Healthcare organizations of any size can streamline workflows, increase staff productivity, maximize revenue and reduce no shows by up to 90% as benefits of patient engagement technology.
Patient-centric functionality enhances patient communications with automation, including appointment notification and reminders, online patient scheduling, waitlist management with last-minute cancellation fulfilment, patient experience surveys, and many other features. These can significantly enhance your patients’ perception and experience of your practice.
Typically, HIPAA compliant patient engagement systems integrate easily with all existing practice management software and have a fast return-on-investment.
Surveys Show Patients Appreciate Patient Engagement Technology
Healthcare providers have been slow to adopt communication technology, but according to an Accenture Survey, 60% of patients prefer to use technology for patient-provider communication. This is in part because the Covid crisis altered patient behaviors and expectations of technology usage in healthcare practices. Patients appreciated the more personalized interactions and faster response times that patient engagement technology brings.
Highlighting the need to prioritize new patient acquisition and loyalty, an Actium survey** says 61% of patients want better patient engagement. 44% of respondents said they don’t regularly see their doctor and 30% said they don’t have a usual source of care, leaving the door open for organizations to register new patients. The consumers interviewed also said that stronger patient engagement will help them go to clinics for preventive screenings and wellness checks.
Better Patient Experiences
By offering a better patient experience healthcare providers will bring patients into their clinics and keep them coming back. Adding patient engagement to practice management systems enables a clinic to connect with patients in a way that not only engages, but activates, them and makes the patient experience frictionless.
HIPAA compliant patient engagement can be easily added to any existing practice management system to enhance patient communication.
Benefits Of Patient Engagement To Healthcare Providers
- Reduce No Shows – Up to a 90% improvement in missed appointments.
- Maximize Revenue – Patient engagement systems automatically fill empty schedule slots and encouraging annual wellness visits generates downstream revenue.
- Improved Productivity & Focus On Patients – Streamlining and automating 24 x 7 communication reduces the burden on front desk, eliminates errors, and enable staff to spend more time on patient care.
- More Patients – Healthcare providers who offer 24 x 7 interaction with the practice attract more patients. Recent studies show that younger patients in particular actively seek out and are willing to switch to healthcare providers that offer better digital interaction.
- Patient Loyalty – Better communication fosters patient loyalty and trust. The added option of post-appointment surveys allow clinics to adapt to individual patients’ needs.
- Works With Existing Practice Management Systems – A patient engagement solution integrates with all existing practice management systems meaning it is simple and fast to add.
Benefits Of Patient Engagement To Patients
Another Actium survey* highlighted two of the top reasons that patients don’t utilize preventive care as “Making appointments is too much of a hassle” and “I simply forget to make them”. They say 61% consumers surveyed report that they would like to hear more from their doctor.
Implementing a patient engagement system can have many benefits for patients, including:
- Convenience – 24 x 7 self-scheduling is far more convenient for patients who don’t want to call the clinic when they are busy with work or personal business.
- Self-Care – Automation encourages patients to set appointments and keep their healthcare on track.
- Digital Registration & Forms – patients can fill out forms at their convenience before visits.
Features Of Patient Engagement Technology
Automated Appointment Notifications
- Automatically sends reminders to patients as you or they book in appointments to reduce no-show rates.
- Create a series of two-way customized automatic notifications to confirm and remind patients of upcoming appointments.
- Works seamlessly with existing scheduling software and spreadsheets.
- Integrates with EHRs and EMRs.
- HIPAA compliant and encrypted.
Patient Self-Scheduling
- Patients can book their own appointments 24 x 365.
- Include ‘Schedule Now’ or ‘Request an Appointment’ links in specified notifications and reminders and on your website, social media pages and email newsletters.
- The clinic has full control over when patients can book appointments and how long they need for each appointment type.
Waitlist Management
- Detects cancellations in schedules and automatically fills these vacant spots with people on the waiting list.
Continuing-Care Notifications
- Notifies patients when they are due continuing-care appointments using your scheduling and delivery preferences.
Patient Reactivation
- Identifies patients who are overdue for appointments by monitoring visit history and recall schedules.
- Automatically notifies them to set appointments and keep their healthcare on track.
- Sends reminders to schedule overdue appointments.
- Extra reminders demonstrate to patients you care about them and value their patronage. These reminders can have a significant impact on overall retention rates.
Auto Rescheduling
- Automate the time-consuming task of rescheduling patients after appointment cancellations and no-shows. The auto-rescheduling feature detects these events and automatically contacts patients to get them rescheduled without relying on staff’ intervention.
Fill My Schedule Now
- Maximize revenue by filling empty slots in your schedule. Fill My Schedule Now only contacts patients that match the exact parameters set by the clinic, and those patients can then easily self-book their own appointments.
Digital Registration Forms
- Digital registration enables you to email or text patients a link to a registration form they can fill out at their convenience before visits.
Find Out More
Find out more about the benefits of patient engagement solutions by filling in a form on this page. You will be contacted by a member of staff from Rectangle Health our page sponsor.
You can ask questions, request a demonstration, or arrange a no risk evaluation, all with no obligation.
Since 1983 Rectangle Health has been providing technology solutions exclusively for healthcare organizations. Their fully HIPAA compliant solutions are used by over 60,000 healthcare providers in the U.S and they process over $6 billion of patient payments annually.
The HIPAA Journal has arranged a 10% reader discount on Rectangle’s list price for their patient engagement solution.
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