Patient Engagement: Improve Communication, Improve Care · readmissions and better patient...
Transcript of Patient Engagement: Improve Communication, Improve Care · readmissions and better patient...
Patient Engagement: Improve Communication, Improve Care
November 2016
Healthcare providers say communication is necessary to improve routine care, reduce hospital readmissions and better patient satisfaction scores.
West surveyed 383 healthcare professionals to
learn more about how doctors and healthcare
teams communicate with patients. Findings revealed
that physicians, hospitals and health systems are
all focusing on increasing patient engagement
communications to improve healthcare delivery. This
indicates healthcare professionals believe they can
engage patients, influence behaviors and improve
health outcomes by sending targeted outreach
messages. About half of the survey participants
were physicians or their staff, and the remaining
half of respondents represented hospitals and
health systems. Respondents from various roles
and organizations agreed that communication is
necessary to improve routine care, reduce hospital
readmissions and better patient satisfaction scores.
Healthcare providers say more communication is the key to improving care and patient experiences – and they are backing that claim up by increasing outreach and engagement efforts.
A whopping 95 percent of hospitals and health
systems are using engagement communications to
avoid hospital readmissions, according to the West
survey findings.
It’s easy to see why. Readmissions are bad for
patients and they carry substantial penalties. In the
time period between October 2016 and September
2017, Medicare will withhold more than half a billion
dollars in payments from hospitals that incurred
penalties based on readmission ratesi. These
penalties affect about half of the hospitals in the
United States.
Hospitals and health systems are aware of the
fact that poor communication following a patient’s
discharge from the hospital is a problem, and they
are interested in fixing it. The West Healthcare
Practice survey revealed that half (50 percent) of
acute care professionals feel that a lack of follow-
up on a hospital’s end is a leading factor that
contributes to readmissions. Another 32 percent say
that insufficient communication after discharge is at
least partly to blame for readmissions.
The idea that hospitals should do more to support
patients after they have been discharged from the
hospital is shared by patients, too. Patient feedback
collected through Medicare’s HCAHPS (Hospital
Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers
and Systems) confirms that patients who have been
hospitalized feel there needs to be more hospital-
led communication post-discharge, with half of them
saying they were confused about some part of their
care instructions after leaving the hospital.
Hospitals and Health Systems Improve Communication to Reduce Readmissions
Hospitals Penalized for Readmissions
2,597 hospitals in the U.S. will face readmission penalties over the next 12 monthsi.
Between October 2016 and September 2017, Medicare will withhold more than half a billion dollars in payments from hospitals.
These penalties affect more than half of the hospitals in the United States.
To avoid future penalties, 95% of hospitals and health systems are using engagement communications to reduce readmissions.
Post-discharge communication efforts help to
improve patient satisfaction scores. Two of the 32
questions on the HCAHPS surveys specifically
ask about discharge information. These surveys
measure patients’ perspectives on hospital care,
so to protect financial interests, it is important
for hospitals to score well on these surveys. The
majority (83 percent) of hospital and health system
providers understand that money is at stake,
saying they believe patient satisfaction will play a
substantially more important role in their hospital’s
success over the next five years. And, nine out
of ten acute care professionals believe sending
patients automated reminders and encouragement
to follow care plans after they have been discharged
from the hospital improves patient satisfaction.
The West survey revealed that three quarters (77
percent) of hospitals follow up with at least one out
of every two patients discharged from their facility.
The number one reason hospitals contact patients
after they have been discharged from the hospital is
to remind them about follow-up appointments – 86
percent of survey respondents claim they do this.
The second most common reason given for
contacting patients after discharge is health
monitoring. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of
surveyed hospitals check in with patients post-
discharge to collect information about the patient’s
condition and give specific care instructions.
Providers and Patients Point To Follow-Up
of acute care professionals feel that poor follow-up by hospitals is to blame for readmissions.
of acute care professionals say that insufficient follow-up after discharge is at least partly to blame for readmissions.
of discharged patients are unclear about care instructions.
50%
85%
32%
1/2
Patient Satisfaction Impacts Reimbursement
of hospital and health system providers believe patient satisfaction will play a bigger role in their hospital’s success over the next five years.
When hospitals send automated post-discharge
communications to monitor health, they can also
ask probing questions that will give them insights
into how they are performing in the patient
satisfaction category.
