Patient Perspectives on Patient Engagement Technology 2022
Identifying Opportunities to Align Patient, Organization, and Vendor Priorities

Ideally, HIT usage and goals should align across patients, provider organizations, and vendors. When vendors and provider organizations sync their technology strategies with patient needs and expectations, their intention is to increase patient engagement and improve outcomes. In some areas, patients, organizations, and vendors are aligned—for example, family/caregiver collaboration tools and systems that allow patients to find doctors are of relatively low importance to all parties. But some functionalities that patients greatly desire are currently limited or unavailable due to a lack of vendor development or a lack of readiness or willingness from provider organizations.

Patients see great potential in the ability to self-schedule appointments and request prescription refills, yet these areas are where provider investment and vendor delivery fall the most short of patient expectations. While alignment between what patients desire, what provider organizations adopt, and what vendors deliver is important, misalignment doesn’t always indicate an issue. For example, while patients don’t identify patient satisfaction surveys or educational information as top priorities, both can bring value—surveys can give provider organizations important insights to improve the patient experience, and meaningful educational information can benefit patients and improve health outcomes.

As patients become more empowered consumers, provider organizations and vendors will need to collaborate with patients and enhance system capabilities so patients can more conveniently engage in their care.

† The data on provider organizations’ top areas of investment comes from a report published in late 2020 in which vendors’ deepest adopting customer organizations were surveyed regarding which capabilities they use from their vendor.

‡ The data on vendors’ top areas of delivery comes from vendor-reported information in the 2021 Patient Engagement Ecosystem report.

§ Because the patient perspectives represented in this report were provided by patients as they were using technology to register or check in for an appointment, the importance of registration/check-in technology to patients may be inflated in the data.

Note: The four abilities shown above have the greatest gaps between what patients want to do online/via app and what they can do online/via app.

Patients Value Convenience Most When Seeking Care; Digital Access Tools Are Significant Opportunity for Organizations

Patients were asked what they most value in choosing a provider organization, aside from the quality of the medical care they would receive. While facility proximity has been and continues to be an important consideration, patients are placing increased focus on provider organizations’ digital access tools (e.g., appointment check-in, online appointment booking, price transparency, online bill-pay, online communications). Younger patients—those 18–34 years old—are almost twice as likely to choose organizations that have digital access tools, especially for price transparency. Understandably, patients with commercial insurance are more likely than patients with government insurance to prioritize provider organizations that have price transparency tools.

Patient portals were implemented largely so organizations could meet meaningful use requirements rather than deeply engage patients in their care. Only 33% of respondents interact with a portal at least once a month, and 26% say they still don’t use a portal—patients in the youngest age group (18–24 years old) are the most likely to fall into this category (39% report never using the portal). Vendor development of portals has matured, and patients mention having many capabilities. Respondents prioritize actionable features that directly affect their ability to receive care, such as the ability to request prescription refills, request referrals, and schedule appointments. Capabilities that largely benefit provider organizations, like the ability to update insurance information, are far less important to patients. To further engage patients, organizations often explore additional methods beyond the portal.