Patient Perspectives on Patient Engagement Technology 2020

Helpful, patient-centric technology augments the collaborative relationships that providers seek to build with patients.

Providers and vendors aren’t always aligned with patient desires.

Current tools and future development should center around the vision of a one-stop-shop for patients that meets them where they are.

Patients in Collaborative Relationships More Likely to View Technology as Helpful

Patients who describe the relationship with their healthcare provider as “collaborative” are twice as likely as those with a “detached” relationship to find technology to be very helpful. They are also three times as likely to find value in technology-assisted patient/provider communication, which enables them to feel connected without face-to-face visits. And connected patients also tend to see more benefits from their patient portal. Patients with a “detached” provider relationship typically want to be autonomous in their care, looking more for transactional points of contact with their provider. The technologies these patients find most impactful are, for example, online bill pay, automatic prescription refill requests, provider search/matching, and self-scheduling. These patients are also twice as likely to want future development of price-transparency tools to help them find the best provider to meet their immediate needs.

“I would like a chat platform that I can use to communicate with my caregiver directly about questions and issues.”—Patient and caregiver of child, 30–49 years old, reports collaborative relationship with provider

“There should be tools that allow me to make requests for new medications or refills and change appointments without having to jump through multiple hoops. There is so much excess work in areas where things could be greatly simplified.” —Patient and caregiver of child, 30–49 years old, reports detached relationship with provider

Definitions

Collaborative: Healthcare provider knows patient and patient’s family members well. A partnership in which patient’s goals and needs are understood and accommodated.

Reactive: Interaction happens as needed. Relationship is generally effective at resolving individual care needs as they arise.

Detached: Patient and provider have little to no ongoing relationship. Interactions are usually impersonal.

A Note about Bias:

Patients who participated in this study were invited to do so via social media and other technological means, so they are likely to be more technology savvy than the general public. The intent of this study is to point the industry (providers and technology vendors) toward patient needs and opinions, not offer a scientific representation of the voice of any and all patient groups. KLAS is considering doing a deeper analysis in the future about patients’ perspectives on engagement tools. If your organization is interested in partnering with KLAS on more in-depth patient research, please contact us at patientengagement@klasresearch.com.

Patients have a strong desire to understand their symptoms and healthcare needs and then find the right physician to help them. However, so far, provider investment and vendor development have not aligned with that desire. Only one in five patient engagement vendors measured by KLAS offers a triage/symptom-checker tool today. However, vendors may be headed in the right direction—vendors often partner with each other to offer their provider customers web-based provider search/matching capabilities. Patient account management is also important to patients. Provider investment in this area is moderate, but vendor development has lagged, especially when it comes to price transparency.

“I would like something that gives me knowledge about a physician before I visit so I can choose the best one. Also, there should be a tool that gives me a way to communicate my symptoms to a provider and request treatments or tests as needed.”—Patient, 30–49 years old

Today's Reality

“I like to be able to get information without needing to have an appointment. I prefer to just quickly connect with the provider to discuss any questions I have. Then if a personal visit is necessary, I can easily book an appointment.”—Patient, 50–64 years old

“My provider often sends reminders for upcoming appointments I should set up for my kids. I should be able to access a portal for my kids’ healthcare information, but I struggled to access it the couple of times I tried. There was some sort of error on the provider’s end, and in frustration, I gave up on it after trying what they suggested and it not working. I decided it was not worth the effort.”—Caregiver of child, 30–49 years old

“I am able to message my child’s doctor with medical questions and receive quick responses about whether or not my child needs to be seen in the office.”—Caregiver of child, 30–49 years old

“I do like the patient portal; however, it would be very difficult to use if I weren't very technology savvy. I can barely figure it out.”—Patient, 50–64 years old

Technology for scheduling is helpful. Calling in and working out appointments over the phone is the worst.”—Patient and caregiver of child, 30–49 years old

“Technology helps me communicate with my doctor via the portal and view all my records.”—Patient, 30–49 years old

“The best healthcare use case is providing accessible information such as records. Also, it is helpful for ease of scheduling and screening reminders.”—Caregiver of child, 30–49 years old

“I haven’t experienced a best use of patient engagement technology yet. All these tools have done is make the process more impersonal for office staff and providers alike.”—Patient and caregiver of child, 30–49 years old

“The best use of technology I have seen was the patient portal at my IVF clinic. It had a full record of my visits, I could access lab results online immediately, and I could email back and forth with the nurse.”—Patient, 30–49 years old

“I love being able to use email to contact my doctor and receive immediate results. Online scheduling is also important for me because I dislike waiting on the phone to talk to a human. And email reminders about appointments or needed tests or procedures are very helpful.”—Patient, caregiver of child, and caregiver of parent, 50–64 years old

“When I first come to the office to check in, I am given a tablet to do that, and that has been useful.”—Patient, caregiver of child, and caregiver of parent, 18–29 years old

“Nothing I have seen yet qualifies as a best use of technology that simplifies my experience. More patient-friendly technology would be good.”—Patient, 18–29 years old

“My provider is only just now getting online appointment scheduling. Almost everything is still done through mail.”—Patient and caregiver of child, 18–29 years old

Future Outlook

“I prefer a simple system with just telehealth, medical records, and provider messaging. I find and choose my doctors through my insurance, I use Google Maps to find the location of a facility, and I use scholarly articles to learn more about health conditions. I don't see much value in having these things duplicated in a health portal. It is better for the portal to stick to facilitating connections with data and providers in ways that can't be done better by other tools.”—Caregiver of child, 30–49 years old

“I would like a more user-friendly app that is used across the board so that all my medical information can be in one place.”—Patient and caregiver of child, 30–49 years old

“I want a single portal that allows me to make an appointment, check in online, view lab results, communicate with my physician, and so forth. The medical portal used by my physician is not very user friendly. It could use an overhaul.”—Patient, 30–49 years old

“Companies need to simplify the patient user experience online. It seems like there are disparate systems that are being used, and I as a patient have no idea which system does what.”—Patient, 30–49 years old

“We need the ability to communicate with providers via technology. Currently, it is extremely hard to contact providers without being in front of them in their office.”—Patient, 30–49 years old

“I want a patient portal that has everything in one place, including visit summaries, checkup reminders, and billing reminders.”—Patient, 18–29 years old

"There should be a single place that gives me access to all my medical records, test results, and so forth so I can own my health data and share it as needed with various providers."—Patient and caregiver of child, 30–49 years old

“We need something that combines the results of past appointments with scheduling for upcoming visits. Also, it would be helpful to get assistance navigating what type of doctor I should see. For example, for back pain, should I see a chiropractor, my general practitioner, a physical therapy provider, or someone else?”—Patient and caregiver of child, 30–49 years old

“There should be a single source of truth regarding my medical history. Why are providers still giving me paper forms to complete when I have already provided this information to their health system? Also, I should be able to ask questions about my care easily and get communication regarding test results in plain English.”—Patient, 30–49 years old

“People need a one-stop-shop type of resource that is easy to use and intuitive. Healthcare is really complicated and overwhelming for most people, and that results in a lot of people avoiding seeking care when they need it. That has been my experience.”—Patient and caregiver of child, 30–49 years old

“It would be great if my provider could figure out how to successfully let me manage my appointments and bill pay from one source. The portal my provider uses sucks eggs. Please let them know I said that.”—Patient and caregiver of child, 18–29 years old

“We need all-in-one apps for refilling medications, requesting appointments, asking questions of the provider, and sharing important data and lab results. Also, we should have full access to our own medical records.”—Patient and caregiver of child, 30–49 years old