What is a patient engagement platform? Definition & benefits

What is a patient engagement platform?

Put simply, a patient engagement platform is a digital solution built with tools and capabilities that help improve communication between healthcare providers and their patients.

It likely comes as no surprise that the main goal of a patient engagement platform is to, well, engage patients! By making it easier for patients to be involved in their own care – through tools like appointment scheduling, access to medical records, etc. – these platforms boost satisfaction. They also support better patient outcomes by fostering active participation and adherence to treatment plans.

Some platforms, known as “vendor-neutral” engagement tools, can integrate with all of a practice’s existing source systems and software. Information from outside sources can typically be fed into a platform, which centralizes these details so they’re accessible in one place.

How patient engagement platforms work

Different platforms will offer different features and limitations, but in general, these tools get the job done by offering a single space for patients to manage their health needs. In other words, they simplify the process of finding information and acting on it, empowering patients to play an active role in the care process.
To do that, digital patient engagement tools might utilize features including (but not limited to):

• Sending and receiving HIPAA-compliant messages
• Requesting prescription refills
• Filling out patient intake forms and other paperwork digitally (even prior to appointments)
• Attending digital health assessments or visits
• Automating appointment reminders and patient check-ins
• Quick access to past health data and treatment plan information

 

Why use digital patient engagement tools?

The value of patient engagement itself cannot be overstated, particularly in mental and behavioral healthcare. Engagement isn’t just a bonus – it’s a necessity, one that can cost practices billions of dollars in lost revenue when absent.

Research shows that patients who are regularly engaged (or “activated”) have lower healthcare costs and better health outcomes. They’re also more likely to engage in generally healthy behaviors, like not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, and getting regular screenings like pap smears and mammograms.

All of that means a better experience for patients. But it also holds plenty of potential for providers.

The changes driven by strong engagement levels can help practices save time, money, and resources. Better patient health outcomes and lifestyle habits, for instance, reduce the likelihood of a patient needing regular or intensive care, allowing providers to spend that time helping more people.

So, if patient engagement is crucial, so too is finding a way to encourage and support it. That’s where technology can be helpful.

A digital patient engagement platform is one of the most efficient and simple ways to engage patients in their care. One 2017 study discovered that a digital health program used in a clinical care setting could not only boost patient engagement levels, but it could also deliver care that outperformed traditional office-based treatment.

Patient engagement vs. patient experience

As you develop a patient engagement program for your practice, it helps to remember the difference between patient engagement and the patient experience.

The term “patient engagement” focuses on interaction between patients and their providers. It’s all about how patients and healthcare professionals can collaborate to monitor and manage treatment.

Meanwhile, “patient experience” has a broader scope and describes all of the engagements that a patient has with their healthcare system. It doesn’t necessarily relate only to patient involvement.

Distinguishing the two matters because engagement is only one part of the patient experience. Implementing new tools and technologies to improve engagement can help you spend more time on other parts of that experience, like patient outreach or community involvement.

Likewise, when aiming to boost engagement, it’s essential to remember which factors affect it most: communication, interaction, and collaboration.

What benefits do engagement platforms offer providers and admin staff?

Linear Health’s platform is designed specifically for behavioral health professionals and features capabilities tailored to mental health care. Some of the main benefits your practice can reap from patient engagement tools like ours include:

• Automated workflows
• Better communication
• Data-driven care
• Easier treatment adherence

Let’s explore each key feature in more detail.

Automated workflows

With Linear Health, there’s a better way to track and organize your documents. Instead of manually managing essential documents like patient intake or consent forms and collecting signatures, you can create digital forms that patients can complete and sign electronically.
Reduce staff churn and give your team the capacity it needs to grow by automating as much of your document management as you’d like.

Easy patient communication

Keep up with patients between appointments through messaging and other digital communication tools. With the right platform, you can give your patients the support they may need to reach out to providers in times of need.

With Linear Health, there’s no need to use a separate patient communication platform or software; everything your patients need to advocate for themselves is available in one place.

Data-driven care

Conduct clinical assessments using a tech solution that helps you quickly and easily revisit patient information, like past vitals, medication records, and more.

With a platform like Linear Health, you can skip the headache of doing assessments on paper, manually uploading data, and putting that information to use in real-time. Now, you can customize your care to patient needs after just a quick glance.

Better treatment adherence

Engaged patients generally attend more appointments, which helps practices limit revenue loss. We also know that engaged patients tend to be healthier patients. A digital engagement platform supports even better adherence to treatment plans by giving patients more opportunities to get involved in their care.

This is crucial in the world of mental health treatment, where a patient’s perception of intimacy and cohesion with providers can noticeably enhance the quality of care they receive.

In other words, a digital platform gives patients the ability to feel like they’re a part of the team, allowing them to receive better care and stick with it for longer. That also means lower costs and a better return on investment (ROI) for practices.

Choosing the right digital patient engagement platform

With a clear understanding of what patient engagement software can do for you, there’s only one question remaining: which platform is the right choice?

The more gaps there are in your team’s operational flow, the more opportunities there are for delays or issues. Choose a platform that centralizes the work your practice does to support patients for the best results.

Say goodbye to hours spent hopping from app to app to track patient information. With Linear Health, all of the core capabilities you need in a patient engagement platform – communication, clinical assessments, and form building – are integrated into a single tool.

When our passion for revolutionizing patient care meets your desire to deliver better treatment, save time on paperwork, and reduce the burden on your staff, great things can happen.

Discover the patient engagement tools that will simplify each step of the healthcare journey so that your practice can dedicate more time to what matters most: quality care.

Have more questions about patient engagement platforms? We’ve got answers. Feel free to contact us anytime to learn more about how Linear Health can support your team.