It’s no secret that today healthcare organizations are under pressure to deliver exceptional care while controlling the costs. With more patients to care for than ever before, providers are in search of strategies to reduce patient readmissions while lowering the overall cost of care.

According to the National Library of Medicine, patient centeredness, education, and empowerment are recognized as key factors for improving the delivery of healthcare. That’s why the patient engagement approach is considered a quality driver for quality care. When used correctly, patients become motivated to be better involved in their own healthcare and nurses provide the correct care needs, preferences, and conditions–resulting in reduced costs for everyone!

What is Patient Engagement

Patient Engagement is the process of earnestly and actively involving patients within their healthcare experience, or better said, healthcare with heart behind it. This strategy depends on both patients and providers to proactively engage with the healthcare journey at hand.

Engaged patients or activated patients demonstrate positive behaviors by managing their own healthcare. These patients go out of their way to schedule and show up for appointments, ask educational questions, and follow clinician instructions. Engaged providers empower patients to keep up with medical care in their everyday life. They send appointment reminders, educate about medication, offer safe check-ins, and request feedback about their experience.

This approach can fully transform a patient’s life as they become more determined to develop a sense of ownership, confidence, and education about their healthcare. Providers merely need to set the stage for a successful patient journey and lead the way to cost and readmission rates dropping. 

Engagement Strategies to Lower Costs: 

Patient Engagement is a dynamic approach taken by healthcare organizations looking to provide holistic care. Here are some strategies for improved benefits and outcomes:

Utilize technology for RPM and communication.

RPM programs reframe the patient-provider relationship by taking a prevention approach. This technology allows healthcare providers to monitor fluctuations in a patient’s health in the comfort of their own homes. A beneficial way to engage in this practice is by making sure your patient understands why they are being prescribed a monitor and how it works.

Implementing education programs for patients.

Educated patients free up provider resources by requiring less staff attention and hospital time. When an activated patient is motivated to take control of their health, they understand and build the ability to effectively manage their condition, so clinicians don’t have to!

Proactive automation programs.

Automated check-ins are proactive programs that meet patient needs before they happen, offload staff, and reduce call volume. Automated tuck-in calls are a compassionate method for making sure your patient feels considered before the long weekend. They are used to remind patients of preferred urgent care locations as well as provide a clear and friendly explanation for specific weekend care instructions.

Reducing need for visits.

According to an AHRQ report, a government agency known as the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) can impose a financial penalty on hospitals with higher-than-average readmission rates for certain conditions. Home health and hospice providers often have to shoulder readmission costs themselves, directly hitting the bottom line. That’s why it’s important to highlight patient engagement technology like after-hours triage to support provider staffing strategies. Better attended patients trust that the provider has their best interests in mind and follow care recommendations better to reduce readmissions cost.

Empowering your staff.

By reducing administrative tasks, and setting up after-hours triage, nurses can unwind on the weekends without worry. This ensures that they operate at the top of their license, freeing up time to focus on self-improvement. Engaging and empowering staff builds trust and humanizing care. Nurses will have renewed energy to care for patients and streamlined communication among each other.

Real Cost Impacts for Greene County Health Care

The use of RPM technology with Greene County Health Care has yielded impressive results in quality outcomes, efficiency, and patient engagement. Here are some of their groundbreaking features: 

Improved Outcomes:

• During the study, patients generated a total of 14,177 alerts, indicating potential health issues or deviations from the baseline readings. Remarkably, only 1% of the alerts required escalation to a healthcare provider, showcasing the efficiency of the automated triaging system in identifying critical cases.
• The program significantly increased treatment compliance rates, ensuring that more individuals consistently adhere to their prescribed treatment plans.
• By proactively managing patient health and reducing ER visits and hospitalizations, Greene County recognized significant cost savings, making an RPM a viable investment in modern healthcare.

Patient Experience and Engagement:

• Patients in the RPM program reported a higher level of satisfaction due to increased engagement in their health management.
• The program had a 99% adherence to treatment plans and lifestyle changes.
• 90% of patients would recommend these services to others.

Automated Efficiency and Healthcare Workflow:

• The ability to virtually visit patients and triage needs reserved precious healthcare resources and staff time for the most critical cases.
• Automating targeted outreach increasingly engaged patients in their care plans, anticipated needs, and kept patients healthier at home.
• CareXM’s platform analytics helped early identify patient deterioration, enabling providers to intervene before conditions worsened, resulting in improved patient outcomes.

Lower Costs and Reduce Readmissions Today with CareXM

The application of patient engagement alongside the CareXM RPM platform in Greene County shows the potential of proactive care and automated efficiency in modern healthcare. With significant reductions in ER visits and hospitalizations, improved patient outcomes, and cost effectiveness, CareXM is a transformative solution that enhances the healthcare landscape, offering quality care to all. As healthcare continues to evolve, patient engagement remains a crucial component of advancing patient-centered care and improving overall health outcomes. 

Fortunately, CareXM is the kind of experienced, clinical partner you can count on to deliver the help you need to elevate your patient and caregiver experiences. Our mission is to help our partners effortlessly anticipate and respond to patient needs with triage technology backed by our on-demand triage team. Whether you need after-hours triage, our cost-saving hybrid triage solutions, or in-house triage call-center infrastructure, we help you flex and extend your care, so you reach patients in the moments they need help the most. From home health and hospice to health systems and more, CareXM will transform your patient approach to lower operating costs.