How does patient engagement work?
How does patient engagement work? September 7, 2017
For the independent physician, engaging with patients is a very important element in their overall healthcare plan. Taking the time during the visit to listen to the patient and to explain diagnosis and treatment plans is crucial to the quality of that patient’s health outcomes. When patients are engaged and take an active role in their own healthcare, the likelihood of quality outcomes increases, a benefit for both the patient and the physician.
After the visit, independent physicians must continue to engage with their patients. More importantly, the patients must be provided the opportunity to engage with their physicians. The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) of Health Information Technology (IT) states that:
The ability of individuals to easily and securely access and use their health information electronically serves as one of the cornerstones of nationwide efforts to increase patient and family engagement and advance person-centered health.
Communication is essential to this process. Elation’s electronic health record (EHR) solution for independent physicians provides an effective tool for the independent physician to engage with patients before, during, and after the visit.
How does it work? Providers send a letter through Elation to their patient’s Passport, just like an email. The patient gets notified, either by email or text, to check their Passport for the new message. From their Passport, patients can read provider’s letters, view any attached documents – like lab results – and if they have a question, simply reply to the letter right there in Passport. Any message from a patient is immediately sent back to the provider’s Passport queue in the Homepage – just like how providers receive messages from within their practice today.
Independent physicians can get started using Elation Passport by inviting patients to sign up for Passport accounts from their charts. Click on the Passport Introduction Guide for more information on how to invite patients to use Elation Patient Passport and how to communicate with them once they have signed up.