Get inside patients’ heads to improve engagement
A recent survey offers communicators valuable information on how consumers want to interact with their health care providers.
By | Posted: October 26, 2017
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