A health system’s digital strategy likely includes one key component: a patient portal or branded app. The shift towards this out-of-facility solution continues to gain strength for many reasons, from an increase in digitally savvy patients to needed remote digital tools in a post-pandemic era. In light of proven portal/app successes on patient outcomes, are health systems driving patients to this valuable tool and maximizing adoption?
Lincata is an in-room solution that directly drives patients to your branded portal or app for the benefit of increasing patient outcomes. Not only does Lincata direct patients to app downloads and portal registrations but also delivers quality clinical support, relevant patient education, high-quality entertainment, and top of market service solutions all branded to your unique health system. The first step towards better patient outcomes begins with prompting patients to portal and app registration when patients are in-room and using Lincata’s interface.
Proven Portal & App Success
When patients have access to their providers through a patient portal or branded app, the increase in patient outcomes is measurable. By digitally fostering the patient-provider relationship, use of an app or portal has “significant positive influence on gratification, health self-awareness, and health perceptions.”1 In studies that specifically considered patients with diabetes, “portal users were significantly more likely to control their HbA1c levels successfully compared to nonusers.”2 The positive effects of portal/app use in these studies notably carried over to other clinical areas including pediatric asthma, mental health conditions and rheumatic disorders.
The first step towards better patient outcomes begins with prompting patients to portal and app registration when patients are in-room and using Lincata’s interface.
In addition, providers experienced a 33% improvement in appointment adherence from portal users. 3 Also worth noting is that when patients show up to appointments within 1-week of discharge from an acute care facility, the risk of re-admission is reduced significantly. 4 This means encouraging patients to utilize portals/apps can lead to better appointment adherence and reduce re-admission risk.
Reviewing Portal & App Utilization
If patient portals and apps lead to increases in outcomes, then the more patients using these digital tools amplifies health systems’ ability to deliver better outcomes. So how many patients are actually using these digital tools? As recently as 2021, 5 a study indicated that 1 in 5 patients accessed their patient portal or app, and that included a 6% increase from the prior year implying continued increases in utilization year over year.
Health Systems should consider exactly how patients are directed to portals/apps. For example, encouragement in the clinical setting is critical to download and utilization. Consider the following research: 5
8 in 10 portal/app users were encouraged by their providers.
When encouraged, 71% of patients accessed their portal within that year.
So the question is, do health systems have the right tools to set providers up for success?
Encouraging patients to utilize portals/apps can lead to better appointment adherence and reduce re-admission risk.
“Lincing” to Portal & App Solutions with Lincata
Patients currently in your healthcare facility may just be the ones who need encouragement the most to set-up access to your health systems app or portal. Your health system’s app or portal is critical to continuing care as soon as a patient is in the discharge process. When prompted to use these tools, patients build stronger connections that both increase loyalty to your health system and patient satisfaction. And of course, connected, happy patients lead to higher profitability.6
Lincata’s in-room marketing solution makes directing patients to your portal/app easy. With the click of a button, patients can begin registration directly from the Lincata home screen. Lincata offers a constant in-room reminder that patients are closer to quality health care within your health system than they have ever been before, which creates loyal patients.
Of course, “lincing” patients to your app or portal is only the beginning of what Lincata can do to benefit your patients, clinical teams, information management and digital marketing team.
Contact us to find out how we can benefit your health system.
About Lincata
Lincata is the in-room marketing solution that intelligently connects your hospital’s existing in-room TVs to your marketing content and digital strategy for the purposes of increasing revenue, reducing readmissions, and delivering quality outcomes through a simple device that enables access to a range of services.
By linking patient data with coordinated clinical services and relevant patient education content on screen, the Lincata solution increases loyalty to your health system with patients at the best possible time: when patients are focused on in-room screens, managing their care, and physically present to understand the next steps in their health continuum.
Lincata is the North American division of Lincor, based in Nashville. Lincor’s platform solutions have been used for more than a decade by health systems across the world.
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