Stratification Plus Targeted Communication Equals Improved Outcomes
By Jim Higgins, CEO/Founder, Solutionreach
As healthcare shifts toward value-based payments, there is a growing onus on providers to improve patient experience, compliance, and outcomes. Accomplishing these goals requires a solid patient-provider relationship built on education and communication. But how can providers faced with limited time and resources offer ongoing, relevant, and actionable information to every patient?
A one-size-fits-all strategy certainly doesn’t work, and neither does increasing the sheer number of messages sent to patients. To give patients greater connection with their providers and improve compliance and outcomes, what’s needed is a thoughtful approach to patient communication. Providers need to make each patient feel like their only patient.
This can be done by combining risk stratification with patient relationship management (PRM) solutions. Using PRM software, providers can create groups of patients based on criteria the practice chooses. Then, by syncing with existing practice management (PM) or electronic health record (EHR) systems, providers can send emails containing targeted, relevant information only to those patients in each defined group.
Stratification By Diagnosis
One way to ensure physicians provide relevant content is by grouping patients who have the same or similar diagnoses. Outreach can then include newsletters, educational articles, or the latest research—all geared toward helping patients better manage their condition.
A good example of how this might work is with patients who have diabetes. Practices can set up a group for diabetes patients, then send out regular articles with tips for diabetes management. Information might include diet and exercise recommendations, recipes and important reminders about coming in to the doctor’s office for regular tests like eye exams.
Examples of other conditions that are a great fit for this approach include high blood pressure, heart disease, vascular disease and COPD. It works well for post-surgical patients, too. Practices may also be able to send this type of targeted communication to patients with certain risk factors, depending on how data is entered and reported in the PM, EHR and PRM solutions used by the practice.
In cases where a patient shows certain risk factors, it’s typically a good idea to ask if they would like to receive educational communications. If a patient is obese, for example, the provider might want to offer them the option of receiving a regular newsletter with tips on managing weight to reduce the risk of developing conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes.
About 71 percent of patients already look online for health information, so most are receptive to getting educational material from their providers in this way. In addition, it helps practices make sure the information their patients receive is accurate and supports good disease management. Sending such targeted messages not only creates a more personal connection with patients, it also lets patients engage in their own care and wellness, which is a vital step in improving outcomes.
Stratification By Demographics
Healthy patients can benefit from the same attention—sometimes even more so because the length of time between their visits is usually longer. Educational messages are a great way to stay in touch will all patients. It can be looked at as a preventive care approach to risk stratification; practices can use demographic data to help with early detection and prevention as well as disease management.
Practices can create groups using PRM software based on demographic information already contained in the PM system such as gender, age and other factors. Practices can then determine which patients would benefit from different educational information.
For example, a message about the importance of childhood vaccines could be sent to all parents of young children. Information about how to stay healthy as you age could be sent to patients over a certain age. It could also be a good way to remind patients to follow through on age-based screenings like mammograms and colonoscopies, or other age-based recommendations like getting the shingles vaccine.
Stratification And Marketing … And More
There may be times when targeted patient communications also make sense from a marketing perspective. Even when you have permission to send marketing messages to patients, it doesn’t mean every message is right for every patient. Marketing messages are more likely to be read if they are relevant as well, and it’s a bonus if they additionally support patient wellness and better outcomes.
For example, an email about special pricing for mammograms for uninsured patients won’t apply to every patient in a practice’s database. However, creating a group of female patients over the age of 40 with no current insurance would make the email relevant to almost every recipient.
Combining PRM software with a practice’s PM and EHR solutions helps providers ensure that every message they send to their patients is relevant. Using a risk stratification process lets providers easily offer targeted messages to their entire patient base without spending hours creating individual messages for each patient. The groups can be created quickly, and emails can be automated and sent at set intervals. By spending a short amount of time each week, providers can connect with their patients on a personal level, build loyal relationships and help improve outcomes.