CHANGE YOUR BOTTOM LINE

CHANGE HOW YOU DELIVER PATIENT EDUCATION

THE CURRENT STATE OF PATIENT EDUCATION

Educating patients about their diagnosis and treatment options is essential in all fields of medicine. Never has this been more true than today, when patient engagement and shared decision-making have become buzzwords, EHRs and changes in health care laws are placing increasing demands on doctors, and health care costs are skyrocketing.

By some estimates, poor patient education is taking a serious toll not only on patients’ health, but on our economy as well. Increased hospitalizations and chronic illness are costing us up to $238 billion each year. It’s clear that patient education is more important than ever, and that an informed patient is an integral member of the care team.

Thanks to advances in cloud technology and mobile applications, there are more options for robust patient education solutions that can be integrated into your practice’s day-to-day operations. Moreover, in this competitive health care climate, where patients are acting more like consumers and online doctor reviews and ratings are on the rise, health care providers need to set themselves apart.

Your patient education program can be that extra element that gives your practice an edge over the competition and boosts your bottom line — especially if you utilize tech-savvy touches that today’s patients are looking for from their doctors.

WHAT PATIENTS WANT

The days of patient education being limited to photo-copied handouts are over. Printing out generic health info from your EHR or patient portal won’t cut it, either — not when increasingly web-savvy patients are actively seeking health information online.

Health-related research is one of the top three online activities in the world, according to the Content Marketing Institute. In the U.S. alone, more than 100 million people per year visit health-related sites such as WebMD, Familydoctor.org, Healthfinder.gov, and CNN Health, among thousands of others. A 2012 survey by Pew Research Center found that 72 percent of Internet users looked online for health information within the prior year.

Why doctors are the best source of health info

What the Internet can’t give patients that doctors can, however, is high-quality, personalized information targeted to their needs. Of all those people searching for health topics online, more than half of them (55 percent) searched for information on a specific disease or medical problem within the past year. Eight out of 10 of them began at a search engine such as Google, Bing, or Yahoo.

Since you are the expert on your area of practice and your patients, you are the best source of timely and accurate information for them. And research shows patients want that from you. A recent study found that most ophthal- mology patients prefer personalized education provided to them one-on-one by their doctor, along with printed and electronic materials recommended by their doctor.

A 2012 survey by Pew Research Center found that 72 PERCENT OF INTERNET USERS looked online for health information within the prior year.

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Here are four reasons why you should be a source of health info for your patients, and how to do it:

SO THAT PATIENTS DON’T SEEK INFO FROM LESS-REPUTABLE SOURCES. Don’t leave your patients to navigate the vast array of questionable health info online without your help. Provide them with high-quality educational content that they can access before and after their appointments.

SO THAT PATIENTS GET MATERIALS TARGETED TO THEIR CONDITION. Of all those people searching for health topics online, more than half of them conducted searches on a specific disease or medical problem. You are the best source of timely and accurate condition-specific information for your patients.

Cloud-based software makes it easy and cost-effective to access medical videos and other education materials for your patients. You can customize the content for your practice, and — unlike Google — show patients only what it makes sense for them to see.

TO PROVIDE PATIENTS WITH FREE INFORMATION THEY CAN’T GET ELSEWHERE. Pew Research found that 26 percent of online health seekers have been asked to pay for access to content they wanted to see online; just 2 percent paid for the content. As a medical provider, you have access to top-notch proprietary content that your patients don’t.

TO BOOST PATIENT ENGAGEMENT. More and more patients want to be active participants in their health care, and by providing them with high- quality, easily accessible educational materials, you’re helping them to be more engaged. And research has proven that more engaged patients have better outcomes and lower health care costs.

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Change How You Deliver Patient Education to Change Your Bottom Line

MORE AND MORE PATIENTS WANT TO BE ACTIVE

PARTICIPANTS IN THEIR HEALTH CARE, and by providing

them with high-quality, easily accessible educational materials,

you’re helping them to be more engaged.

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What are some ways you can bring your practice’s technology up to speed without a complete overhaul or a huge investment? Here are three places to start:

YOUR WEBSITE AND FACEBOOK PAGE. According to Pew Research, 72 percent of Internet users are looking for health information online, and about the same percentage use social networking sites, so it makes sense that doctors should, too. Why? There are many advantages to your practice having a presence on social media, including that it personalizes the doctor-patient relationship. (To learn more, see “Tips to Use Facebook to Attract New Patients and Improve Patient Retention.”)

No time or staff to create the content for your website and social media pages? Cloud-based patient-education soft-ware programs do the work for you by offering a simple, cost-effective way to provide quality content online.