Survey results showed that 53 percent of hospitals
connect with patients regarding medication
adherence, 38 percent contact patients about
medication reconciliation, 23 percent follow up to
provide wellness information, and 21 percent reach
out to patients to communicate about billing.
Post-Discharge Communication Trends
77 percent of hospitals follow up with at least one out of every two patients discharged from their facility.
Of the hospitals that reach out to patients after they’ve been discharged:
contact patients to deliver follow-up appointment reminders.
contact patients to monitor their health status.
contact patients regarding medication adherence.
contact patients about medication reconciliation.
contact patients to share wellness information.
contact patients to communicate billing info.
86%
73%53%38%23%21%
Physicians are directing a bulk of their outreach
toward routine care and prevention. Specifically,
80 percent of physicians are using engagement
communications to improve routine care. And, more
than half (52 percent) of medical practices say
they are highly committed to prevention-focused
outreach that gets patients into the office for
routine services and promotes prevention behaviors
as a part of daily life.
Medical practices reveal that when they do reach
out to patients and encourage them to schedule
routine exams or services, the results are very
favorable. For 45 percent of physicians, outreach
converts into appointments at least half of the
time. That means at least one out of every two
sent messages results in a patient visit for those
providers. Another 38 percent of physicians are
able to convert around 20-50 percent of outreach
attempts into appointments. Ultimately, nine out of
every ten physicians gain increased patient visits
when they perform even a minimal amount of
outreach to promote routine care.
It is not surprising that physicians are prioritizing
prevention-themed communications. Not only does
routine care play an important role in keeping
patients healthy, it is an area of healthcare that
is underutilized and, when cultivated, can grow
revenue for practices. Americans currently use
routine care at only half the suggested rateii.
Encouraging patients to schedule preventive care
services that they are eligible to receive – often at
no cost – can add up to thousands of preventive
screenings a year and hundreds of thousands of
dollars in additional revenue. The fact is, wellness
visits drive increased revenue and they improve
health outcomes for patients, so there are good
reasons to campaign for them.
Physicians Zero in on Routine Care
Preventive Care Promotion is Effective
Nine out of every ten physicians say outreach promoting routine care generates appointments.
45 percent of physicians convert outreach into appointments half of the time.
38 percent of physicians convert outreach attempts into appointments between 20-50 percent of the time.
Physicians Embracing Prevention-Focused Outreach
of physicians use engagement communications to improve routine care.80%
Participation In Routine Care Is Too Low
Americans only use routine care at half the suggested rate.ii
Ochsner Health System, a large Louisiana-based
health system, learned first-hand about the
financial impact of prevention-driven engagement
communications when it implemented an automated
phone notifications program. Ochsner sent
notifications to a group of 3,137 patients with recent
orders for a colonoscopy or upper endoscopy.
Ochsner knows people are reluctant to schedule
these preventive screenings even though they are
covered under the Affordable Care Act. Ochsner’s
messages urged patients to push a button on
their phone to initiate the process of scheduling
an exam. After only one month, 578 of the 3,137
patients contacted had scheduled a screening —
a conversion rate of 18.4 percent. Overall, the
preventive screenings from the two-month calling
campaign generated $684,930 in revenue, based
on the national average of $1,185 for procedure.
For Ochsner and its patients, the financial and
health outcomes made this campaign more
than worthwhile.
When thinking about engagement campaigns for
routine care, medical practices should consider
implementing seasonal prevention campaigns.
More than half (64 percent) of medical practices
say they haven’t executed a campaign of this
nature. However, the 36 percent that have are
seeing success.
Ochsner Health’s ROI
Ochsner Health System generated $684,930 during a two-month preventive care campaign.
18.4% of patients (578 of 3,137) contacted by Ochsner scheduled a preventive screening.
MetroHealth, for example, executed a program that
identified patients that needed immunizations. By
sending parents an automated message reminding
them to get their children vaccinated, MetroHealth
prompted about 40 percent of those contacted to
get their children immunized. Messaging costs were
less than 1 percent of gross revenue generated
from additional visits. By taking MetroHealth’s
approach, medical practices can easily generate
revenue by executing an engagement campaign
aimed at patients who are in need of flu shots.
Similarly, Willow Bend Pediatrics conducted a
seasonal campaign to relieve pressure on their
schedule. The practice wanted to encourage
parents to schedule back-to-school exams and
sports physicals during the summer months to
avoid an overload in the fall. Using automated voice
notifications, Willow Bend added 267 more June-
August appointments than they had scheduled the
previous year. That translated into an estimated
revenue increase of $43,770 for the practice.
