From Inside-Out to Outside-In: Rethinking Patient Engagement

We live in a world in which the patient is empowered like never before. The information provided and housed digitally surely provides an opportunity to better collect and consolidate health data. This portability is a big step in the right direction. We’ve seen firsthand that the industry often takes an “inside-out” approach to patient engagement. Instead of prioritizing the needs and perspectives of patients first, healthcare entities focus on what fits within their existing processes, workflows, and systems. This quickly results in a patient experience that leaves many of us frustrated. In an effort to better support improved patient engagement, we must shift our perspective to a patient-centric understanding of how people manage chronic health challenges on a real-world daily basis (taking an outside-in perspective).There are many tech and digital interventions that can facilitate improved healthcare engagement – doctor-patient communication, accurate personal electronic health records, and overall administrative efficiencies. We can build better engagement channels and platforms that deliver greater value for both the patient and the system and ultimately improve health outcomes.