patient engagement software

Patient Engagement Software: Why Your Practice Needs It

Advanced software has made work easier and more streamlined in many ways across many industries. And when it comes to medical facilities, patient engagement software allows doctors and medical staff to be more easily accessible and more attentive to their patients’ needs. 

Patient engagement software makes doctor’s visits more convenient for patients and helps to ensure they don’t miss their checkups. The advancements in patient engagement software solutions are a win for both patients and care teams.

But what is patient engagement software, exactly? And what are the real benefits it offers to your practice? Keep reading to learn more.

What Is Patient Engagement Software?

Medical practices largely on their computer systems, from medical equipment to results to patient intake — patient engagement software is one cog in that wheel. This software functions to smooth the processes of engaging with patients.

Patient engagement software is any software that allows doctors and medical staff to communicate with patients about their health updates and upcoming appointments, as well as to manage their care. Healthcare providers can also send patients helpful resources and information relevant to their medical care through patient engagement technology.

What Are the Features of Patient Engagement Software?

Patient engagement software covers a wide range of different software features and patient engagement solutions to best suit the needs of a medical office. Some of the features you might enjoy from patient engagement software include:

Appointment Reminders

Doctor’s appointments are often made weeks in advance, depending on how busy a particular doctor or practice schedule is. But in the meantime, patients live their lives and juggle all of their other scheduling commitments. So it’s easy for an appointment to slip a patient’s mind — but not with appointment reminders.

Patient engagement software enables doctors to send automated appointment reminders through secure messaging and ask patients to confirm their appointments. This way, if something’s come up for the patient, you’ll be less likely to get a last-minute cancellation. 

These reminders can be sent by phone call, text, or email, based on the patient’s preference. They can also be staggered to go out based on your preference: two weeks before patient visits, one week before, the day before, etc.

Appointment Scheduling

Appointment scheduling is another area that patient engagement software makes easier. Your appointment scheduling software syncs your calendar to the patient engagement platform, allowing patients to look through available dates to request an appointment—no more need for patients to call your office to book their appointments. 

The best patient engagement software options do it all for you through easy online booking. Once an appointment is requested, you’ll receive an instant email notification. And patients will get an automatic email confirmation once the appointment is accepted. 

Patient Portals

Patient portals allow patients to view upcoming appointments from a secure online portal. When patients start receiving care from you, you can send them an invitation to create an account for their patient portal.

Users can also receive notifications when an update has been made to their personal health record and view those changes themselves. This offers more transparency and more confidence in the doctor-patient relationship.

Marketing Services

Do you offer a newsletter to remind your patients that you’re still practicing and provide helpful health tips and education? Do you need to start a new campaign to put your medical practice on the market and boost your patient population? Maybe you need to boost your positive reviews. If any of these ring true for your practice, marketing services through your patient engagement software is a must.

Patient engagement software allows you to set up an email marketing campaign and send it to your entire email list with a streamlined process. Choose from a library of templates and images designed for your industry. Customize layouts, colors, and other design elements to suit your needs. You can even create email lists based on demographics for best results.

What Are the Benefits of a Patient Engagement Software Solution?

Patient engagement software can streamline your interactions with patients and make things easier for patients. Programming and automation cut out many tedious tasks you might have otherwise had to take on. There are a number of benefits to be found in patient engagement software solutions.

Improves the Patient Experience

The number one benefit is that patient engagement software improves the patient experience. Appointment reminders help ensure that they get to their appointment on time, and it’s easy to schedule an appointment with their doctor and pay their bill in a timely fashion. It also gives patients greater agency over their health by offering them a patient portal where they can look at updates to their health records. 

Results In Better Patient Satisfaction Reviews

If patients feel that scheduling an appointment is too complicated or that they don’t have access to their records, they may want to look elsewhere for their care. The easier the process is, the more likely patients are to return to your practice. The accessibility that patients find through patient engagement software can help them feel more confident with their care and with their healthcare providers. This can lead to more positive reviews about your practice, which will drive more patients to you in the long run.

Builds Lasting Patient Relationships

It’s easier to help a patient you know well. Even a comprehensive record is no alternative to a relationship. The more often you see your patients, the better you understand their health conditions. 

When patients are satisfied with their care team, they are likely to return the next time they need healthcare. This allows you to build lasting patient relationships. They will come back to you for their healthcare needs, and they may bring their family or recommend their friends to you in the future. 

Makes Patient Outreach a Breeze

The main purpose of this software is, of course, patient engagement. It exists to make it easier to communicate with patients. Need to check in with a patient? Remind them about an appointment or confirm that they’re still coming? Want a quick way to get their lab results back to them? Patient engagement software can help with all of that. 

You can receive automated notifications reminding you to reach out to a patient or send messages to them through pre-programming. It’s convenient and streamlined, allowing you to perform patient outreach even on the busiest days. High-quality patient engagement software uses secure messaging for patient communication, so your patients don’t need to worry about their information being stolen or mishandled. 

Saves Staff Time and Extra Costs With Patient Scheduling

Before patient engagement software was what it is today, the main way to schedule a doctor’s appointment was to call the office. The staff member who answered the phone would find that particular doctor’s schedule, search for the next available appointment time, and add the patient into that space. But what if the office was busy that day because seemingly most of your patient population was tying up the phone lines?

Now, patient scheduling can be done with ease for patients and with far less time and cost for staff. Simply sync your calendar up to your patient engagement software and your patients will be able to request appointments on their own. This frees your staff up for other administrative duties or for receiving the patients that are in the office for visits at the present. It may even allow you to need less staff so you can focus your budget more on operations and equipment.

Invest in the Right Patient Engagement Technology

When looking for patient engagement solutions, don’t settle for just okay. Find the best patient engagement software on the market to truly make your practice run smoother. The right patient engagement technology will make for happier patients, happier staff, and an easier process for medical practices overall. The right software will let you focus on helping patients rather than getting bogged down by administrative tasks.

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