Patients' health behaviors can be heavily influenced by publicly available information and the level of trust they have in that information.
During the executive roundtable at Becker's 9th Annual Health IT + Digital Health + RCM Conference, Andrew (AJ) Shultz, Chief Product and Strategy Officer at PatientPoint, led a discussion on increasing patient engagement by providing patients with better information about their overall health and care.
Three key takeaways were:
- There are opportunities to better engage patients in their care journey.
Many patients feel insecure in their ability to describe their symptoms or understand terminology their physician is using during a visit. However, a PatientPoint survey shows health-related searches on the internet are decreasing while trust in the information provided in a clinical setting is increasing.
"The four walls of the physician office or adjacent waiting room are incredibly important channels for us to think about how we're communicating and what we're communicating to patients," AJ said.
- Better patient engagement influences and improves preventive health behavior.
PatientPoint's technology and educational approach are based on "nudging" patients during multiple touchpoints — including pre-visit, waiting room, exam room, clinical encounter and post-visit — to prompt questions about health checks or other procedures.
Provider practices that have implemented PatientPoint's technology have seen a 20% increase in colon cancer screenings, a 28% increase in flu vaccinations and a 45% increase in mammography exams, according to data compiled by PatientPoint. In turn, increased preventive care-seeking behavior leads to higher volume of Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes to bill for health services, driving revenue.
- Customizable content helps physicians deliver better care
Most PatientPoint offerings are geared toward ambulatory settings. They are video-based and include animation slides, text slides or full-length videos. Content is fully customizable and replaceable by the practice and are styled like playlists. Some videos also feature content intended to walk patients through procedures to soothe their anxiety.
"All of our procedure videos are aimed at dimensionalizing and explaining to patients, 'Here's what's about to happen to you,'" AJ highlighted.