Patient engagement is one of the most important topics in healthcare. It is critical in improving public health, enhancing quality care and reducing healthcare costs. As a result, patient engagement has become a top priority for many PR pros working in healthcare.
But as we know, the path to effective engagement in any sector can be far from easy. In healthcare, while there are countless opportunities to connect with patients, making engagement meaningful and successful still can pose problems. Similar to the target audience for many brands, patients are a diverse group, representing every demographic cohort. There is no one way to reach them all.
And like members of target audiences in any sector, sometimes patients do not want to be engaged. They’re busy, have other priorities. They can simply not want to hear what you have to say. In the health sector, multiple departments play a role in patient engagement—from physicians to billing departments to parking attendants—and getting these groups coordinated in a cohesive effort can be tricky. Again, this is not unlike brands, where multiple units in a company must be coordinated to provide a consistent external face.
All this said, we realize engagement is serious. Can’t we just date? Not really. In the evolving healthcare landscape, comprehensive patient engagement is vital. More than that:
1. It’s The Right Thing To Do. People are critical players in their health. Taking medication correctly, getting recommended health screenings and following medical advice are personal choices. But we have a health crisis in our country. Too many people are suffering and dying from conditions that can be better managed and prevented, like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. We can only stem this crisis with the cooperation of every person it touches.
2. Healthcare Can’t Be Effective Without It. Long-term patient/provider relationships are eroding. Nearly half (45%) of consumers stay with a primary care doctor for three years or fewer, a recent Finn Futures™ Health survey showed. With patients switching providers so frequently and increasingly visiting urgent care centers or minute clinics, consumers are becoming the sole owners of their medical histories. Without patient input and involvement, providers cannot form a comprehensive picture of a person’s health or effectively gauge what treatment options may or may not work.
3. It’s Good Business. Engaged patients are healthier and happier, which equates to things like improved patient satisfaction scores, better health outcomes and reduced readmissions, which can directly benefit a provider’s reimbursement and bottom line.
Where do I start to create meaningful engagement? While the suggestions below are directed at patient engagement, PR pros can adapt them to other sectors.
- maximize touchpoints like arrival, intake and discharge and evaluate patient materials for their effectiveness;
- create connection points to monitor patient experience and encourage communication, such as regular rounding by clinical and operational staff;
- involve patients in operations by establishing patient advisory councils to ensure the patient voice is always heard;
- develop mechanisms for dealing with sensitive situations such as negative diagnoses and potential mistakes or errors; and
- provide multiple ways to receive patient feedback: surveys, a hotline, a suggestion box, an e-mail, a forum.
Patient engagement is an essential part of healthcare communications. It is critical to efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of Americans and strengthen the vitality and viability of our healthcare system.
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