Driving patient engagement. In order to improve outcomes, healthcare organizations are working hard to engage patients in the healthcare process. Patient engagement strategies vary from organization to organization, depending on the specific situation. But the strategies share a common goal: improving patient care with patient partnerships that offer better options.
Here are some examples of successful strategies that are working in real life.
- Decreasing ER visits and wait times with telemedicine services. Overcrowded ERs with long wait times are the bane of most hospitals with ER services. Many visits are not for true emergencies. In order to improve ER services, NewYork-Presbyterian began a telemedicine service for urgent-care patients in November of 2016. Since that time, 1,500 patients have been virtually seen by board-certified emergency medicine physicians from Weill Cornell Medicine. The physicians are able to diagnose and treat the virtual patients and also prescribe medications. This decreases ER wait times, and many of the virtual patient visits can be completed in 30 minutes or less.
- Improving the discharge process. Discharging a patient from the hospital can be a complex process, as there are many pieces involved. The Johns Hopkins Hospital developed the Bridge to Home program to provide support to patients and their families/caregivers at discharge. RN transition guides meet with the patient in the hospital prior to discharge, and work with the patient to identify a person (family member or friend) who can serve as the patient’s “health buddy,” providing support as the patient is discharged and returned home. The transition guides then visit the patient in his/her home to make sure that the patient understands and is following discharge plans.
- Increasing patient and family engagement. Northern Westchester Hospital (a member of Northwell Health) in Mount Kisco, NY developed a Patient and Family Engagement Council. Patient and family members provide feedback to the hospital on quality improvement efforts, including designing an ICU family orientation program and making over the hospital’s discharge checklist to improve patient and family preparation for discharge.