Digital engagement tools could be paying off for practices

In the early 2010s, when the healthcare industry was in the midst of Meaningful Use, the introduction of the patient portal as a technical requirement for incentives prompted frustration, dismay, and resistance from the provider community. 

CIOs protested the challenges of integrating these new tools into their still-nascent digital infrastructure. CFOs fretted over the costs of purchasing new solutions and paying for the staff to handle maintenance and management of a new digital engagement platform. Meanwhile, clinicians worried about the burdens of being accessible at all hours, and voiced concerns that patients wouldn’t want, couldn’t handle (or simply shouldn’t have) access to their own digital records. 

It’s taken a long time for leaders to successfully address those concerns – and in some cases, they haven’t yet found the answers to the problems posed by digital patient relationships, even as the humble patient portal morphs into a comprehensive ecosystem of personalized, AI-driven, proactive engagement. 

It might be encouraging, therefore, to learn that there may be some concrete benefits to all the effort expended on adopting digital engagement tools.  

A new report by athenahealth suggests that investments in patient engagement solutions is having a positive impact on practice performance and clinician workflow, despite early theories to the contrary.  

The data, based on the company’s proprietary Patient Digital Engagement Index (PDEI), measured the digital engagement of practices on their network from 2021 to 2024, and also includes supplementary data from a survey of 1000 US patients.  

The results indicate that Higher PDEI scores correlate with improved ability to collect more of their patients’ financial responsibility, resulting in fewer write-offs.

According to the report, a one-point increase in PDEI was associated with a one-point increase in the proportion of total patient charges paid within one year. 

The findings also hint at skeptical clinicians being wrong about the burdens of being available around the clock for patient interactions. Instead of creating more after-hours work, the data shows that clinicians working for practices with higher digital maturity scores spend less “pajama time” after normal working hours on completing documentation. 

However, athenahealth notes that the team needs to conduct further research on this correlation, since there are multiple factors that could contribute to this trend. 

If these findings hold up to further scrutiny, it could be meaningful motivation for organizations that still haven’t quite found their groove with digital engagement strategies, especially smaller and more resource-strapped entities that are hesitant to make up-front investments in tools that might not return clear value. 

These organizations should consider starting with the features that patients like and use the most, including tools to view statements, pay bills, complete scheduling activities, and view test results in a self-service manner. 

The accompanying survey noted that three-quarters of patients believe digital tools are very important to help them connect with the healthcare system, and a similar number believe digital engagement simplifies their interactions with providers. 

Failing to satisfy the digital engagement needs of patients-turned-consumers can have the opposite effect on practices, as a large number of patients remain dissatisfied and frustrated with the lack of online capabilities at their disposal.   

In a 2023 report by The Sequoia Project, over half of consumers said the process of trying to access medical records was frustrating and time consuming, while more than 40% said inadequate access to data has led to repeated or canceled testing that can cost time, money, and trust. 

These poor experiences are directly tied to patients’ decisions to leave their providers and search out practices with better digital services, says a recent survey by Accenture, particularly among millennials and Gen Z individuals who are six times more likely than other groups to flee from subpar experiences. 

In the near future, as generative AI and other strategies create the opportunity for hyper-personalized interactions exactly when and where patients want them, organizations that are still struggling with the basics will need to catch up quickly if they are to meet – and eventually exceed – expectations. 

Doing so will require practices to implement an array of digital capabilities including reminders and notifications for prescriptions and appointments, self-scheduling features, online financial portals to streamline billing and payments, health information exchange tools to facilitate care coordination and access to medical records, telehealth options for appropriate types of care, and consumer education resources. 

Creating a comprehensive, holistic, and seamless digital patient journey will be essential for retaining patient loyalty and crafting the types of experiences that turn patients into truly engaged partners in the healthcare process. 

Ideally, it won’t take another ten years and another round of carrot-and-stick regulation for providers to take these next steps toward digital engagement development, especially since consumer demands are already creating plenty of market pressure on organizations that may be lagging behind. 

And with increasing data showing that digital engagement can bring tangible benefits to more than just patients, provider groups should feel encouraged that they are heading in the right direction along the path to digital maturity. 

Jennifer Bresnick is a journalist and freelance content creator with a decade of experience in the health IT industry.  Her work has focused on leveraging innovative technology tools to create value, improve health equity, and achieve the promises of the learning health system.  She can be reached at [email protected].