Focus on 3 eHealth strategies to connect with patients and keep them coming back

In a digital-first, constantly connected world, patients expect healthcare to integrate as seamlessly into their lives as online shopping or social media. Research shows that modern patients are more willing to engage with providers using digital health tools that are empowering, self-managed, and personalized.

Often referred to as eHealth, the application of digital tech in healthcare—from interconnected electronic health records (EHRs) to mobile health apps to wearable devices—enables providers to streamline services, improve patient outcomes, and increase access to care.

As the role of technology in care continues to expand, understanding and employing effective eHealth strategies has never been more important. Here are a few tips for crafting eHealth strategies that can help your provider organization connect with patients and keep them engaged far beyond the initial care encounter.

1. Maximize accessibility with a digital front door and telemedicine

Want to bring in new patients? Start by polishing up your digital front door.

Patients of all ages—but especially those of the millennial generation and younger—are increasingly interested in virtual visits, online booking, and personalized care. Building a digital front door strategy that incorporates these (and other) digital systems can attract patients and make it easier for them to engage with your practice.

The ideal digital front door should integrate access points throughout the consumer funnel:

• In-network provider search tools that allow new patients to compare providers by price, wait times, and ratings
• Online scheduling tools that reduce administrative staff burden and simplify appointment booking for new and existing patients
• Digital resources that provide high-level information about service lines and disease states, with clear pathways to connect with specialists
• Synchronous and asynchronous telecare options to support virtual triage, follow-up care, and preventive medicine for current patients

Combining digital access points, online information systems, and telecare options ensures patients can be easily connected with the right resources, services, or providers, regardless of their location.

Before going all-in on a revamped digital front door, do your research. Market and consumer data can help you understand your patients’ needs, preferences, and behaviors, so you can tailor your engagement and onboarding to the people most likely to benefit from it.

When built with the right audience in mind, these systems can attract patients to your network, reduce wait times, and ease strain on in-facility teams. And by taking down the barriers between your digital identity and in-person operations, you provide patients with the seamless experience they’re looking for, improving trust and—hopefully—long-term loyalty.

2. Boost compliance and improve outcomes with mobile health and remote patient monitoring

The best electronic health strategies pull double-duty, giving patients greater control over their health with user-friendly digital tools while maximizing clinicians’ insights into their patients’ care with valuable data.

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) tools, wearables, and mobile health apps enable patients to track vital signs, record medication adherence and other habits, and develop a more holistic perspective into their own health. By empowering patients to take charge of their care journeys, these tools can drive higher compliance and better outcomes.

In turn, providers can use the data generated by these tools and devices to personalize care plans and deliver interventions at the appropriate time.

This is especially useful to chronic disease patients, who tend to require more routine interventions to manage their conditions. With the support of smart monitoring devices and patient-led symptom tracking, some patients may be able to go longer between appointments while keeping their provider informed about emerging concerns.

Not every patient population will benefit from RPM, so be sure to analyze current and projected market and service line trends to determine whether a potentially expensive technology investment will pay off through reimbursements or growth.

3. Focus on digital interoperability to keep patients in-network

Acquiring new patients is usually more expensive than keeping the ones you already have, and about 94% of healthcare leaders say stopping leakage is a top priority. A data-driven eHealth strategy can give your patient retention efforts a lift by smoothing out the rough edges along the patient journey.

As patients move between your facilities for routine check-ups, lab work, and specialty care, seamless data sharing is key to reducing friction and frustration. While your patients may not think about “interoperability” as a component of their care, they’re sure to notice when they get double-booked for an appointment, discover discrepancies or errors in their medical charting, or find that their clinical data isn’t taking the journey with them.

To avoid these complications, you should make digital interoperability one of the central pillars of your eHealth strategy. While this starts with a network-wide electronic health record—a system you almost certainly already have in place— it doesn’t end there.

Patient data should be standardized in format and structure and ideally stored in a unified data warehouse or similar solution. When paired with secure application programming interface (API) integration and vendor-neutral technologies, patient data can be shared in real-time across your network—and with patients via apps or portals—for smoother care transitions. Joining regional or national interoperability networks can support cross-system exchange, giving your patients the peace of mind that their data is safe and appropriately linked to them if they need to move between providers.

Get the data to drive your strategy

eHealth isn’t just about adopting new technologies; it’s about reimagining your marketing, operational, and care strategies for an increasingly digital world. That means thinking about the impact of data and digital tools throughout the patient journey, from the first encounter with your brand, to their initial onboarding, to all the appointments, procedures, and tests along the way.

A strong digital front door, digitally integrated devices like wearables and RPM technology, and a system optimized for interoperability are all components of an effective eHealth strategy. But the most impactful strategies are specifically tailored to the unique markets, consumers, and goals they’re built around.

Data and analytical tools from Definitive Healthcare provide an unmatched view of prospective patients, competitors’ performance, and procedure and diagnostic trends in your market. Book a demo today.