The most powerful motivator is the patient-physician relationship itself. When patients have been out of touch with their provider for some time, alerts about the need to see their doctor can engage patients and get them started down the road to better health. By leveraging the patient-physician relationship, providers can encourage patients to change their health behavior, and often produce the desired result.
Effective Discharge Management involves a complex interplay between human interventions and automation tools developed by Sargas similar to symptom management. Automated messaging to all discharged patients can urge them to see their providers, fill their prescriptions, and call the hospital if they have any questions about their care plan. Similarly, care managers can handle only a limited number of patients at a given time; but they can prioritize their caseloads if they know which patients have the most urgent needs. In addition, online health risk assessments can help identify patients who require assistance in managing their health. And physicians can prescribe online educational programs to patients to increase their ability to care for themselves.
Studies show that patient engagement can help improve health outcomes and avoid preventable deaths. Interactive web-based applications and tailored educational programs developed by Sargas prove to be effective.