Patient engagement is so important in a world where almost everything is digital… Find out what you need to do to enhance engagement and stand out within community healthcare.
Improving patient engagement is crucial for improving health outcomes and patient experience. FQHCs are critical in providing access to quality healthcare for underserved populations. This blog will show how FQHCs can improve patient engagement across their organizations. Studies show that most CHC patients do have cell phones!
How FQHCs Can Improve Patient Engagement
By improving patient engagement, FQHCs can:
- Increase patient adherence to treatment plans: Improved adherence can lead to better health outcomes. Engaged patients are more likely to understand and follow their treatment plans.
- Improve safety and the overall patient experience: Engaged patients are more likely to report adverse events and share feedback with clinical teams that help reduce medical errors.
- Increase patient self-management: Engaged patients take an active role in managing their health. They’re more likely to make lifestyle changes to improve their health outcomes.
- Improved health behaviors: Engaged patients listen to their doctors when they’re told to quit smoking. These patients may exercise more or work with a nutritionist to eat a healthy diet and increase their water consumption.
- Improve patient satisfaction: Engaged patients are more satisfied with their care and have a better overall experience with your FQHC. This can lead to improved health outcomes and better patient satisfaction scores.
Achieving patient engagement is significant in the FQHC community, where we serve a diverse and often underserved population. Engaging patients in the success of their treatment ensure health equity and addresses health disparities.
How can FQHCs improve patient engagement and achieve these important goals?
- Cultivate a patient-centered approach: Fostering a culture that prioritizes the needs and perspectives of patients is critical for engagement. FQHCs can encourage healthcare providers to listen to address patient concerns, and ultimately involve patients in decision-making about their care.
- Use technology: Healthcare is increasingly virtual and digital. Patients have grown to expect online personalized health portals, telemedicine, texting, and other tech solutions that let patients access care when and where they need it. FQHCs need to continue to modernize technology to continue to engage patients with these tools.
- Educate and provide resources: Providing patients with educational materials and resources that empower them to take a more active role in their health is exactly the kind of medicine designed to engage a population. The educational materials include information on how to manage chronic diseases with lifestyle changes and other types of preventative care.
- Build trust and respect: Building trust with your patients improves their satisfaction and increases their willingness to follow your treatment plan. You can build trust by practicing active listening and demonstrating empathy.
- Encourage patient feedback: Healthcare should be a partnership between you and your doctor. Encouraging patient feedback, and then using that information to improve the quality of care shows your target population that you’re listening and that their opinion counts.
By implementing these strategies, FQHCs can improve patient engagement and experience. Ultimately, patient engagement improves health outcomes, so it’s a “win” all the way around.
UHC Solutions understands the importance of partnerships that engage everyone in reaching their goals. That’s why we engage in partnering with FQHCs and other community healthcare clients to help them find the administrative, clinical, and operational talent that they need. Contact us today to find out how we can help your organization reach its hiring goals.