The Benefits of Increased Patient Engagement for Care Outcomes and Staff Retention
By Dave Bennett
Patients and their loved ones have become more consumer-focused over the last few years when it comes to their health. This means patients are more likely to desire direct involvement in their care and will seek an experience that reflects their personalized needs and expectations. More than ever, patients are more likely to “shop” around for a health system they trust to support them through their modern healthcare journey.
Patient expectations are evolving to anticipate digital technologies at every step of the care journey. The growing reliance on technology in everyday life is leading to an increase in demand for digital solutions in healthcare. In fact, 84% of healthcare leadership surveyed by HIMSS Research agree that patients are demanding “more personalized, holistic digital experiences.” To remain competitive while driving optimal patient outcomes, healthcare organizations must thoughtfully leverage digital solutions that are more patient- and consumer-focused and provide comprehensive digital engagement that empowers patients and encourages collaboration with care teams.
Engaging patients in their care journey reduces avoidable readmissions and leads to more positive health outcomes because patients better understand and follow their recovery process. By establishing a strong patient-provider relationship, hospitals enable patients to take control of their health and to make more informed decisions. Therefore, it makes sense that hospital leadership consider how their investments in patient-facing technologies across their enterprise—from signage to more integrated engagement platforms—aid in driving the necessary care collaboration.
Creates opportunities for engagement and patient-centered care
Healthcare is increasingly a digital-first world. Patients and families visiting facilities must be greeted with an experience that fits that mindset to drive engagement, collaboration, and comfort. Patients are more likely to trust and interact with a system that’s intuitive and familiar. When planning for impactful patient engagement, healthcare leaders must consider the patient and loved ones at each step of care (planning, delivery, and evaluation) to ensure the best level of active participation and satisfaction. When patients and their support systems remain at the center of the care journey, all stakeholders are able to reach greater levels of trust and comfort.
Decision-makers must factor in the space where patients, loved ones and, of course, staff will spend their time. It’s crucial that patient rooms offer comfort and functionality that benefits both the patient in recovery and the healthcare professional providing care. Interactive Patient Systems (IPS) in patient rooms transform the smart TV technology into a collaboration center to benefit patients and staff by encouraging patients with education, meal ordering, and service request management that is streamlined in the system through back-end integrations with health information technology (HIT) including electronic health records (EHR), engineering, dietary, and facilities. The usage of the IPS typically supports the family in finding comfort, moments of positive distraction, and the ability to make informed decisions while creating staff efficiency. A win-win for everyone.
Outside of the patient’s room, digital signage solutions can provide support and reduce stress in waiting rooms by supplying answers to frequently asked questions such as wait time updates, staff bios, related services, and relevant patient education and discharge content. It’s important that patients are comfortable and welcomed from the start of the care process and that they have a positive and relaxing space to spend time in throughout their care journey. This mindset is crucial to building a positive relationship between the patient and caregivers with two-way communication. By utilizing digital signage and wayfinding to proactively provide the answers to key questions and supply step-by-step navigation through facilities, patient stress is lowered and a sense of reassurance is developed while self-efficacy is built.
Technology supports nurses and drives better patient outcomes
Building patient confidence along with the ability to manage non-clinical tasks during an admission not only drives the development of impactful patient engagement but also returns time to clinicians. By focusing only on clinical activities, healthcare staff can re-allocate time back to providing more direct patient care. Reducing clinician involvement in non-clinical tasks is especially crucial to positive patient outcomes and staff retention as the healthcare industry faces staffing shortages.
The critical nature of nurse retention strategies is underscored by the recent combination of rising labor costs and challenging staffing shortages. The cost to replace a registered nurse, on average, is more than $52,000, and from 2022 to 2023, there was a 40% increase in clinical labor costs. In addition to the cost factor, high turnover can impact staff culture which can have a negative effect on patient outcomes, trust in the care team, and potentially harm the reputation of the hospital. It is important for hospitals to look to modern solutions to address challenges that have only grown over the years.
Sometimes, the best innovations are key improvements on what already exists. The hospital TV provides the opportunity for patients, families, and staff to come together at a unified gathering point during an otherwise very hectic environment. Further developing that concept, the IPS transforms the TV into a collaborative care communication hub. It is within the realm of empowerment that the IPS shines at helping increase nurse satisfaction, retention, and positive patient outcomes.
There are four key areas where IPS supports nurses and leverages patient engagement for more positive outcomes. The IPS automates repetitive tasks through end-to-end integration with the EHR, fosters better patient outcomes by enhancing collaboration and communication with automated learning verification to confirm that staff is confident patients are ready for discharge, focuses on patient care and top-of-license practices by encouraging independence for patients to manage non-clinical tasks as nurses focus more on clinical care, and offers staff appreciation opportunities through partnerships with organizations such as DAISY and Wambi for personalized messages. By strategically leveraging technology, patients and healthcare professionals can better connect in person, trust each other as humans, and collaborate on preventative care ideas and realistic care plans.
Patient engagement helps enrich experiences for patients and caregivers
Developing healthcare facilities with welcoming environments requires strategically and purposefully implementing advanced technology and designs that answer the needs and expectations of the 2024 patient, provider, and beyond. Over the years, evidence has shown that patient engagement solutions are the best path forward to tailor care to the unique needs and preferences of each individual person and encourage patient participation. By implementing a comprehensive digital engagement platform, a healthcare organization is better able to effortlessly engage their patients and staff, drive positive outcomes, enhance workplace satisfaction, increase efficiency, improve HCAPHS scores, and distinguish the facility for providing the most thoughtful care.
Dave Bennett is the Executive Vice President – Healthcare at pCare by Uniguest. His visionary approach to patient engagement, digital and mobile technologies, and IT integration ensures continuous innovation of the #1-KLAS ranked pCare platform and a company culture dedicated to delighting customers.