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A beginner’s guide to building digital patient engagement systems

Healthcare is a team sport. It doesn’t rely only on a healthcare professional’s ability to do their job well – it also depends on a patient’s behavior, perceptions, and actions. However, when patients aren’t engaged in the care journey, they may not have the means to hold up their end of the bargain. That’s where patient engagement systems can become crucial; they allow regular communication and increased visibility into care, making it more likely that patients will want to play an active role in the process.

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Defining Patient Engagement

Patient engagement is all the buzz these days, but it’s still notoriously difficult to define. In simple terms, patient engagement occurs when patients have the information and support they need to feel empowered and informed enough to make decisions about their health.

Most definitions agree that patient engagement involves interaction between patients and healthcare systems. However, many analyses of patient engagement fall short in their understanding of the duality of engagement.

That is, patient engagement doesn’t just depend on patient behavior and decisions – it also depends on how healthcare professionals communicate and collaborate with their patients.

This means that improving patient engagement requires addressing obstacles preventing patients from accessing information and solving issues limiting your ability to give patients what they need to thrive.

It is this lack of giving to patients that forms the foundation of many barriers to engagement. For instance, one common factor that hinders patient engagement is a patient’s perception of their role in their care journey as subordinate to healthcare professionals.

It’s easy for patients to slip into this role of viewing clinicians as authority figures when only clinicians have access to certain information or power. However, their perception may discourage patients from speaking up or asking questions out of fear of appearing “difficult.”

In this case, patient curiosity and interest in the care process aren’t enough – healthcare professionals must also be prepared to respond to this activation with support and education.

What is a patient engagement system?

A patient engagement system is a collection of tools, software, and practices that allow healthcare professionals to engage with patients throughout their care journey. In other words, patient engagement systems include all the technologies and tactics used to activate patients before, during, and after a visit to the office.

All patient engagement systems aim to give providers the means to deliver a more personalized, convenient care experience from start to finish. That often translates to lower wait times, better communication, shared decision-making, and regular interaction with patients.

When implemented effectively, these systems can improve patient satisfaction rates and help healthcare organizations distinguish themselves as go-to choices that stand out from the competition.

No matter how you build and maintain it, a patient engagement system should help you:

  • Establish a constant line of communication with your patients
  • Collect and monitor patient information and feedback in real-time
  • Send messages to and share announcements with patients
  • Secure follow-up appointments as needed
  • Gain insight into quality performance and metrics
  • Keep track of how often patients interact with you or other health workers

With capabilities like these under your belt, you can successfully engage patients while simultaneously getting the information you may need to further improve care quality.

Core Parts of Digital Patient Engagement Systems

While they certainly don’t have to rely entirely on technology, most patient engagement systems leverage software solutions to automate tasks, centralize information, and enable real-time communication. Building a digital system allows organizations to scale their engagement efforts as they grow.

When building a comprehensive system,  it’s important to choose the right tech for engaging patients in a way that makes sense for your practice or organization. Let’s explore some essential components of a patient engagement system built to last.

Patient Communication

Without efficient communication, engaging patients is all but impossible. Communication is a two-way street, too, meaning that patients and professionals alike need to have tools that allow them to get in touch quickly.

Many engagement systems approach this need through real-time text or conversational messaging. When patients have questions or need to share information, they can send their thoughts along within just a few seconds by accessing their communication threads on their personal devices. Then, providers can be notified of new messages, respond to them in a timely fashion, and monitor patient feedback from afar.

Communication is wonderful, but only if it can actually be applied during treatment visits and live interactions. No one likes to repeat themselves, and doing so can diminish the perceived value of patient communication efforts.

It’s important to choose software tools that allow providers to quickly reference past conversational threads to refresh their memories on patient needs.

Digital Patient Intake

One of the most tedious parts of the healthcare journey by far is the intake and registration process. Piles of paperwork to sign and sort through, gaps in care delivery, and a lack of established trust between patients and providers can all make this stage frustrating for all parties involved.

A digital patient engagement system built with automated and electronic intake forms – which patients can fill out in-person using devices or on their own time using their own technology – helps cut back on wait times and admin burden.

