What characteristics make up effective patient engagement?

While many health care providers and health care organizations stress the importance of patient engagement, they have a long way to go to achieve effective patient communication. Paula Lozano, MD, senior investigator with GHRI, discussed the role readiness and other factors play in a patient’s decision to make a change in their health and well-being in an article published on EHRIntelligence.com.

Frankly, there’s a lot of talk about engaging patients. For some health organizations and clinicians, raising patient engagement can be elusive without solid strategies in place. Dr. Lozano knows there are ways to effectively achieve greater patient engagement that can lead to improved patient outcomes. She outlined a few key ideas toward this aim:

• The most effective way to engage patients is to meet them where they are. Base care decisions on their individual needs, not on what is convenient to a health system or physician practice.
• Patient readiness is at the heart of a patient’s success in changing their health or well-being for the better.
• Better patient engagement is a win-win: Patients, caregivers and payers all benefit from increased patient engagement.

Read the full article on EHRIntelligence.com.