Patient Engagement in 2022: 5 Trends Data Reveals

In a roundtable discussion on healthcare design, Qui Vo shared an anecdote about one of his cosmetic surgery patients. Dr. Vo describes a frustrating sequence of miscommunications that leaves a customer expecting a phone call that they never receive. Their surgery is a success, but the disgruntled patient turns to online reviews to express their disappointment in the service they received.

Crucially, their surgery was successful. Qui Vo’s team executed the medically essential parts of the experience without a hitch. The surgery was so successful that the patient returned for future surgeries, at which point Dr. Vo was able to ask them why they were so disappointed in their successful surgery. Their answer boiled down to one key factor: they were told they’d receive a phone call, and they never did. The patient didn’t feel listened to, and they didn’t feel engaged.

In healthcare, patient engagement is second only to medical safety. The feelings of helplessness, disempowerment, and cluelessness are not just discouraging to patients: they lead to worse health and worse treatment.

In 2022, data reveal new trends in patient engagement, and these five trends are the key to upgrading your patient’s experience, their health, and your organization’s success.

Key Takeaways:

• Patient engagement is a top priority for healthcare providers
• New trends in patient engagement require new strategies.
• Master data management through Gaine helps organizations take charge of their patient engagement.

What Is Patient Engagement?

An engaged (or “activated”) patient is a patient who participates in decisions about their health. Patient engagement involves encouraging patients to take a more active role in managing their healthcare. 

Patient engagement is important because when patients are active participants in their healthcare, they are more likely to adhere to treatment plans, communicate with their healthcare providers, and take proactive steps to improve their health.

Home Healthcare

No discussion of trends in 2022 would be complete without acknowledging the elephant in the room: COVID-19 changed how people approach communication, business, and healthcare. At the intersection of those challenges lies patient engagement.

Offices weren’t the only thing to move into people’s homes—even post-COVID, many people prefer and expect home healthcare. Between the persistent distrust of hospitals, preference for remote social interaction, and the emergence of biotech, home healthcare is a growing trend in patient engagement.

Telehealth—or telemedicine—connects patients to information and services with technology. With this emerging technology, patients can connect to their doctor from across the street or from across the country. Telehealth drives patient engagement by giving patients access to a larger pool of healthcare providers and more latitude about when and where they receive medical care.

Tech-Enabled Healthcare

Technology has changed the way we work, socialize, and travel, but it’s also radically changed the way we approach healthcare. Telemedicine is just one aspect of tech-enabled healthcare.

In previous years, one of the key qualifications for a surgeon has always been having a steady hand. As medical robotics grow in ubiquity and sophistication, one of the qualifications of surgeons of the future may be not only steady hands but experience in robotics.

Additionally, internet-connected biotech is a new frontier of medical technology that is driving patient engagement. Medical technology like pacemakers, blood sugar monitors, etc., and consumer products like smartphone applications and fitness wearables can give immediate feedback to patients about everything from their heart rate to their blood sugar. 

Image Source: https://future.com/new-tech-stack-virtual-first-care/

Democratization

According to Forbes, “healthcare has been slow to shift from its broad market orientation to a more patient-centric approach.”

Slow as this transformation has been, one of the emerging trends in 2022 is the rising democratization of healthcare. Healthcare democratization empowers patients with healthcare knowledge and creates patient-driven collaborations that improve health outcomes. Patients expect tech-enabled healthcare that meets their needs. Democratization is one of the most direct examples of patient engagement.

Another way that democratization is improving healthcare is in the democratization of data. Data democratization is the process of making information available to users outside of healthcare institutions. The democratization of demographic data, for example, has highlighted how the COVID-19 response has had a disparate impact on patients of color.

Democratization promotes value-based care by allowing patients to advocate for themselves. Instead of relying on measurable but indirect units like cost of care, value-based care measures the effectiveness of treatment by contextualizing the cost compared to the value experienced by the customer. This puts the customer in the center of their healthcare, promoting customer engagement through democratization.

Preventative Health

As patient engagement is increasing and people are taking more and more control over their healthcare, patients are taking a more proactive approach to their health.

One of the forces driving preventative healthcare is AI. Healthcare AI is useful for recognizing trends, gathering insights from big data, and allowing more intuitive interactions between patients and their healthcare portals.

Image Source: https://www.healthline.com/health/mens-health/ultimate-preventative-care-guide-for-men#40-s

Patient-Centered Care

In the past, pharmaceutical companies advertised medications to healthcare providers so that they would recommend and prescribe those medications to their patients. However, prescription medications are increasingly advertised to the public so patients can request specific prescriptions from their healthcare providers.

As advertisers are directing healthcare marketing towards consumers, the patient experience is taking a central role in healthcare. Prescription advertising is just one way that medicine is becoming increasingly patient-centered.

Patient-centered care means caring about the whole patient. Not just their measurable health but also their emotional and mental wellbeing, their comfort, and the service they receive.

Value-based care means care that is primarily concerned with the patient’s outcomes. Not just how difficult or expensive their treatment is, but how much their treatment can improve their lives. Measuring costs relative to the value experienced by the customer is a more customer-centric approach than the traditional cost-based approach, and it drives patient engagement by allowing patients to advocate for themselves.

How Gaine’s Master Data Management Can Help

As new trends emerge in patient engagement, master data management has never been more important in healthcare.

Master Data Management (MDM) is a tech-enabled process that combines business and information technology. In healthcare, MDM maintains a single view of truth so that you can keep accurate, uniform records. 

When it comes to your MDM, this essential resource is too vital to put in just any hands. 

Gaine is an expert in maintaining this important ecosystem. As pioneers in master data management, Gaine is uniquely equipped to lead your organization to leverage your data for maximum efficiency and positive outcomes.

If you’re ready to take charge of your data management, learn how Gaine’s solutions can help.