What Is Patient Engagement in Healthcare and Why Is It Important?
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What if the key to better healthcare isn't about new treatments or technologies, but about something more fundamental — the way patients participate in their own care?
Healthcare providers see this every day: patients who actively participate in their care — following treatment plans, attending regular screenings, and making recommended lifestyle changes — achieve better outcomes than those who only seek care during emergencies.
Yet despite its importance, patient engagement is still one of healthcare's biggest challenges. In this article, we'll explore what meaningful patient engagement in healthcare looks like, why it matters, and patient engagement ideas for you to incorporate in your healthcare organization.
What Is Patient Engagement?
At its core, patient engagement in healthcare represents the belief that patients should be active partners in their own health journey, rather than passive recipients of care. Instead of just showing up for appointments, engaged patients understand their health conditions, ask informed questions, make conscious healthcare decisions, and take proactive steps to be healthy.
The Patient Activation Measure (PAM) defines patient engagement in six core markers and tells us an engaged patient will …
"self-manage symptoms/problems”
“engage in activities that maintain functioning and reduce health declines”
“be involved in treatment and diagnostic choices”
“collaborate with providers”
“select providers and provider organizations based on performance or quality”
“navigate the health care system”
In other words, an engaged patient is able and motivated to understand their health and make choices that support it.
But beyond the individual patient, healthcare patient engagement speaks to a fundamental shift in how we think about healthcare: from the paternalistic model of following doctor’s orders to a patient-centric model, where patients share in decisions about their healthcare.
Why Is Patient Engagement Important?
Healthcare patient engagement is one of the most powerful tools we have for improving health outcomes. Studies that have taken a close look at this have found that better patient engagement programs mean:
Improved quality of care delivery
Better treatment outcomes
Enhanced patient satisfaction
Reduced depression and anxiety
Decreased hospitalizations
Improved healthcare efficiency
Better quality of life
Enhanced responsiveness to patient needs
When we see patients actively engaged in their healthcare (understanding their conditions, following treatment plans, and making lifestyle changes that support their health), we see better outcomes, reduced healthcare costs, and improved quality of life. And isn’t that what we’re all here to do?
Benefits of Patient Engagement in Healthcare
There’s also a growing body of research that supports the positive outcomes of patient engagement in healthcare for the healthcare organizations themselves.
Organizational Benefits
Healthcare organizations that prioritize patient engagement often experience:
Improved operational efficiency and operational excellence
Better financial outcomes
Reduced no-show rates
Lower readmission rates
Higher patient retention rates
Financial and Administrative Benefits
Patient engagement benefits extend beyond clinical care to improve administrative and billing processes:
Streamlined billing procedures
Better insurance communication
Improved payment rates
Reduced administrative burden
More efficient scheduling
Enhanced patient satisfaction with non-clinical aspects of care
Patient Engagement Strategies for Healthcare Organizations
Patient engagement doesn’t happen by accident — it must be intentionally encouraged through smart strategies. So let’s dive into which patient engagement strategies seem to be most effective.
For starters, the organizations seeing the most success with patient engagement use a multi-faceted approach, combining strategies to meet different patient needs and preferences. Let’s take a look at the most common approaches for bringing together marketing strategies and patient engagement in healthcare:
Team-Based Care Supporting Self-Management
One of the top healthcare patient engagement strategies is to shift care models from siloed care to a team-based approach, where multiple specialists are focused on helping the patient manage their health. This works particularly well for chronic conditions.
For example, you could provide diabetes patients with a care team that might include:
The primary care provider
A diabetes educator
A nutritionist
A pharmacist
A mental health counselor
Each team member helps the patient understand a different aspect of managing their condition, empowering the patient for better outcomes overall.
Shared Decision-Making
Another strategy that has been gaining traction is shifting into a care model of shared decision-making. This means involving the patient in their own treatment decisions, rather than delivering decisions in a top-down, paternalistic model.
