Why digital patient engagement is critical for revenue cycle stability?
Gone are the days when the patients needed to visit hospitals and nursing homes to get the medical aid and care they want in case of any health conditions that they had. This is because now the healthcare industry has already seen a revolution in the name of healthcare practices, which is independent medical care units that extend the care the patients want. These healthcare practices house the best doctors, nurses, and healthcare staff and engage the patients throughout, which makes them the favorite care units of today.
The patients head to their nearest practice when they feel distressed, bothered by an underlying health condition, or in an emergency. They definitely require medical care right from the moment they step inside a healthcare practice but along with that, they also need to be engaged throughout because that acts by offering them a psychological relief or a sense of satisfaction that they are in the right place. A proper engagement also means that the patients really matter to the practices and that they are not neglected.
What is digital patient engagement?
Survey reveals that over 78% of the patients have used patient portals, and among them, around 83% of the patients have used the same to access their test results and over 59% of them have used these portals to view their personal health record. Recent surveys have revealed that over 59% of GenY patients are even willing to switch their healthcare providers if they do not get the online access they crave. All of these statistics are more than enough to hint at the central place that digital tools have taken in the healthcare industry.
Like most other industries, the healthcare industry has also witnessed nothing less than a revolution with the emergence of digital medical software and systems. The medical office software and systems of today are dominating the healthcare sector. These tools are not only helping the patient care be fast and efficient but also enriching the patient experiences, which in turn, is helping the healthcare practices see an increase in the patient inflow, leading to growth.
Patient experience can be described as the experience that the patient absorbs during their healthcare journey. This experience contributes to a wide range of processes and how they are conducted. Patient engagement also has a vital role in influencing patient experiences. So, in short, patient engagement can be defined as the participation or the abstinence of the patients in different healthcare processes of practice or any other healthcare unit.
The healthcare industry thrives due to the patients, who are considered central to the industry. This means that the engagement of the patients always needs to be there in the healthcare units/practices. Practice with a decent patient engagement is always looked up to by the patients, leading to the growth of the practice and the spread of quality, patient-centric care. However, the patient engagement that was earlier manually done, with the help of healthcare staff, can now be done with the help of a wide range of digital tools and systems.
Though the importance of patient engagement in healthcare has considerably risen in the last couple of decades, it is equally true that the patient engagement strategies are largely being modeled upon digital patient engagement. So, if a practice now wishes to increase patient engagement, then they need to rely upon the trusted medical office software solutions, including the digital patient engagement platforms from providers like GrowPractice.
Top 4 digital health patient engagement strategies for the practices in the healthcare industry!
Digital patient engagement sounds exciting indeed. In fact, it is the digital health patient engagement strategies that more and more practices are largely embracing now to boost patient engagement and grow. Here are the 4 most prominent digital heath patient engagement strategies that the practices can follow:
• Extending digital patient appointment schedulers - The patients today want to be out of hassles, which is why the practices should introduce online patient appointment schedulers. Such schedulers now enable the practices/patients to book, cancel or reschedule the patient appointments without any concerns. Moreover, recent healthcare statistics show that around 68% of the patients now want the facilities to book, change or cancel their appointments, the numbers rose significantly from 58% of such patients when last reviewed in 2016. These appointment schedulers should also be secure, as per the requirements of over 80% of the patients. GrowPractice strives to bring in secure and efficient patient appointment software that would have the options of booking, rescheduling or canceling patient appointments at ease, whcih will significantly reduce the chances of no-shows.
• Offering online ways for patient check-ins and intakes - Patient check-ins and intakes are crucial in a patient's journey. This is because the patient check-ins and intakes take a lot of time and involve sensitive patient data. These processes should be digitalized, which most of the practices are trying to do. GrowPractice simply makes it easy for the practice to make the patient intake and patient check-in process digital. With the paperless check-in and intake process offered by GrowPractice, the patients can now complete their patient intake process right from the comfort of their homes, in their leisure, and witness fast and secure patient check-ins 24x7.
• Presenting EHR/PM software or patient portals - Electronic health record (EHR) software and Practice or Patient software (PM) or patient portals are important for the patients today, who are aware and more conscious about their health today. Such software also provides the patients with all the relevant data that they require in real-time, which they can also share with others and even with the other provider or a specialist in times of emergency. However, inaccuracies and delays often creep into these tools and the procedures they use, to avoid this you need to choose trusted medical office, patient, and practice management software systems that GrowPractice can bring in. The GrowPractice software can integrate with over 65 EHR/PM software effortlessly.
• Offering flexible payment options - Recent surveys have revealed that over 59% of the patients now want to pay online. Several others also advocate the use of Credit/Debit cards, some have insurance plans, some do it cashless, where the providers pay instead of them, while there are still others who pay the healthcare providers by cash. Therefore, the payment methods vary from patient to patient, which is why the practices need to be flexible when it comes to receiving healthcare payments.
The relationship between digital patient engagement and revenue cycle!
Digital patient engagement is certainly important for the practices to focus on. This is because the digital patient engagement platforms and the digital health patient engagement strategies not only extend the best possible care to the patients and improve the patient experience, but they also help the practices improve their revenue cycle.
Yes, the revenue cycle and its stability primarily depend on the revenue that the practices receive and the time when they receive them. Now, if the practices opt for digital patient engagement, then they would certainly see a boost in the attraction of the new patients and the retention of the old patients, simply because the patients today, love digital software and tools that make their healthcare journey fast and easy.
Why is digital health patient engagement crucial for revenue cycle stability?
Digital health patient engagement is something that the practices are largely looking forward to because of the numerous benefits that such a practice would offer them, thereby improving the practice revenues and enhancing the revenue cycle stability. Here's why the digital health patient engagement strategies would play a major part in the benefit of the practices:
• The digital patient engagement platform improves the inflow of the patients
• They help practices retain patients equally well
• Secure patient engagement platforms boost practice credibility
• They help practices keep a track of expenses and revenues
• Digital patient engagement platforms help monitor practice performance
• Digital patient engagement strategies require less of the manual workforce
• Digital patient engagement platforms reduce staff time and effort
• They help boost the financial experience of the patients
The digital health patient engagement software and strategies contribute much to helping the patients and practices get the best of both worlds. Besides, it is also important to note here that digital patient engagement is a future-proof way that will enable the practices to survive in the long run and will help them treat the patients just as the latter wants them to be.
How will GrowPractice promote digital patient engagement and help stabilize the revenue cycle?
GrowPractice is one of the most prominent medical office software providers, which brings innovative patient and practice management software and solutions to help practices improve their revenues and enhance their revenue cycle stability. GrowPractice helps in:
• Improving the practice collection process
• Reducing paper mailing costs
• Booking the patient appointments promptly
• Minimizing the patient wait time
• Increasing patient engagement via HIPAA-compliant two-way texting process
• Maintaining patient privacy
• Streamline the patient workflow
• Making fast and accurate bills
• Eliminating the human errors
• Increasing transparency in healthcare
With its innovative patient engagement strategies in healthcare, GrowPractice has already helped in lifting the practice collections by 20%, which is now adding $60,000+ more revenue per provider. To understand how and to obtain the GrowPractice services, you can contact GrowPractice now!