Plus, it makes it simple for patients to revisit their intake paperwork and focus their energy during their first visit on getting to know their new provider.

Assessments & Surveys

The more information you can gather from patients about their needs and experiences, the better. Collecting data and insights from clinical assessments or patient surveys enables healthcare teams to understand their strengths and weaknesses as they relate to engagement.

Patient Activation Tools

Engagement comes from intrigue and a genuine desire to be involved, as well as a solid understanding of what “being involved” even means. Educating patients on what’s going on in their treatment journey, why it matters, and what they can do to change the course of care is key.

So, giving patients access to health information, metrics, assessment data, treatment details, and anything else that’s integral to their healthcare journey can make a huge difference.

Why use a digital patient engagement system?

A digital patient engagement system breaks down physical barriers traditionally separating patients from healthcare professionals, limiting their collaboration ability. It makes engaging with healthcare part of daily life – something your patients can do anytime, anywhere.

Beyond integrating care into daily routines, patient engagement systems can support better health outcomes, lower care costs, and more efficient treatment services.

Research consistently demonstrates that patients with low activation rates tend to have the most expensive care costs, largely due to more frequent visits to inpatient facilities, hospitals, and emergency rooms. Likewise, patients who aren’t engaged in care aren’t likely to engage in preventative behaviors that keep the cost of providing treatment low over time.

Meanwhile, highly engaged patients are more likely to care for themselves between visits, have low health costs, and have better health outcomes.

Using a digital patient engagement system allows organizations to boost activation and give patients the authority they want and expect over their healthcare journey. Digital tools are convenient, too, making the act of participating in the care process something genuinely fun and exciting.

How to Create a Patient Engagement System

There’s no doubt about the fact that patient engagement systems are worth their weight in gold. But how do you go about creating one for your healthcare organization or practice? The first step is selecting the right technology – from there, you can begin to build routines that leverage your new abilities in ways that appropriately support patient needs.

Below are some factors you’ll want to keep in mind as you look for patient engagement software that will serve as the core of your new system.

  • Integration – How will the patient engagement platform fit into your existing technology systems? Will your new software allow for effortless data synchronization with other technology? Is it compatible with your current health records system?
  • Compliance – Protecting patient privacy and health information is essential. Does the platform you’re considering have a track record for safety and security? Is the platform HIPAA-compliant?
  • Accessibility – Technology is only as great as it is functional. It’s helpful to look for solutions that have long-term support embedded into them so that you never have to search hard for answers to issues you run into when using your software. For example, does the platform have a team dedicated to customer support, training, and onboarding?
  • Reporting – Does your platform provide reporting and analytic tools that help you accurately measure the impact of patient communication? Will your engagement system make it simple to measure care quality?
  • Versatility – Will your platform be accessible on mobile devices, computers, or both? Will it support both intervisit and outreach functionality? In other words, can you use the platform in person just as easily as you might in between sessions?
  • Functionality – What tools does the platform feature that will activate patients throughout each step of their healthcare journey?

With the right software, you can build and launch your patient engagement system within just a few days or weeks. Then, all that’s left to do is to monitor your system’s impact and make changes as needed over time.

Linear Health: A Patient Engagement Platform for Behavioral Healthcare

For today’s healthcare professionals, there is no getting around the need for a patient engagement system, at least not if you’re looking to constantly improve the quality of the care you give (while simultaneously lowering costs). Building a system that scales with you and supports your patients is no small feat, but choosing the right technology to help you get the job done makes all the difference.

Linear Health is a patient engagement software built for behavioral health professionals and their needs. Our platform unifies data-driven care, automated workflows, patient communication, and clinical assessment for mental health professionals so that you can focus on what matters most: having meaningful interactions with patients.

It’s time to say goodbye to endless hours spent calling and trying to reach patients, mounds of paperwork, and convoluted health technology. Contact us today to learn more about our integrated platform and how it can help you drive patient engagement levels through the roof.

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About the author
Sami Malik
Sami Malik, Founder, Linear Health

Sami Malik is the founder at Linear Health, and also writes on topics he is passionate about like technology and mental health care.

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