient’s health record
  • Blockchain data custody

The technology options are endless, but it’s important to focus on organizational goals. For example, putting healthcare records on the blockchain sounds trendy and cool, but it is a major project that requires, planning, IT support, and funding. If the organization’s goal is to improve the patient experience, moving patient data from an EHR to the blockchain may not meet that goal. Instead, organizations should create a list of priorities and explore how different technologies help solve those problems. Perhaps enhancing patient portal messaging would improve the patient experience more than a move to the blockchain.

Conclusion

Many healthcare organizations are pursuing digital health transformation to better serve their patients. When implementing any new technology, it’s important to thoroughly vet options. Switching technology vendors can be even more difficult than implementing a new solution. Make sure that any third-party vendor can implement the solution without sacrificing security and compliance.

Tags: digital health, digital transformation, Health Information Technology, patient engagement
Posted in Industry News, LuxSci Library: HIPAA
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