YOUR WAITING ROOM. The same technology that allows you to play cutting-edge medical videos on your website enables you to showcase any mix of patient-focused content you want on any screen in your waiting room — a flat-screen TV, an iPad, even a desktop computer repurposed for that use. Cloud-based technology can be accessed anywhere with an Internet connection, so it doesn’t require you to purchase additional hardware.

Giving your waiting room a tech upgrade is a smart move toward patient satisfaction — research on the psychology of waiting shows that patients are eager to get started, so even if the doctor is not ready for them yet, they want to feel like their time is being well spent.

YOUR EXAM ROOM. Depending on the type of tech you use in the exam room, it can either enhance or detract from the interaction. Using an iPad together to look at medical diagrams or animations can foster a stronger doctor-patient relationship, enable shared decision-making, and also send the message that you are staying current with modern technology and health care.

The most successful practices approach technology as a way to improve upon what doctors are already doing, ideally while saving time and improving patient satisfaction.

Change How You Deliver Patient Education to Change Your Bottom Line

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Technology increases patients’ confidence

Patients also want tech-savvy doctors — or at least the appearance that their doctors are embracing modern technology. According to a recent survey by medical billing software company Kareo, 60 percent of respondents said it was extremely important to them that their doctor use technology as part of their job.

60 PERCENT OF RESPONDENTS said it was extremely important

to them that their doctor use technology as part of their job.

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Change How You Deliver Patient Education to Change Your Bottom Line

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ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL PATIENT EDUCATION MATERIALS

As we’ve discussed, people want personalized patient education from their health providers, and they are embracing technology like never before. By the way, don’t assume that if you serve an older patient demographic, you’re off the hook when it comes to technology. Today’s seniors are more tech-savvy and connected than ever before — 59 percent of Americans age 65 or older go online, according to a Pew Research study. Like younger patient populations, they want more ways to connect with their health care providers and manage their health with technology.

To better understand your patient demographics — and to better tailor your patient education materials to their needs — it’s helpful to understand how different generations make health care decisions. While seniors rely heavily on their doctors for health information and referrals, younger generations are doing more of their own health research online and are influenced by their social networks, such as Facebook. Generation X and Millennials are considered the first true generations of health care consumers. They are influenced by TV and in-office health care advertising and will switch providers if their needs aren’t being met.

The case for video and visual materials

Video is increasingly important in health care. One recent study showed that 44 percent of health care professionals surveyed reported using video for patient education. Using animations and visual materials is a smart move, since an estimated 65 percent to 85 percent of the population are visual learners who retain information better by seeing pictures and video than by reading or listening.

There’s no downside to using visual elements in patient education, especially when you consider the sobering data from the National Center for Education Statistics showing that nearly half of American adults demonstrate low levels of literacy. In health care, this contributes to poor patient compliance, chronic illness, and increased hospitalizations and costs.

To help address low literacy within eye health, the American Academy of Ophthalmology recently redesigned its patient education materials to enhance patient readability and understanding.

How to improve your patient education materials

The first step is to evaluate your existing patient education. Are written materials easy to understand? Do any of your materials appeal to visual learners?

Generally, visual learners:

• need to see a picture of what they are learning about before they fully understand it

• are drawn to colorful, visually stimulating things

• prefer written materials that include photos, diagrams, or illustrations

• usually retain information better when they can actually see the person who is speaking

Keeping these factors in mind, doctors can better serve visual learners in several simple ways. Give patients a visual explanation of a condition or procedure — either an illustration from a medical text or an animation on a computer screen or iPad instead of a written description. Face patients when you are speaking to them, and pay attention to their verbal cues, such as “I see” or “I can’t picture that.” In any instructions, include pictures when possible. If using photos, make sure the patients in the pictures look like your actual patients — e.g., adolescents instead of elderly, if that’s your typical patient population. If using diagrams or illustrations, make sure they’re simple, colorful, and not overly technical.

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Change How You Deliver Patient Education to Change Your Bottom Line

Recent studies have shown that visual aids can improve understanding of health risks, and may even affect patients’ compliance.

Why share-ability and accessibility matter

It’s also important to consider the “share-ability” factor of your patient education. Will patients take home a brochure and tell their families or caregivers what they learned at the doctor’s office? Perhaps. Will that information be translated as accurately as you’d like? Probably not. If the patient sets the brochure aside for a few days and comes back to it, will he remember why it’s relevant and what steps he needs to take next? Not likely.

