Patients want to be able to manage their own ailments, but often they aren’t sure where to start. With patient engagement a hot topic in the medical field these days, finding strategies to make it possible can feel like a huge challenge. Either patients can’t figure out the system or they seem unwilling.
If you’re struggling with how to help patients take control of their health, take a look below. We’ve outlined 7 proven strategies to make it easier and more tempting for patients to be involved.
1. Offer Electronic Records
When you switch to keeping medical records in digital form, you can provide the information your patients need without having them call the office. Offer them a way to log in to your portal and access their own information any time, anywhere.
2. Empathy and a Personal Touch
Using a professional medical answering service is a small detail that can make a big difference for your patients. They hear a friendly voice on the other end of the phone, even if it’s not their own doctor. You can build trust with your patients by engaging an answering service to take care of their needs after hours.
3. Self-Scheduling
When you hand over the power to your patients to make their own appointments, they’ll be far more likely to take an interest in new healthcare initiatives. If they aren’t at the mercy of a nurse on the phone to help them see their doctor, they can see all the open options and better choose how to make a doctor visit fit into their day.
4. Patient Engagement Increases Self Care
By boosting patient engagement, you often help them take control of their own health in more ways than one. Patients who manage themselves often also sign up for more preventive care and they may even exercise more. It starts with personal responsibility.
5. Provide Lessons
Give your patients plenty of help to learn the system. Provide directions in easy-to-access places and use videos to make it even simpler for them. Even those who are technologically challenged need to be able to follow basic instructions for portal access.
With tutorials or even short live meetings that explain how things work, your patients can learn to handle more of their own tasks.
6. Simplify Everything
Anything you can do to minimize barriers to telehealth or online portals will help simplify the process for your patients. When someone is confused, they won’t want to keep trying in order to figure out the system. Instead, make the steps very basic so they don’t run into trouble getting started.
7. Promote Understanding
Ultimately, the goal of patient engagement is to help your patients understand more about their own health. They should know what each of their medications does and be able to explain what each of their health conditions is when someone asks them.
Feeling In Control
When you help your patients feel like they have a choice, patient engagement goes up. With the 7 tips above, you can increase your patient engagement and help them understand their own health better.
Did you find this article helpful? Check out the rest of our website for more information!
Read Also: How to Find a Legit Online Canadian Pharmacy
