Healthcare is an ever-evolving field, but through it all, providing effective patient care remains a cornerstone of the industry. Improved patient engagement oftentimes results in a higher level of patient care, and practices can and should leverage eClinicalWorks to help.
In this blog, we explore key patient engagement features of eClinicalWorks, areas of eClinicalWorks to utilize, and how to manage workflows and processes to encourage the highest levels of patient engagement.
Key eClinicalWorks Features to Implement
There are various eClinicalWorks features designed to support patient engagement. them is the first step toward improving patient engagement outcomes.
First, establish and promote the patient portal for secure communication between medical professionals and patients, appointment scheduling, and instant access to medical records. For the most accurate and up-to-date records, you can encourage patients to update their demographic information, medical history, and medication lists directly through the portal.
healow Open Access provides a simple and secure method for booking appointments online. Reduce the frustrations of having patients call in and wait on hold while reducing your staff’s time to search for appointments and call back the patient to confirm. healow CHECK-IN and Kiosk are also available to streamline your administrative tasks of checking in patients, reviewing and capturing demographic and paying copays. Automate the complete scheduling and check in process for happier patients and staff.
Enable secure messaging functionality to facilitate direct communication between patients and healthcare providers. Secure messaging can be an efficient way for patients to ask non-urgent or follow-up questions, as well as request prescription renewals, without the hassle of driving to the clinic.
For many patients, time and travel can be a barrier. By offering virtual visits with eClinicalWorks’ telehealth capabilities, you have the opportunity to increase accessibility and convenience for patients who may be less likely to schedule or attend preventative care appointments. It is important that patients using telehealth features have the instructions and resources they need to make the visit seamless.
eClinicalWorks also provides robust healow apps to empower your patients to have access to their health data and communicate with your clinic. Included in this offering is healow Pay – providing a convenient way for your patients to make payments via a secure link in a text message. This is not only a convenience offering to your patients, but it can also speed up collections for your practice.
Lastly, eClinicalWorks has patient education resources that can provide information on various health topics. You can customize the resources to serve relevant content to individual patients, empowering them with information to actively participate in their care.
Areas of eClinicalWorks to Utilize
When the patient engagement features are implemented, it’s time to lean into different areas of eClinicalWorks that can help patients connect and engage with providers.
eClinicalWorks is capable of establishing and managing health maintenance protocols for patients using automated reminders and alerts. Examples might include upcoming preventative care, vaccination reminders, and follow-up appointments. These concepts also apply to patients with chronic conditions that require management. Using eClincalWorks, providers can create and follow care plans in conjunction with automated reminders for patients to follow treatment plans and schedule follow-up appointments.
Another area of eClincialWorks that healthcare providers can take advantage of is integrated care coordination. This provides the patient with a seamless experience, whether they are seeing their primary care provider, a specialist, or someone different, because all members of the patient care team will have access to relevant patient data.
Structuring Workflows and Processes
Many of the above features and engagement opportunities rely on workflows and processes to operate seamlessly. Here are some of the most necessary and straightforward of those:
- Appointment Reminders and Scheduling: Take control of reducing no-show rates by sending patients automated appointment reminders by email, text, or both. Patients will be able to self-schedule appointments where applicable through the patient portal, which has several positive outcomes. Patients are allowed a level of autonomy, while simultaneously reducing administrative and scheduling workload.
- Bi-Directional Communication: Create standard workflows for two-way communication directly in the patient portal. Secure messaging allows patients to ask questions and receive prompt answers from providers and their staff.
- Patient Outreach Programs: eClinicalWorks has the capability to identify which patient populations are due for annual exams, vaccines, or preventative care, then serve them with targeted outreach to improve engagement.
- Patient Satisfaction Surveys are a great way to get quick feedback from patients on their perceived experiences. This data can be used to identify areas for improvement and track overall success of patient engagement strategies.
Looking at eClinicalWorks through a patient engagement lens will help you identify areas where you can make a positive impact on patient care. If you’re unsure how to best leverage eClinicalWorks to accomplish your desired patient engagement outcomes, Ero Health can help.