How Healthcare Providers Communicate with Patients is Evolving
Medical teams have several communication
methods to choose from when contacting patients.
While automated voicemails still reign supreme, the
ways in which providers communicate with patients
are evolving. The West survey revealed that, today,
both physicians and hospitals believe patients prefer
to receive voicemails ahead of any other type of
communication. About 50 percent of physicians say
patients prefer voicemails as their top method of
communication, 23 percent say text messages, 11
percent vote for email, 9 percent say patient portals
are preferred for messages, and only 5 percent
believe patients like snail mail communications.
Five years ago, 86 percent of providers said they
weren’t using text messaging at all to communicate
with patients. Today, 23 percent of physicians say
their patients prefer to receive text messages
over any other form of communication. And, a
large majority (80 percent) of hospitals and health
systems believe their patients are receptive to
receiving text messages about their care. They
also believe sending text messages to patients can
strongly influence patients to take specific actions,
like schedule a follow up appointment or pay a bill.
It’s clear the trend toward using text messaging
to engage patients will continue to become more
widely adopted.
64% of medical practices are not taking advantage of opportunities to promote seasonal services.
MetroHealth earned extra revenue by executing a seasonal campaign that converted 40% of outreach into immunizations.
Willow Bend Pediatrics implemented a back-to-school outreach campaign that generated $43,770 in 3 months.
Seasonal Campaigns Drive Year-Round Revenue
The Rise of Text Messaging
Five years ago, 86% of providers said they weren’t using text messaging at all to communicate with patients.
Today, 23% of physicians say their patients prefer text messages over other forms of communication.
of physicians say patients prefer voicemails.
of physicians say patients prefer emails.
of physicians say patients prefer using patient portals.
of physicians say patients prefer traditional mailings.
11%
50%
9%
5%
In comparison:
Communication with patients through online
patient portals is a trend that deserves
attention, because portal use is also on the rise.
Healthcare organizations tend to like portals
because there is a link between portal use and
patients paying for services. This could motivate
providers to steer patients toward using portals
for sending messages, scheduling appointments,
viewing lab results or submitting requests
regarding medications.
As healthcare providers look for ways to increase
communication, it’s only natural they also seek
more efficient ways to monitor their patients’
health remotely. The West survey revealed that,
as of now, only about one-third of hospitals and
health systems have the ability to receive patient
health information from at-home monitoring
devices and then respond in a timely, appropriate
manner. But, many are looking to adopt this
technology in the near future. In fact, 80 percent
of medical practices believe there is potential for
physicians to use wearable devices to monitor
the health of patients. This is a trend to watch as
communication between providers and patients
continues to evolve.
Trend Watch: Monitoring Via Wearable Devices
of medical professionals believe there is potential for physicians to use wearable devices to monitor the health of patients. 80%
Now that healthcare organizations have realized they can drive engagement and influence both behaviors and health outcomes by sending targeted technology-enabled communications, patients across the board are being issued calls-to-action by their medical teams. Hospitals and health systems are increasing communication, especially during the window of time shortly after discharge when they know patients are particularly vulnerable. Physicians are expanding communication efforts to more aggressively promote critical preventive care.
As the trend toward increased communication continues, the expectation is that patients will receive higher quality care and better overall experiences.
West’s Engagement Center solutions help
organizations effectively activate and engage
patients beyond the clinical setting. West’s
unique combination of technology-enabled
communications and clinically managed
resources are designed to improve patient
engagement by solving complex communication
challenges in four key areas along the care
continuum: Patient Access, Routine Care,
Chronic Care and Transition Care. By providing
innovative technology and delivering meaningful
and relevant communications, West enables
healthcare organizations to optimize the patient
experience, improve quality, maximize revenue
and reduce costs.
West is a leading provider of technology-driven
communications, serving Fortune 1000 companies
and clients in a variety of industries, including:
healthcare, telecommunications, retail, financial
services, public safety, and technology.
About West
i http://khn.org/news/more-than-half-of-hospitals-to-be-penalized-for-excess-readmissions Accessed Oct 2016
ii Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Preventive Healthcare. Accessed Sept 2016 http://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/toolstemplates/entertainmented/tips/preventivehealth.html
Sources
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