“e-Patients are driving a healthcare revolution of major proportions. The old Industrial Age paradigm, in which health professionals were viewed as the exclusive source of medical knowledge and wisdom, is gradually giving way to a new Information Age worldview in which patients, family caregivers, and the systems and networks they create are increasingly seen as important healthcare resources. But the emerging world of the e-patient cannot be fully understood and appreciated in the context of pre-Internet medical constructs.”
Tom Ferguson, M.D. | Austin, Texas | January 2006
Traditionally, initiatives aimed at enhancing the patient experience focused on improvements to the physical structure or the inpatient episode of care. While these tactics are necessary simply to maintain a level playing field, they are no longer a differentiator. In an industry where valet parking, waterfalls in the lobby, flat screen televisions and posh private rooms on par with those at upscale hotels have all become cliché, hospital leaders should be looking for ways to create an online patient experience that provides a distinct competitive advantage.
Rather than using the Meaningful Use objectives as their patient portal buying criteria, organizations should look at the portal as an opportunity to address the 360-degree online needs of patients, which begin with their search for health information, progress to their experience with the organization’s public-facing website, and continue through the ongoing stages of post-acute disease management. By addressing patients’ comprehensive needs across the care continuum, healthcare organizations can separate themselves from the pack and become the “e-patient preferred” provider in their respective communities. In this way, their online patient engagement investments will help them not only achieve the 10% patient access threshold required to collect Meaningful Use incentives, but directly impact core strategic goals of winning lasting patient loyalty, improving the quality of care, driving revenue, and maximizing the return on strategic assets and service lines.
Taking a strategic approach to online patient engagement requires an understanding that at the end of the day, patients want to live as near normal a life as possible, independent of their medical problems. Research and our own experience have taught us that patients really want access to online tools that will help them manage their health as easily as they manage their bank accounts. While Meaningful Use Stage 2 is a step in the right direction, patients’ existing expectations far exceed being provided basic access to their health information. Online banking users don’t just view their account balance or transaction details; rather, they interact with the data—making payments, transferring money, applying for credit, asking questions, and so on.
Just as banks provide a single web presence for customers to open and manage their checking accounts, savings accounts, credit cards, and mortgages, your patients expect the same from you. While self-service technologies will never completely replace human resources, e-patients prefer the convenience of self-service transactions and are highly likely to choose a hospital that offers them. Extending conveniences like online bill pay, appointment scheduling and pre-registration are basic requirements to engage connected patients or their family members – these are barebones capabilities they will expect based on their interactions with other industries.
