Get inside patients’ heads to improve engagement

Bedside manner still matters, but it’s practiced through multiple channels.

Remember the TV show “House, M.D.”? Hugh Laurie’s character insulted patients right and left—when he even bothered to talk to them at all. Somehow he managed to save all (or most) of them without getting fired.

That’s TV. In the real world, you can’t afford to let your organization’s practice suffer because doctors aren’t engaging with patients effectively.

Maybe you can’t transform a doctor’s gruff bedside manner, but knowing what patients are looking for in their interactions with physicians can help you craft communications that ensure better outcomes on both sides.

Response Mine Health has published results from an August 2017 survey of more than 500 health care consumers designed to “scrutinize precisely how the public engages with the healthcare industry.”

Among the survey’s findings:

• Sixty-six percent of patients prefer to schedule appointments over the phone, compared with 26 percent who would rather go online.
• Seventy-nine percent say they’re at least somewhat likely to check out a health care provider’s website before making an appointment.
• Forty-eight percent prefer their doctors to communicate with them over the phone. After that, 25 percent favor emails, 12 percent prefer text messages, 9 percent would opt for traditional mail, and 5 percent would prefer no communication at all.
• Forty-nine percent say they like to receive occasional informational emails from their health care providers.

Learn more from the survey here:

Healthcare Digital Interaction Report