Understanding Digital Patient Engagement Tools and Their Benefits in the Health Sector

Updated on December 5, 2022

Due to rapid technological advancement in health, the demand for digital marketing engagement tools is significantly increasing in the healthcare landscape. These tools provide patients with the right information and resources that empower and encourage them to be at the center of their care, thus improving outcomes. 

The main component of the digital front door is automated patient engagement solutions that help you engage your patients throughout their care journey.

In this blog, you’ll understand what a digital patient engagement platform is and its benefits for the patient and the healthcare provider. 

What is a digital patient engagement tool?

A digital patient engagement tool is a platform that allows healthcare providers to interact with their patients through phone, tablet, or computer in the comfort of the patient’s homes. These tools help schedule appointments, provide educational material, and send reminders through secure messaging or real-time engagement via live online chat. 

Healthcare providers using digital patient engagement tools can easily track their patients’ journey from when they start sickling until they become better. 

The most common example of digital patient engagement tools is telemedicine or telehealth, commonly used for patients with common STDs like HIV. The primary purpose of this tool was to reduce stigmatization due to STD-related illnesses. 

Benefits of digital patient engagement tools

Like other business organizations that handle banking transactions, schedule appointments, or book a vacation online through their phones, healthcare providers can also incorporate tools that can improve their productivity, thus increasing their ROI. 

Digital patient engagement tools can improve healthcare providers’ and patients’ relationships. This can benefit the patients as they can use the relationship to learn basic first aid to help them during emergencies. 

Improves patient experience

In the past, communication was one-way traffic, from healthcare providers to patients. Things have changed thanks to technology, as nowadays, communication is collaborative. Patients can share information with their healthcare providers digitally in their homes due to the easy-to-use digital patient engagement tool interface, which has drastically improved their experience.

You need to give your patients the experience they expect through engagement tools to retain them.

Give patients full control of their care

Digital patient engagement tools ensure that patients are engaged in every step of their care journey, making them feel included and highly activated in their care. 

With digital tools, patients can schedule, register, communicate, and make payments independently, making them actively involved in the whole process. 

It gives patients greater access

With technology, we have almost everything at our fingertips. We can access almost every piece of information, product, or service. Digital patient engagement tools help patients get greater access to health information, their doctors, and treatment plans. 

With these tools, you can get medical help any time you need it, as they operate 24 hours a day. These tools also provide greater access to health records and data. 

These tools also improve customer outcomes as it gives you treatment in real-time after sharing your symptoms information.

Improve staff productivity

With digital patient engagement tools like digital check-in or online scheduling, staff no longer have to take hours making telephone calls or manually entering data. These tools automate these tasks, therefore, improving the efficiency of the staff as they can focus on other complex staff and increase productivity. 

Reduces risk of burnout

Burnout is primarily due to heavy workloads and inadequate staff. This can lead to stress and a lower feeling of professional accomplishment. And regardless of how valuable your staff is, with stress, they can lack the energy to provide a good patient experience. 

But if you automate your tasks, you will reduce workload and stress. Happy employees will deliver their best and provide a good patient experience. Because of satisfaction, they are also less likely to quit, saving you the hiring expense. 

Conclusion

Digital patient engagement tools allow patients to manage their care digitally anytime and in their comfort. They increase engagement between healthcare providers and their patients, thus improving patient experience.

Many benefits come with digital patient engagement tools, including greater patient access, reduced risk of burnout, patients’ control of their care, etc.

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