Successful patient education materials are easy to access after the appointment and easy to share with others. Patients may need to take in the information several times before they fully understand it, or they may need a refresher a few weeks or months after their appointment. It’s been proven that memory retention declines fairly rapidly. German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus illustrated this with his “forgetting curve,” which shows that we tend to halve our memory of newly learned knowledge in a matter of days or weeks unless we consciously review the learned material.

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THE EBBINGHAUS FORGETTING CURVE

76 PERCENT OF DOCTORS OWN A TABLET, and studies have shown that about half of them use tablets at the point of care, often to play educational videos for patients.

THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN PATIENT EDUCATION

Patients want tech-savvy doctors, video and animations can help you target visual learners and address literacy issues, and online patient education materials are inherently more accessible and shareable. But many doctors are still wary of introducing more technology into their practices.

In fact, it’s wise to approach new technology with open eyes. When not carefully implemented, it can end up hurting your practice and patients more than it helps. Many a patient has complained about doctors who turn their backs on them to face their computers or EHRs. A little eye contact and good listening skills go a long way.

The rise of mobile

The key to making technology less intrusive may be mobile. However, not all mobile devices are created equal, and not all are being used to bridge the doctor-patient communication gap. The research on mobile adoption among U.S. doctors has not only revealed that the majority use three screens in their daily activities — laptops or desktops, smartphones, and tablets — but contains some surprises about how those devices are used, as well.

Contrary to initial expectations, smartphone screens have remained largely for providers’ eyes only, mainly for their own research and networking purposes. Sharing information with patients is primarily done on desktops/laptops and tablets. Currently, 76 percent of doctors own a tablet, and studies have shown that about half of them use tablets at the point of care, often to play educational videos for patients. The quality of the graphics is a big advantage to many doctors, as is the fact that they can adapt tablets to their use.

Doctors who use them in their practices have observed that while patients feel desktop computers take doctors’ attention away from them, they do not have this percep-tion with tablets. Looking at diagrams or video together can enhance doctor-patient communication and facilitate shared decision-making.

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Change How You Deliver Patient Education to Change Your Bottom Line

87% of U.S. adults use the Internet.

72% OF INTERNET USERS say they looked online for health information within the past year.

31% OF CELL PHONE OWNERS, and 52% OF SMARTPHONE OWNERS, have used their phone

to look up health or medical information.

1 IN 5 INTERNET USERS have consulted online reviews and rankings of health care service providers and treatments.

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How the cloud factors in

The cloud may be the answer to doctors’ technology needs. Innovations in virtualization and better access to high-speed Internet have accelerated the growth of cloud computing, according to Healthcare IT News. For busy doctors, cloud technology can provide scalable and easy-to-access resources, such as patient education information and animations that can be delivered to patients in the waiting room, exam room, and directly via email or the doctor’s website.

While health care providers typically have been low users of the cloud, that’s changing. According to a survey by health care IT provider Imprivata, only 9 percent of respondents used cloud computing in 2012, but 30 percent of respondents were users by the following year. While patient privacy and HIPAA are frequently cited by doctors as reasons to avoid the cloud for some uses, in the case of cloud-based patient education software, it’s not private health details that are being accessed or stored in the cloud, it’s educational materials about conditions and treatments that patients are able to access from anywhere on their smartphones or computers. Providing patients with relevant and accessible content (that you choose) lets them access it where and when they want it.   AT HOME

IN THE WAITING ROOM

DURING THE APPOINTMENT

BEFORE THE APPOINTMENT

9 percent of respondents used cloud computing in 2012, but 30 PERCENT OF RESPONDENTS WERE USERS BY THE FOLLOWING YEAR

4 WAYS THE CLOUD

Can Help Your Practice

IMPROVES ACCESSIBILITY OF DATA. Using the cloud means storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of on a computer’s hard drive. Data or software in the cloud can be accessed from a smartphone, tablet, computer, or any other device with an Internet connection.

IMPROVES PATIENT RECALL AND COMPLIANCE. Cloud-based patient education programs allow people to access procedure explanations and videos wherever and whenever they’re thinking about their health. This cuts down on routine questions and calls, and allows patients to share materials with their families and other caregivers.

CREATES A CENTRAL SOURCE FOR PATIENT EDUCATION. Cloud-based patient education programs make it possible to play state-of-the-art, 3D animations in a waiting room, on a tablet in an exam room, and on a practice’s website, all at the same time — no special hardware required.

IMPROVES MARKETING EFFORTS. The same cloud-based technology can also be used as a marketing tool to promote procedures and services that your patients may not be aware of, or to showcase patient testimonials.

