Healthcare Best Practices to Achieve Patient Engagement
Healthcare institutes rely on their patients’ engagement to
optimize care delivery. Patient engagement is the relationship between patients
and clinical/healthcare professionals (HCPs). It involves clinical research organizations
(CRO) /healthcare institutions’ efforts to ensure patients or their
representatives are well-informed about the trial/treatment. On the patients’
end, it allows them to gain a clear understanding of the care they are provided
thus helping them adhere to the clinical regime. However, patients do not always
follow the physician’s instructions due to lack of engagement. This not only
prolongs the trial and/or treatment duration but also incurs an excessive cost
to the patients or trial
sponsors in case of drug trials.
Healthcare institutions and clinical trial sponsors are
making efforts to reimagine patient engagement in wake of the stress Covid-19
has put on the system across the world. In this blog, we illustrate some of the
best practices that can accelerate the stakeholders’ efforts and engage all
parties involved optimally while minimizing the burden on the system.
Best practices to achieve patient engagement
Educating patients/trial subjects: The better the
patient’s awareness about the treatment/trial, the more chances of them feeling
involved thus keeping them engaged with the process. Patients need to
understand the motive for adhering to the regime frequency and check in for periodic
testing to reevaluate the qualitative and quantitative impact of treatment, all
of which will allows physicians to adjust the dosage/frequency or alter the
treatment altogether if necessary.
Make the digital shift: CROs and HCPs often include
extensive educational material about the trial/treatment in the consent form for
patients to read. However, the mode and manner of the presentation matter.
Patients will not be interested in reading long pieces of content. Therefore,
it is advisable to switch to visual media (images, videos, online forms) that
are simple and effective to improve engagement.
Research also suggests
that switching to electronic consent forms which can accommodate training
material needs and digitalized communication modes will improve the patient
interest in reaching back frequently. More patients have access to a mobile
phone/laptop today which can be used to communicate as well as educate. They
can also be used to keep patients informed about version changes in material
and create alerts to know the same and send automated medication and
consultation reminders.
Leverage IoT/telemedicine applications to effectively
monitor patient health: Traditionally, patients are required to regularly
visit healthcare facilities to test their vitals and understand the effect of
treatment. In trials/treatments involving terminal diseases, it is not easy for
patients to commute as required by the CROs/HCPs and patients residing in
remote areas often discontinue treatments.
Switching to IoT-based wearables with bio-sensors will allow
HCPs to remotely monitor patient essentials and get continuous bio feedback.
Moving to digital platforms will allow sponsors to engage with far-off
laboratories within patients’ reach that can test for complex vitals that cannot
be measured using wearable devices. Patients and doctors can use telemedicine
applications to consult and provide necessary advice and adjust the
treatment/trial based on patients’ response to current treatment. The same can
be extended to supply chains to deliver customized dosages of drug products all
of which can be monitored from one centralized location while decentralizing
the dependency on location. Patients will experience the ease of access to
medicine in trials as well as in healthcare facilities.
Ensure compliance with privacy regulations to build patient
trust: Health authorities update patient safety data regulations from time
to time and this affects data policies in trials and advanced treatments. Data
privacy and integrity policies such as HIPAA, HL7 standards and so on must be
strictly enforced across all departments. Simultaneously, patient data must be
guarded against leaks and access to it must be controlled. Inform your patients
about these policies and offer evidence of compliance with them. This improves
patients’ confidence that their data and privacy are protected minimizing any
resistance from their side and opening channels for transparent communication.
Healthcare institutions and clinical sponsors must build
digital platforms that are secure, compliant and flexible to enforce these best
practices and train personnel to use the electronic versions of forms,
documentation tools and communication channels. They must also create next
practices to scale up and accommodate growing data and change management. Apart
from building better engagement, these changes will decrease instances of non-compliance
that can lead to costly lawsuits and receive rejection from authorities in cases
of drug development.
Partner
with an experienced transformation enabler. Digitalize and secure end-to-end
processes and gain maximum engagement from patients with relative ease in a short
timeframe.
