Now more than ever, patients have the opportunity to stay connected with their practitioners outside of the exam room. Research reveals that digital care between clinic visits, such as emails, texts, or voicemail, is exactly the type of additional patient experience healthcare patients want and expect from their healthcare practitioner.
As high-tech engagement continues to shape healthcare, we’re witnessing a patient’s location and even weather conditions become lesser issues. Practitioners are creating meaningful experiences with each patient—even when they’re not face-to-face—to remain an active part of their daily life.
We have found that patients want their practitioners and staff to make it personal.
When it comes to communicating between in-person visits via email, voicemail and text, the following four personalisation tips can enhance the practitioner-patient relationship:
Use their first name. Forty-four percent of healthcare consumers surveyed said they would like all communication from their practitioner to be personalised with their name.- Make all communication specific to their illness. Fifty-eight percent of patients want messages from practitioners to be personalised to fit their needs, such as educational facts about their illness related to their gender, age and location.
- Make sure communication maps to their treatment plan. Fifty-three percent of patients expect their communications with healthcare professionals to be relevant to them as an individual. Sending patient-specific reminders to monitor their pain levels or their check exercise tolerance, for example, can make them feel engaged and prepared.
- Know your patient’s specific goals and customise messages to help them reach that goal. Forty-four percent of patients expect their healthcare professional to know what services and treatments they want or need.
Forward-thinking healthcare practitioners are a driving force for improving the collective health of Australians. Patients are always listening, and that engaging them between clinic visits will encourage and inspire them to embrace treatment plans. Personalised and ongoing patient engagement will activate positive lifestyle changes and help people of all ages lead healthy lives.
