What is Patient Engagement Really Worth? Patient Safety? Higher Reimbursement? Lower Operational Costs?
Putting patients first – is the ultimate focus of the newly emerged value based care systems - but is it really worth anything to the bottom-line for providers? Currently, healthcare has become patient-centric and patients are having stronger voices in healthcare decisions and ensure that the care that they receive specifically meets their needs and preferences. As quoted by Susan Dentzer, editor of Health Affairs, patient engagement is the “blockbuster of 21st century”. Beyond safety and patient considerations, effective patient engagements means that you can save operational costs to manage patients throughout the continuum of care and also increase your reimbursements.
PATIENT ENGAGEMENT LEADS TO SAFER AND HIGHER QUALITY CARE
Patients are the ultimate care receivers and it is a fact that though the physician is a trained medical practitioner, he is not a perfect communicator nor can he read the patients’ minds. When patients are involved in their care procedures, they are more likely to adhere and respond better to the medications and other treatment procedures and the occurrences of any emergency treatments or complex situations.
Utilizing technologies for visit reminders, treatment reminders, outcome tracking, automating follow-up visits, and collaboration with other patient physicians and caregivers not only help strengthen the patient provider trust relationship -- it also leads to higher quality care. Working together with the patients, the healthcare providers foster an environment wherein patients provide better subjective evidence to conversations and understand the need for prescribed medical procedures.
PATIENT ENGAGEMENT LEADS TO HIGHER REIMBURSEMENT
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) has shifted its reimbursement system to patient outcomes. Hospitals are no longer paid for the care delivery without analyzing their success rates. Care providers are financially rewarded or penalized depending on the outcomes of the care.
The trend toward value care or episode based or bundled care pricing is not going away - it is consistently in the top 3 future trends for healthcare. And it's not just CMS either -- when Lifecycle Health is speaking with healthcare providers in the last 6 months, the comments seem to be more concerned around "The pricing and operational challenges for Value Care or bundled episode is not just CMS any more -- during our latest contract renewals with commercial payers, they are now desiring the same organization and setup for patient bundles. This scenario is a real problem for healthcare providers as we need streamline our operations for both CMS and commercial patients to track bundles and patients effectively, and there is no real way to do this. This is why we have been impressed with the Lifecycle Health platform - it is tackling this issue."
PATIENT ENGAGEMENT FOSTERS SELF MANAGEMENT
When care receivers are well-informed about their medical condition and involved in all the decisions relating to the same, they are in a better position to recognize, treat, and manage their own health problems. People suffering from chronic illnesses such as diabetes, arthritis, asthma, need to manage their daily lives and living habits to be able to cope up with the treatment procedure they have undergone and secure the results for a longer duration.
Moreover, as a result of active learning, the complete scenario in the office visit process appears to have changed. Patients are well-equipped with provider-approved information related to their healthcare conditions and they are in a position to optimize office visits only when certain clarification is required.
PATIENT ENGAGEMENT IMPROVES FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONS EFFICIENCY
It is quite obvious. Since patients are involved in their healthcare discussions and are well-informed about what they need to do to take care of them once they get back home, there is little left at the physician’s end. The provider may give them a checklist which ensures that the necessary care is taken rather than delaying discharge of the patient from the hospital, costing more to both the patient and the provider.
The many benefits of patient engagement and healthcare technology have been proven to outweigh the challenges and costs of implementation. Providers and patients are enthusiastically extending their hands for the cause of collaborative, technological healthcare processes that would ease the journey while investing in better population health at affordable prices.
Value based care – as we call it now, is an outcome of a 360 degree involvement in healthcare and has changed the parameters of medical treatment procedures. Patients are empowered with medical knowledge and have the right to participate in their own care. There are patient management and coordination automation software that make it an easier process for you and your patients - and you do not have to break the bank on implementation!
LifeCycle Health is one among those who bridge the gap between all the members involved in a particular healthcare episode by bringing them to a single environment where they can share, interact, discuss, and communicate more effectively regarding the patient's care path. Get to know more about our multi-provider healthcare methods, care coordination, and easy patient management platform capabilities.
To collaborate your healthcare journeys with us, visit us at www.lifecyclehealth.com and experience immense care satisfaction for your patients, and gain significant efficiencies for your practice.