For example, a care provider might invite a patient into a discussion about different treatment options for arthritis:
Medication options and their pros/cons
Physical therapy approaches
Lifestyle changes
Surgery timing (if needed)
As a result, the patient is likely to have more “buy in” with their care and take action accordingly.
Mobile Health and EHR Tools
Tech solutions are also common strategies for boosting patient engagement because they allow the patient to more easily access and manage their own care.
Typically, organizations start with patient portals where patients can:
See their test results
Message their doctor
Request prescription refills
View upcoming appointments
The easier it is to book appointments and connect with their provider, the more likely it is for patients to take an active role in their health.
Group-Based Educational Programs
Social connection is a fantastic way to encourage more patient engagement, especially for patients who are dealing with long-term conditions that require a great deal of self-management (such as diabetes).
For example, you might launch support groups for patients with:
Chronic pain
Heart disease
Mental health conditions
Cancer
As patients become more educated and involved, they become more engaged.
SMS/Messaging Services
Most organizations already use SMS services for things like appointment reminders, but you can take this tactic a step further to encourage patient engagement.
For example, you might enroll every patient in SMS messaging and send personalized text reminders straight to their phone related to:
Taking medications
Blood sugar checks
Exercise goals
Test results
Prescription refills
Health tips
In fact, in 2024, text messaging was reported to be a preferred way for millennials and Gen Z to hear from organizations.
Measuring Success in Patient Engagement
As healthcare business consultants, we often encourage our clients to develop their own set of meaningful metrics to measure if they’ve hit their patient engagement goals. However, there are a few well-studied frameworks to use as a starting place.
The first one is the Patient Activation Measure (PAM), which we discussed earlier. This framework relies on a survey for patients and ultimately gives each patient a score from 1 to 100 about how engaged they are.
Another evidence-based framework for measuring patient engagement is the Patient Health Engagement Scale, developed in 2015 and now widely referred to across the healthcare landscape.
The Patient Health Engagement Scale (PHE) works by placing patients in one of four emotional states:
Blackout - Patients feel psychologically paralyzed and emotionally overwhelmed. This leads them to be completely passive with healthcare decisions and providers.
Arousal - Patients start to experience awareness of their condition but are still hypervigilant about body changes and lack the ability to effectively self-manage.
Adhesion - Patients accept their condition and can follow medical advice (i.e. compliance), but they still lack full autonomy and may struggle with any lifestyle changes.
Eudaimonic Project - Patients fully integrate their health management into their life goals, are effective partners in their care team, and may even become advocates for other patients.
Success is measured by assessing which state a patient is in when they arrive at your facility, and then checking in throughout treatment to determine if your patient engagement interventions are helping them move closer toward the Eudaimonic Project state.
Patient Engagement Challenges
When patient engagement programs fall short, it's easy to attribute the failure to "unmotivated patients" or "non-compliance." However, research shows that the most common barriers to patient engagement often lie within healthcare systems themselves — in your processes, technology, and organizational structure.
Successful patient engagement starts with healthcare organizations looking inward and addressing systemic challenges that may be creating barriers for even the most motivated patients.
Language Barriers
It might go without saying that when patients and healthcare providers don't speak the same language, it creates significant obstacles to effective communication and engagement.
Even with interpreter services available, nuances can be lost in translation, and patients may feel less comfortable asking questions or expressing concerns. Many healthcare materials are only available in English or a limited number of languages, making it difficult for non-English speakers to fully understand their care plans or medication instructions.
Poor Patient Health Literacy
Many patients struggle to understand basic health information needed to make appropriate health decisions. This includes challenges in comprehending medical terminology, interpreting lab results, following medication schedules, or understanding their treatment options.
Limited health literacy leads to medication errors, missed appointments, poor adherence to treatment plans, and worse health outcomes. Patients may also feel embarrassed to ask for clarification, which only compounds the problem.
Social Determinants of Health or Financial Constraints
Factors like lack of transportation, inability to take time off work, childcare responsibilities, and financial hardship can prevent patients from fully engaging in their healthcare.
