The DNA of Healthcare

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The DNA of Healthcare

Why Digital Experience Is Important to Patient Satisfaction in Healthcare

Patient Digital Experience

Adam Rarick-Varner

Senior Director Healthcare Strategy
In the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, digital experience has become a priority. After COVID, consumers have come to expect an easy digital experience and access to the information they need. An estimated 88% of consumers with a bad digital experience won’t return to a website.1 In addition, healthcare organizations are tasked with keeping healthcare data secure. Too much security and consumers might abandon your portal. Too little security and you are taking risks. Not only that, but your portal is also the first experience that many consumers have with your organization. First impressions matter. Research has consistently shown that user-friendly digital interfaces in healthcare improve patient engagement and adherence to medical recommendations2. Patient portals are important tools, playing a key role in enhancing both patient satisfaction and engagement. Meeting your goals of patient engagement with your portal and ensuring security of patient data is possible.

Benefits of a Positive Digital Healthcare Experience

Patient portals offer patients a secure and convenient platform for accessing health information, communicating with providers and actively participating in the management of their health. The importance of patient portals lies in their ability to empower patients by providing them with timely, accessible and personalized health-related data. 

Facilitating Patient Engagement: Patient engagement is important to effective healthcare, and patient portals serve as motivation for engagement3. By allowing individuals to view their medical records, test results and treatment plans, patient portals foster informed decision-making and encourage patients to actively participate in their care4. Studies have shown a positive correlation between patient portal use and increased patient engagement5.

Enhancing Communication: Effective communication between patients and healthcare providers is vital for delivering quality care. Patient portals enable secure messaging between patients and their healthcare team. 6 Improved communication has been linked to higher levels of patient satisfaction in healthcare and a sense of being actively involved in one’s healthcare7.

Streamlining Administrative Processes: Patient portals streamline administrative tasks, offering features like online appointment scheduling, prescription refill requests and bill payment8. This convenience not only saves time for both patients and providers but also contributes to a positive patient experience. The use of patient portals positively impacts patient satisfaction with administrative processes9.

Patients and healthcare providers benefit from a positive digital experience on the patient portal. Also, there is a cost if you don’t prioritize digital experience.

The Cost of Not Providing a Good Patient Digital Experience

If you choose not to prioritize a robust, easy-to-use patient digital experience, not only will patient satisfaction suffer, but there are significant financial implications. Failing to invest in a patient-friendly digital experience can lead to increased costs related to healthcare delivery and management.

Increased Healthcare Utilization and Costs: Patients who have a bad experience with digital healthcare tools may resort to traditional means of seeking care, contributing to increased healthcare utilization10. This shift from digital to traditional channels can result in higher costs for healthcare providers, including increased administrative overhead and staffing requirements11. Impact on Revenue Cycle Management: A suboptimal patient digital experience can negatively impact revenue cycle management, as patients may be less likely to pay bills promptly or engage in financial interactions through digital platforms12. Risk of Patient Attrition: Dissatisfaction with the digital experience may lead to patient attrition, with individuals seeking care from providers who offer more user-friendly and accessible digital tools13. The loss of patients can have cascading effects on revenue and market share. It’s widely accepted that retaining a patient is less expensive than acquiring a new one.

Finding the Balance Between Digital Experience and Security

Patients will continue to demand more healthcare team interactions online. In one study, When individuals were offered access to their healthcare portal, nearly 40% accessed it, showing eagerness to use it.14 This is great news. Unfortunately, data breaches are more common than we’d like. According to HIPAA Journal, there were 725 data breaches of 500 or more records each in 2023 alone.14 The costs of remediation and reputation damage can be significant. How best to deliver a positive digital experience without sacrificing security? With today’s data and technology, solutions exist that can help you offer a near-frictionless digital experience and get the security you need. It’s true, some security measures don’t cause friction. With a combination of solutions, you can design risk-appropriate security while maintaining a digital experience that encourages your patients to stay connected with your patient portal.
To learn more about how to deliver a great digital experience and keep your data secure, read this e-book, “Balancing Security and Digital Experience: Innovating Patient Portal Experiences in Healthcare”.

Sources: 

  1. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/website-statistics/  
  2. https://mhealth.jmir.org/2014/2/e24/  
  3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1361049/   
  4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3146983/  
  5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK169589/  
  6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3636319/   
  7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7814920/  
  8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3822118/   
  9. https://academic.oup.com/jamia/article/18/Supplement_1/i18/797754?login=false   
  10. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1460458213489054    
  11.  https://www.jmir.org/2005/4/e47/   
  12. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=c796a2f4be7078fa087eecaf0bf8d8d81ef7c67c  
  13. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6482406/  
  14. https://www.hipaajournal.com/healthcare-data-breach-statistics/#:~:text=Between%202009%20and%202023%2C%205%2C887,population%20of%20the%20United%20States.  
  15. Individuals’ Access and Use of Patient Portals and Smartphone Health Apps, 2020 | HealthIT.gov  

 

 

The DNA of Healthcare

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