In the few years prior to 2020, patient portal adoption among patients lagged in comparison to its level of adoption among healthcare providers. According to a 2017 GAO report, at that time, 87 percent of providers had implemented patient portals. However, only 30 percent of their patients accessed those portals. As it has been for other healthcare technologies, such as telehealth, the COVID-19 pandemic has also become a catalyst for more widespread portal adoption by patients.

According to a report from Grandview research, the market for patient engagement solutions is expected to grow by 4x between now and 2026, reaching $56.92 billion USD. Patient engagement has become increasingly important in recent years, driven by a number of factors. First and foremost, you have two young and tech-savvy generations (millennials and Gen Z) coming into adulthood and expecting more personalized online options from their care providers. At the other end of the generational spectrum, there is the last of a large aging population of baby boomers entering their later years, many of whom desire to “age in place” without losing the personal touch they’ve come to expect from their care providers. In response to the surging demand these factors have caused, the healthcare industry is experiencing a boom in patient engagement solutions.

Effective communication is a key component to the successful delivery of care. Without it, care quality is impaired. Since communication in a practice is essential to facilitating care delivery, patient satisfaction and the productivity of healthcare personnel—within all healthcare environments—there should be active communication between all members of a practice. However, some practices still struggle to communicate effectively with patients, thus preventing a smooth experience.

Welcome to the second half of our two-part blog series on Boling Vision Center (BVC), and how their practice not only survived but thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Part 1, we focused on how they created a safe and enjoyable patient experience by developing new processes and services in addition to modifying old ones. In this blog, we will examine how they were able to cost-effectively achieve record numbers by executing an aggressive social media and community outreach initiative during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The COVID-19 outbreak caught many in the healthcare community off guard. In very short order, many practices found themselves scrambling to adjust to new protocols, processes and regulations. Some succeeded more than others, of course. At Nextech, we closely monitored the impact of the pandemic on our practices to gain as much insight as possible and to learn how to meet the changing needs of our users. For months, we have been conducting interviews, insight surveys and case studies with our clients to gain an understanding of which tactics are working, as well as which ones are not and we are doing our best to share these findings with our readers.

In a recent blog article, we took a close look at the future of telehealth in a post-COVID-19 world. While many would agree that telehealth is now here to stay and will continue to be an option expected by patients long after the pandemic has ended, the type of telehealth solutions providers choose to employ can have a serious impact on how patients respond. In the initial rush to provide patients with telehealth options, some providers implemented solutions that were riddled with security flaws, not to mention HIPAA noncompliant and unintegrated with their EHR and Practice Management.

In recent months, the use of telemedicine options has gone from being seen as a luxury to an indispensable necessity. With the nationwide (and global) spread of COVID-19, and the resulting social distancing measures and state-mandated lockdowns, many healthcare providers across the country found themselves scrambling to implement telemedicine so they could continue to deliver care while minimizing viral exposure. However, it is important to recognize that the need for telehealth will not end with the fall of COVID-19.

While it is true that most specialty practices are currently faced with partial closures due to COVID-19 isolation orders, many providers are still doing what they can to care for their patients. To help our readers minimize the risk of exposure in their practices while still providing necessary care, we’ve outlined several suggestions for safeguarding both patient and practice health.