Now that providers have largely implemented patient portals and the foundation for patient engagement strategies, the next step is to implement initiatives to get patients more actively involved in their care, according to the NEJM Catalyst Patient Engagement Survey.
The survey fielded responses from nearly 400 healthcare executives, clinicians and clinician leaders in the NEJM Catalyst Insights Council. Nearly seven in 10 respondents said their organizations have patient engagement initiatives to increase patients' participation in their care, but just about half said patient engagement initiatives affect quality outcomes.
Here are six more findings from the survey.
1. While 47 percent of respondents said patient engagement initiatives have an impact on quality outcomes, just 27 percent said they have an impact on cost outcomes.
2. In terms of what patient engagement tools providers are using, 88 percent said they use a patient portal, 77 percent use secure email, 72 percent use online/mobile scheduling, 68 percent use patient-generated data, 58 percent use social networks, 47 percent use wireless/wearable devices, 46 percent use intra-office tools and 39 percent use benefit design (i.e. lowered copays for smoking cessation classes).
3. Patient portals were reported as the most effective in increasing patients' meaningful participation in care, with 38 percent of respondents indicating such. Second was secure email (14 percent), followed by patient-generated data stored in the EHR (9 percent), online and mobile scheduling (8 percent) benefit design and wireless/wearables (6 percent).
4. Sixty-one percent of respondents do not plan to implement benefit design as a patient engagement in the next two years. They were also unlikely to use intra-office tools (54 percent), wireless/wearable devices (53 percent) and social networks (42 percent).
5. A majority of respondents (68 percent) said they have future plans to implement patient-generated data, but just 34 percent are currently using it at scale. This demonstrates providers' plans to advance to the next step of patient engagement initiatives, which the report deems Patient Engagement 2.0.
6. Thirty-eight percent of respondents indicated CMOs are the most-equipped to lead Patient Engagement 2.0, followed by staff physicians (35 percent), staff nurses (23 percent), CNOs (19 percent), chief marketing officers (15 percent) and chief experience officers (15 percent). Just 6 percent of respondents said patient engagement does not require dedicated attention from leadership.
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