July 17, 2019

Why Choosing The Right Patient Engagement Software Is Essential

Since the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act made electronic health records mandatory, healthcare providers have seen an influx of new software to their offices. From standard personal medical records software to more complex programs for integrated care coordination, healthcare information companies are offering increasingly powerful medical health technology, assisting doctors and hospitals in providing the best care for their patients.

One of the most important factors for improving a patient’s well-being is increasing patient engagement. Higher patient engagement results in patients feeling empowered to make decisions in their own care. When patients become invested in their treatment, they are more likely to track their symptoms, report problems early, and follow treatment protocols, leading to higher patient outcomes.

When your office is ready to select patient engagement software, either for the first time or to replace outdated patient portals, healthcare IT solutions companies will have many healthcare solutions software programs for you to choose from. The best patient engagement software will grow with your office, so consider the following important features when selecting such medical software.

Appointment Scheduling

Health information companies realize how busy medical offices are, which is why an increasing number of healthcare software systems allow patients to make appoints online rather than calling the office. This enables office staff to stay focused on managing records and patient flow through the office rather than answering the phone. Better yet, the patients appreciate avoiding the wait to speak with staff and are able to enjoy the freedom to select from different days and times that are available. A good healthcare platform should make available and unavailable times easily distinguishable, and the selection process for a time should feel intuitive to the patient.

Online Bill Payment

Multiple studies have shown that a major frustration for patients is unclear billing. For this reason, a good healthcare platform should make billing invoices clear and accessible for patients. Folding this into one patient management software program makes patients more likely to use the program than if they must navigate multiple healthcare management systems. An effective platform should empower patients to keep track of medical costs, insurance coverage, and paid and unpaid medical expenses. Such programs improve revenue collection for many practices.

Appointment Summaries And Records

With the move to electronic records, health information technology companies have provided doctors with many types of clinical documentation software. These medical software programs can feed a doctor’s notes into patient portals for patients’ personal review. However, healthcare IT software companies provide ways to sync this data with patient engagement software so that a patient can conveniently access summaries of their doctor’s visit while completing other tasks such as scheduling a follow-up appointment or checking the cost of lab work, all from the same health management system.

Prescription Refill Requests

Another way to free up office staff for more important work and save patients time is to allow patients to submit requests for prescription refills through your patient engagement software. Such healthcare software systems can also remind patients when a refill will be due soon, as well as alert patients to take medication at specific times during the day.

Accessible Online Or With A Phone App

Some of the most effective healthcare software systems are those patients can use with their phones through a secure app. Patients appreciate the accessibility of interacting with records both online when at home, or through their mobile devices, and many younger patients are significantly more likely to interact with medical software programs if those programs are mobile device friendly.

Conclusion

In the U.S., we spend almost three times more on our healthcare than any other country in the world. One of these costs to doctors is covering purchases or subscription costs for the healthcare software systems that have become essential for modern doctors’ offices. Healthcare platform companies provide a vast number of systems to help these offices run more efficiently, but an underrated and increasingly important system is your patient engagement software. Honest negotiation with health information technology companies about your office’s needs can lead you to the medical software programs needed to keep your patients connected with their doctors and invested in their treatment protocol, ensuring higher health outcomes and patient satisfaction.

For more information, don’t hesitate to reach out to the experts at Excelicare today.