3 Ways Physicians Can Transform Patient Communication

How can physicians make a positive impact on their patients when they see so many a day? Even when they do their best to communicate clearly, it’s not always enough to make an impact. In fact, according to the Department of Psychology at Allegheny College, people immediately forget 40-80% of the information they receive in medical settings. In addition, the more information they get, the less they remember. If patients don’t recall or follow the advice of their physician, it can affect the quality of follow-up care and trust between them. And experience matters – a Press Ganey report found that patient experience is five times more likely to affect loyalty with a healthcare provider than marketing. But when clinicians take advantage of today’s technology, good communication is still within reach. Let’s look at a few ways physicians can transform patient communication.  

Improve Patient Engagement With a Collaborative Communication Platform Download eBook

1. Take advantage of patient engagement options. 

Instead of the antiquated doctor-knows-all scenario, patient engagement encourages a partnership between a patient and a doctor where both sides share information and discuss the best treatment options. It’s important to check for understanding – according to the American Medical Association, communication problems can account for 55% of medication nonadherence. 

If it’s difficult to make a connection during a real-life appointment, how can it happen virtually? Patient engagement tools actually make it easier for patients to become more involved in their healthcare. Many people appreciate the fast response, user-friendliness, and convenience of text and video chat.  

TigerConnect makes it even easier. Pre-visit, during-visit, and post-visit, the communication options made possible by TigerConnect keep doctors and patients aligned and ultimately improve patient satisfaction. Modern patient engagement software allows physicians and their teams to continually engage with patients through the entire care journey by removing portal complexity, as patients can simply click an SMS link into a secure, encrypted conversation.  

2. Use a simple text to communicate with patients. 

As of 2023, 292 million people in North America text, which is 80% of the entire population. Since appointment follow-up instructions are often not remembered or followed, TigerConnect also has the ability to send those important follow-up items in a text message to keep patients on track with their care plan.  

When care providers use TigerConnect Patient Engagement to communicate with patients, the HIPAA-compliant platform enables secure sharing of specific, personal content via a two-way conversation. The text message comes with a link to click, which takes the patient to the secure messaging platform they can use to communicate. If they need more information about a procedure, or they have questions about their care, they can ask immediately without making a phone call. By using the patient engagement tools available, including text, video, and voice calls, care providers and patients can communicate more effectively, even while they’re physically far apart.   

3. Improve patient education with technology. 

According to the Associated Press–NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll in 2022, only 12% of adults in the U.S. said healthcare was handled extremely or very well. One way physicians can improve patient communication is by enhancing the educational aspect of care. When doctors meet with patients, they often have to share a large amount of information in just a few minutes. If patients have questions, they may wait until the next appointment, which could be weeks away. With patient engagement, patients can reach their physician after they have had time to talk to their families and digest the information on their own. With just a simple text or quick video call, doctors can make sure patients have their questions answered. This personal touch helps with future patient education. 

Doctors can also use patient engagement to send monthly automated text messages to educate patients dealing with ongoing disease management. For example, patients diagnosed with heart disease can receive links to helpful articles or videos. Doctors can also connect diabetic patients to nutritionists and other internal resources by video calls. With a variety of patient communication options, TigerConnect makes the greater patient education aspect a reality. 

Modern patient communication with TigerConnect 

TigerConnect Patient Engagement promotes multichannel, streamlined, and direct communication between clinicians and patients. It frees up staff to respond to patients, allowing physicians to spend more time with patients during a visit. Additionally, the TigerConnect Clinical Collaboration Platform enables medical care teams and staff to communicate via secure texting, voice, and video chat through a HIPAA-compliant, cloud-based platform. Having both your clinical collaboration and patient engagement solutions under one app does more than just allow for easy access. The TigerConnect provider and patient networks enhance each other through crossover functionality. No matter the organization type – hospital, clinic, or physician group – providers can be easily added to a patient conversation including case managers, specialists, and primary care physicians. Check out this eBook to learn how physicians can improve patient engagement with a collaborative communication platform. 

Chris Lowder, Senior Solution Architect at TigerConnect

Chris Lowder is a Senior Solution Architect at TigerConnect. He has more than 18 years of healthcare experience defining and articulating clinical solutions, workflows, and integrations.

Tags: Blog, provider communication, Patient Engagement, Patient Communication, Patient Care