Why Traditional EHRs Pose a Challenge for Patient Engagement in Digital Healthcare

Patient engagement is crucial for improving health outcomes and reducing healthcare costs. Engaged patients are more likely to adhere to treatment plans, experience better health outcomes, and have lower healthcare costs than those who are not engaged. However, traditional electronic health records systems (EHRs) are not designed to effectively engage patients in their healthcare. In this blog post, we will explore the challenges posed by traditional EHRs to patient engagement in the digital era and how digital healthcare platforms can overcome these challenges.

Traditional EHRs were primarily designed for billing and fee-for-service models rather than patient engagement. The focus on billing led to the development of systems that were optimized for recording healthcare services rather than for patient engagement. As a result, many EHRs are limited in scope with the digital patient experience tools they natively support. Therefore, companies using older EHRs typically have to add many additional tools for patient communication.

Healthcare has traditionally had a poor user experience compared to traditional consumer industries, and legacy EHRs are no exception. Traditional EHRs are often difficult to navigate, cluttered with unnecessary information or irrelevant functionality, and require extensive training for healthcare providers to use effectively. This can be especially challenging for patients who are not familiar with the healthcare system or who have limited health literacy.

Traditional EHRs are also notorious for their lack of interoperability. Many EHR systems lack integration and API capabilities and are ultimately too inflexible to support new digital healthcare experiences. Different EHR systems often cannot communicate with each other, which can lead to fragmentation of patient information and a lack of continuity of care. This can be a significant barrier to patient engagement, as patients may not have access to all their healthcare information or may need to repeatedly provide the same information to different healthcare providers.

CRMs and Modern Patient Management Platforms offer a solution to the shortcomings of traditional EHRs. These platforms are designed to provide patients with easy access to engage with their providers and access to their health information. Modern platforms typically offer well-designed interfaces that were designed to be used on a phone. Additionally, most newer platforms are designed API-first to be able to integrate and be interoperable with other systems so patients can more easily access their data.

As digital healthcare continues to become more adopted, patients will ultimately expect that their provider offers a great digital experience.

Platforms like Tellescope were designed for the digital patient experience first rather than fee-for-service billing, which allow providers to deliver an out-of-the-box comprehensive digital experience. Reach out today to learn more.