In today’s healthcare field, organizations that communicate effectively with patients have both impacted satisfaction and outcomes. Indeed, quality communication between patients and healthcare stakeholders can affect health outcomes, such as enhancing patients’ motivation and participating in treatment decisions.
However, recent years have marked a shift in trust. Between April 2020 and January 2024, patient trust in the health system dropped by 30%. Over time, poor communication and negative healthcare experience frustrate patients and reduces their trust in stakeholders throughout the care continuity – from provider to payer.
Dynamic changes in trust, coupled with the trend of patients who want to actively participate in their care programs, require healthcare stakeholders to develop strategies and meet patients. Although this presents its own challenges (such as gaps in data, technology, and engagement strategies), effective communication in the digital age is essential to establish and maintain patient engagement.
Patients need tailored touch points throughout their health journey to maintain a care plan. To do this effectively, healthcare organizations must leverage technology and digital communication strategies to drive and retain patient engagement and end-to-end experience.
Maintain patient relationships through communication
During in-person visits, the relationship between the patient and primary care provider (PCP) plays an important role in promoting effective health care and improving clinical outcomes. By adopting a patient-centered approach and creating space for understanding, providers can enable patients to play a more active role in care, ultimately improving their outcomes. However, once patients walk out of the doctor’s office door, their participation can be compromised if the provider does not provide clear communication. For nearly 50% of patients, clear and improved communication will build trust with their providers.
Health plan promotion also applies. Many patients rely on their updated health plans via text, phone or email, involving appointment reminders, medication adherence, health education, coverage, and other key information related to their care. After in-person visits, digital communication is the way to connect health care organizations to patients to get them aware of health updates and ensure interaction with their plans. Any bad and confusing communication can lead to patients not trusting their health insurance plans.
By effectively leveraging digital communication strategies to provide high-impact digital member activation, providers can tailor outreach to patient needs and drive personalized interventions in their consumer health journey. Meanwhile, we can empower patients to manage their healthcare experience with personalized advice and resources – taking the next best step in their health journey, such as scheduling screening, attending follow-up appointments, and understanding the care they are available.
TCPA is teaching us about patient trust
As part of the shift to larger digital patient engagement, the complex three-bar relationship quickly became complicated with the new regulations that will take effect in April next year, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) agreed to revoke the rules. The new consent revocation rules set out a range of requirements that companies must comply with, making it easier for consumers to exit and manage their consent to receive automated calls and texts.
Next year, healthcare organizations must work hard to modify their communications systems and ensure that revocation requests are processed under the new rules. Currently, 80% of patients are unfamiliar with the changes in healthcare communications that are about to be made. Utilizing this time to be adequately prepared is essential for the compliance process, and more importantly, ensuring that healthy consumers do not unconsciously choose important health communications, resulting in health care organizations calling back corresponding letters, which negatively affects patient care.
It is crucial for providers and health plans to proactively make these upcoming changes to patients and outline clear consent management and opt-out options. This includes notifying patients about other communications enabled by consent to help them make informed choices. Any lack of clear disclosure creates the risk of confusion and distrust – essentially pushing the wedge between the patient’s healthcare entities. Health programs must work closely with compliance partners to improve their communication engagement strategies to reduce unnecessary exits and maintain critical communication with patients without exceeding regulatory boundaries.
The next few months are essential for fine-tuning communication strategies, ensuring patients feel comfortable and controlling preferences across channels, languages, and topics. Trust in people who commit to quality and compliance can be maintained through enhanced transparency, access to care and personalized communication.
Promote trust in changing landscapes
Improved regulatory levels such as TCPA are challenging healthcare institutions to rethink communication with patients. We are proposing two clear needs: Any effective policy needs to ensure that all stakeholders are involved in the dialogue and that providing transparency is essential to promote trust with patients.
Including key stakeholders in these regulatory discussions establish a shared understanding of the impact of new changes and ensure a fundamental compliance – a way that does not undermine the consistency of messaging, through topic-based consent, the type of patient outreach can be personalized and can be effectively prioritized. If stakeholders manage consent forms in the right way and opt out, they can constantly interact with patients in the right way and promote improvement in outcomes.
We cannot balance new policies with new and updated policies without participating in the dialogue. Maintaining the future of patient trust requires thoughtful digital engagement strategies to implement in order to predict their needs on a healthy journey and to deliver a personalized experience effectively and in real time.
Photo: Zhaojiankang, Getty Images
Bob Farrell is a five-time CEO with a strong track record of high-growth, profitable software and technology-enabled service companies backed by private equity and public markets. He is currently CEO of Mpulse, a leader in digital solutions in the healthcare industry and is transforming the consumer experience to deliver better, equitable health outcomes. Bob also serves on the board of Worldwide Express, Recycle Track Systems (RTS), Transportation Impact and Tenstreet, as a senior consultant to PSG.
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