The 10 Leading Patient Engagement Solution Providers in 2018 Leading Patient Engagement small | Page 35

Trends to Watch Educating the patients can bridge the gap between patient and healthcare providers and assist: • • • • • Patients in taking accountability for their health Patients in practicing prevention techniques at home In developing patient trust, satisfaction, and loyalty In increasing treatment acceptance rate In safeguarding the continuity of care between appointments • In empowering the patients to decide the best plan of action Moreover, rural or population with low health literacy, educating about the treatments and other can prove to a boon for the healthcare sector. As many within these populations have not experienced healthcare delivery that emphasize or encourage high levels of patient engagement. The Arrival of Tech Gadgets Wearable gadgets are becoming popular in today’s fast paced-life due to its fascinating features and compelling end results on the go. Whether you want to track your sleep, movements, heart rate, physical activities, calories burnt, distance traveled, active time, activity break-up in a day, or more, wearable gadgets does the work for you in a proactive manner. The ability to produce vital body stats in a hassle-free manner is what has been attracting consumers towards wearable gadgets. In a prominent survey, it was found that use of technology gadgets have increased multifold between 2014 and 2016. What’s more interesting is whopping 76 percent of patients’ follow physicians’ recommendation to use wearable gadgets as they feel more empowered with its usage and effectiveness. Moreover, the integration of wearable gadgets and electronic health records has expanded the patient’s satisfaction level towards the optimum. The doctors have become more empowered to get the deeper insights about a particular patient’s daily activities, which ultimately assist physicians to advice better guidance to the patients. All these make the patient’s journey fruitful and assist them to live a healthy life. Although the list is endless, and there are many other trends which are gaining popularity, but one thing that is common is – Patients are now- no more just concerned about the recovery from their diseases; they want to know about its prevention as well. Doctors and healthcare providers thus need to gear up to match the growing expectation from a tech-savvy and highly educated world population in order to maintain a cordial relationship and better patient engagement for a sure success. December 2018 33