For instance, some patients may skip follow-up appointments or fail to fill prescriptions due to cost concerns. Limited internet access can also affect engagement with patient portals and telehealth services. And housing instability and food insecurity will usually take priority over preventive care and chronic disease management.
Lack of Cultural Competency
Healthcare systems and providers may not fully understand the cultural beliefs, practices, and values that influence how different patient populations view and interact with healthcare.
This can include different perspectives on illness, treatment preferences, family involvement in care decisions, and communication styles. When providers don’t have cultural awareness, patients are likely to feel disrespected or misunderstood. This compounds over time and leads to distrust and lower engagement in their care and care providers.
The Role of Technology in Patient Engagement
Technology is already playing a significant role in patient engagement — think: patient portals, wearable remote monitoring devices, telehealth appointments, and more.
And many healthcare writers believe technology’s role is only going to get bigger. Health Facilities Management magazine reported on cutting-edge innovations making their rounds in facilities across the country. For example, this advance from eVideon:
“eVideon has introduced the Engage TV solution, which serves as a central interface in the patient room for education, entertainment and engagement. Through its integration with EHR, nurses can automate the process of education assignment and documentation. Educational videos, based on a patient’s treatment plan, can be sent directly to the patient’s TV, with completion of those videos automatically documented back in the EHR.”
While we’re excited about the possibilities technology brings for boosting patient engagement, we often remind our clients that no new technology will completely solve your patient engagement problem — at least, not on its own. Technology is one of our powerful patient engagement tools, but you still need a strategy to use the tool effectively.
Future Directions in Patient Engagement
Prioritizing patient engagement goals has — fortunately — become the norm in much of the U.S. and Europe. The future lies in taking patient engagement further than appointment reminders, telehealth, or basic health education. Two major trends are emerging that will shape the next phase of patient engagement:
1. System-Level Patient Participation
The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) highlights a trend toward involving patients in facility or system-wide decisions. That is, beyond encouraging patients to take ownership of their personal health journey, patient engagement may become more about giving patients a seat at the table when deciding how your organization should serve its patients, collectively. This might look like:
Patient representation on advisory boards
Patient input in facility design
Patient feedback on service development
Patient involvement in policy-making
Patient participation in quality improvement initiatives
2. AI-Driven Personalization
Another recent study posits that deeper personalization is the trend to watch in patient engagement. This requires leveraging emerging technology, such as AI, to not only boost engagement but perhaps also to fill in the staffing shortage left over from the COVID-19 pandemic. These personalized solutions would:
Figure out when patients are due for check-ups or tests and remind them
Send personalized reminders the way the patients prefer (text, email, etc.)
Provide health apps or online tools when they might help
Keep track of how patients are doing and alert their doctors if needed
This way, rather than patient engagement plummeting when your hospital system or facility is at or over capacity (or you’re experiencing clinician shortages), technology would still keep patients coming in for regular treatment and educated about their health.
It’s All About Patients in Partnership With Providers
We believe the future of healthcare is centered on engaged, informed patients working in partnership with their providers.
This means developing platforms and systems that support shared decision-making, team-based care, and personalized engagement. A near-future reality for your healthcare organization could include:
Virtual pre-visit consultations that include multilingual support and comprehensive health literacy resources
Hospital navigation apps that address any accessibility needs and also coordinate transportation to and from the facility
Family portals that enable collaborative care tracking for loved ones, while communication platforms facilitate interdisciplinary team coordination
Group educational programs and AI-driven personalized reminders that help patients feel supported, informed, and empowered throughout their healthcare journey
And any other creative solutions you can imagine!
As exciting as all this is, improving patient engagement doesn’t start with adopting the latest tech or throwing your budget at every strategy you hear about (including those we shared here!). It starts with a deep understanding of your organization's unique challenges, opportunities, and patient needs.
That’s where EnticEdge comes in. Talk with a healthcare strategist today to put together a just-for-you plan for improving patient engagement at your practice or organization.
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