The Puzzle of Patient Engagement 2018

Where Is Provider Attention?

Proactive Engagement Takes a Back Seat to Regulatory Requirements

When KLAS asked provider organizations in 2015 to describe their patient engagement strategies, it became clear that regulatory requirements were buckled tightly into the driver’s seat. Most providers described their patient engagement efforts as reactive—geared to protect reimbursements by propping up HCAHPS scores and crossing meaningful use thresholds for patient data access. Only 10%–15% told of proactive efforts related to population health and wellness. In 2016, providers confirmed this reactive approach when only 23% self identified their organizations as “strategic.” For the remaining 77%, patient engagement technology investments tended to be made at a departmental level, based on ad hoc, external demands—foremost among these being IT-driven rollouts of EMR-based patient portals.

“Patient engagement has not been a big topic in our organization. We have mainly been focused on doing what we need to so we can get the meaningful use dollars.” —Director of Information Systems

Where Is Vendor Attention?

EMR Patient Portals Take the Stage, Raising Expectations for Enterprise-Level Solutions

In 2016, the focus on meaningful use drove attention to patient portals—94% of provider organizations said they had deployed one. The focus on portals and the convenience of EMR integration in turn has increased the prominence of EMR vendors in what had traditionally been a sea of best-of-breed point solutions. This raises a question: will EMR-based solutions dominate patient engagement the way they have many other healthcare technologies? Research shows that EMR vendors are gaining ground: of the nine vendors mentioned as meeting needs across patient engagement technology, six were EMR vendors. The question is not settled, however, as some best-of-breed vendors are also expanding coverage, CipherHealth, Emmi, and GetWellNetwork being most prominent. Breadth of portfolio is not the only battleground, however. Best-of-breed vendors often exceed their EMR counterparts in the guidance they deliver and rate higher than EMR vendors for the proactivity of their service.

“Our organization is going to look to [our EMR vendor] first for everything. If [our EMR vendor] doesn’t have a solution, then we will go look somewhere else.” —VP/CIO

Where Is Patient Attention?

Outreach Tools Overcome Patient Disinterest in Portals

As health systems pursue more meaningful patient relationships, they must shift HIT decisions away from achieving short-term goals to a more holistic perspective of patient experience across all stages of care. In 2017, KLAS polled providers to determine the impact of HIT on overall patient relationships. Customers of the most comprehensive patient engagement vendors suggest some headway is being made towards proactive care, with almost two-thirds using their vendor to help chronic care patients. Deeper engagement is behind a major trend in vendor selection: rather than passively waiting for patients to engage, providers are finding value in solutions that take healthcare directly to patients. This is in the form of outreach solutions that push communication and education to patient smartphones (in contrast to patient portals that continue to struggle with low adoption). Many providers say they are going even further with formal telehealth solutions that eliminate the need for many types of office visits.

“It is tough to improve the overall patient experience because we don’t have great patient buy-in to [our patient portal]. For the patients that use [the portal], it does improve their experience because the tool is very good. However, we don’t have a lot of usage.” —VP of Ambulatory Services

Moving Forward

Pursuing Common Ground through Collaboration

In the process of studying patient engagement solutions, KLAS has spoken with hundreds of provider organizations and scores of HIT vendors. Extreme diversity in goals, strategies, technologies, and even terminology has exposed the need for a common language and framework that can push the industry forward in a more coordinated, comprehensive, and cooperative manner.

As a result, KLAS is partnering with leading provider and vendor organizations to hold the KLAS Keystone Summit on Patient Engagement, planned for September of 2018. At the close of the summit, KLAS will publish a white paper outlining the summit’s key discussions and conclusions.

Initial Patient Engagement Framework

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Triple Aim of Improving Healthcare

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Provider Goal or Need

Facilitate Treatment/Better Care

Improve Patient Satisfaction and Patient Experience

Empower Patients/Encourage Wellness/Improve Health Outcomes

Lower Administrative Costs

Drive Revenue/Acquire New Patients

Description of Goals

Improve communication and collaboration between provider and patient. Improve the quality of care. Make healthcare "frictionless."

Measure and manage patient experience to foster patient loyalty, trust, and care compliance while optimizing reimbursement.

Motivate and guide patients in managing chronic disease and maintaining wellness.

Reduce costs by automating patient communication and healthcare with online tools.

Maximize revenue by retaining patients and acquiring new patients.

Roles

CMO, CMIO, CNO

CXO, Director of Experience

PHM, Payers, Employers

CIO, CFO, COO

CEO, Director of Marketing

Areas of Engagement

Episodic, Chronic

Episodic, Chronic

Wellness

Administrative Tasks

Prospective Patients

KLAS Segments

Patient Outreach

Patient Education

Telehealth

Patient Satisfaction (HCAHPS)

Digital Rounding

IPS (Interactive Patient Systems)

Patient Outreach

Patient Education

Care Management

Patient Outreach

Patient Portals

Telehealth

Patient Intake

CRM

Patient Outreach

Types of Tools

In-Home Health Monitoring

Virtual Visits

Clinician-to-Patient Communication

Video Education

Previsit Education

Post-Discharge Education

Self Triage (Symptom Checkers)

Post-Discharge HCAHPS Surveys

Nurse Rounding

Leadership Rounding

Family Rounding

Patient Entertainment Systems

Patient Education Videos

Family Engagement

Employee Engagement

Wearables

Open Notes

Video Education

Previsit Education

Post-Discharge Education

Newsletters

Social Determinants of Health

Mobile Apps

Patient Readiness to Engage

Online Scheduling

Online Bill Pay

Open Notes

Online Registration

Employee Engagement

Appointment Reminders

Digital Marketing Campaigns

Physician Relationship Management

Contact Management

Advertising

Community Education

Newsletters

Social Media

KLAS Reports Related to Patient Engagement

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Triple Aim of Improving Healthcare

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Provider Goal or Need

Facilitate Treatment/Better Care

Improve Patient Satisfaction and Patient Experience

Empower Patients/Encourage Wellness/Improve Health Outcomes

Lower Administrative Costs

Drive Revenue/Acquire New Patients

Upcoming 2018 Reports

Patient Engagement

Digital Rounding

Apple PHR

Patient Intake

Remote Patient Monitoring

KLAS Patient Engagement Keystone Summit White Paper

Previous KLAS Reports

2017

Patient Engagement: Where Do Vendors Make a Difference?

Telehealth Virtual Care Platforms: Who Is Supporting Healthcare Organizations' Abilities to Expand Virtual Care?

Patient Communications: How Are Organizations Reaching Out to Patients?

Interactive Patient Systems: Turning Interactivity into Outcomes

Care Management: Solutions Struggle to Keep Pace

2016

Patient Engagement: No Silver Bullet; Strategic Approach Needed

Healthcare CRM: Wide Variation in Provider Goals & Vendor Performance

Patient Outreach: Driving Outcomes--From No-Shows to Better Health

Healthcare Price Transparency Solutions: An Early Look

2015

Patient Engagement: Rhetoric Turns Into Reality

Patient Portals: Who's Driving Meaningful Patient Interaction?