Apr 17, 2013

Managed hosting can solve healthcare patient engagement problems

Ansley Kilgore

Managed hosting can solve healthcare patient engagement problemsIf you’ve spent any time interacting with the healthcare industry in the past couple of years, whether as an employee or a patient, you’ve probably noticed that IT systems are a much bigger part of the healthcare experience. The rise of EHRs (Electronic Healthcare Records) and other IT solutions have created a major opportunity for patient engagement in the sector. However, developing patient engagement models and finding the right technology to accommodate them can be difficult, making managed hosting services important in the sector.

The rise of patient engagement strategies
EHRs create an opportunity for hospital CIOs to increase patient engagement by making more data available. By giving patients access to information about their health and treatment options, they can be more engaged with their care and have a greater understanding of how to get the help they need.

In most current care models, primary care physicians will advise patients through various chains of care, which is sometimes as simple as collecting a prescription at the pharmacy. In other instances, it can involve visiting a test lab or seeing a specialist to get additional care that the primary care doctor can’t provide.

Traditionally, patients have not had much say in how this chain of care progresses. Furthermore, the complex nature of treatment strategies and medical processes has created an environment in which physicians tend to keep patients in the dark because they cannot always provide definitive answers.

Challenges in patient engagement
While hospital CIOs can use patient engagement plans to improve patient care, doing so requires a strategic IT infrastructure to handle the large amounts of data needed. However, the solution has to be simple from an end user perspective, despite the complex web of interdependent technologies. Managed hosting makes this possible by giving CIOs a secure and cost-effective way to host patient engagement applications and data. This operational model allows hospitals to connect meaningfully with patients and provide access to data without making costly internal IT upgrades.

Learn more about managed hosting plans and how they can benefit your business by downloading our white paper, Ten Considerations When Choosing a Managed Hosting Provider.

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Ansley Kilgore

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