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Change How You Deliver Patient Education to Change Your Bottom Line

HOW PATIENT EDUCATION PAYS OFF

The key to improving outcomes and reducing health care costs may be in patients’ hands. Evidence is growing that patients who are more actively involved in their care have better health outcomes and incur lower costs. As a result, many health care providers are using strategies to engage patients more, such as educating them about their conditions and involving them more fully in making decisions about their care.

Patient engagement

“Patient engagement” means motivating patients to manage their own health, whether by keeping track of their own medical data, seeking preventive care, taking their medications and exercising regularly, or staying on top of chronic conditions like diabetes that need regular medical attention.

Engaging patients in their own health care is good news for both patients and providers. Not only are there fewer doctors and more patients than ever, but the cost of care continues to rise, along with rates of chronic diseases. However, the vast majority of Americans “remain relatively uninformed and passive recipients of health care services and thus lack the confidence and skills needed to fully engage in their health care,” says the nonprofit National Patient Safety Foundation.

What can doctors do about it? The answer to many patient-engagement challenges is improving the technology that gives patients access to information and enhances communication with doctors. As we mentioned previously, a recent report found that one in five patients are researching their conditions online just prior to their doctor visits to prepare and feel confident during their appointments. By proactively providing them with quality health content, doctors are empowering their patients and increasing opportunities for better communication.

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Change How You Deliver Patient Education to Change Your Bottom Line

Shared decision-making

Patients want to be involved in making decisions about their treatment, and it’s in doctors’ best interest to encourage shared decision-making. When patients and providers together consider the patient’s condition, treatment options, benefits, and risks, patients have overall medical costs that are 5.3 percent lower than for those receiving only the usual support.

A report from the Institute of Medicine states that key elements in successfully partnering with patients include: listening fully to patients, establishing trust, and using limited resources wisely. “Decision aids” such as pamphlets, books, videos, websites, and other interactive media can be a useful part of the process of educating patients and helping them make the best choices for their own care.

As computers and health information technology become an increasingly important part of patient visits, doctors are relying on technology to assist with informed medical decision-making. Studies on computerized decision aids have shown them to be as effective as their non- computerized counterparts — and in fact could be more efficient to use at the point of care while also meeting meaningful use criteria for EHRs.

Your bottom line

Concerns about cost and time are cited most frequently by doctors who are reluctant to use technology in their practices. However, investing in new technologies has been proven to save doctors time and increase practices’ bottom lines — even where you might not expect it. For instance, a rural optometry practice with a high percentage of geriatric patients invested in high-tech patient education and tablets for the exam rooms and found that their education method increased patient compliance and satisfaction, as well as patient referrals, all while saving the doctor a significant amount of time.

Other ideas include:

• Provide patients with iPads that play condition-specific medical videos in your waiting room, saving time by explaining the basics of their disease and answering frequently asked questions.

• Show videos of various treatment options, and increase awareness of other services your practice offers to maximize time in the exam room, increase number of patients seen, and increase patient conversions to profitable tests and treatments.

In this age of consumer-driven health care and online doctor ratings and reviews, branded, high-tech patient education also can enhance a practice’s image, visibility, and value to patients. By positioning yourself as an expert source and provider of top-notch proprietary content that your patients can’t find anywhere else, you increase your reputation with your patients, and possibly even referrals, as the rural optometry practice found. JAMA cited word-of-mouth referrals as “very important” or “important” to 85 percent of people surveyed when it comes to choosing a doctor.

The answer to many patient- engagement challenges is

IMPROVING THE TECHNOLOGY THAT GIVES PATIENTS ACCESS TO INFORMATION and enhances

communication with doctors.

Change How You Deliver Patient Education to Change Your Bottom Line

marketing@eyemaginations.com 877.321.5481

eyemaginations.com 1820 Lancaster Street, Suite 110

Baltimore, MD 21231

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CONCLUSION

We hope this eBook helped you to see the many advantages patient education has for your patients and your practice, and gave you some ideas for simple steps you can take to improve your current offerings. Medical technology is advancing rapidly, and private practices are among those that are embracing not only technology that assists in medical diagnosis and treatment, but also technology that provides a better patient experience and delivers more effective patient education.

Thanks to cloud-based software programs and tablet computers, among other advances, implementing cutting-edge patient-education materials in your practice doesn’t require a big investment or expensive hardware. And, savvy practices are getting more bang for their buck — by using the same technology to play high-quality medical animations in their waiting room, exam room, and on their website and social media pages to also showcase their product and service offerings. A better patient experience, more informed patients, and higher profits for your practice means everybody wins.