How to Increase Patient Compliance with Remote Care
Patient compliance — something that healthcare providers wish was easy, but know just isn’t. There are many factors that play into patient compliance such as…
- A Patient’s personal life/schedule
- Patient’s level of education surrounding their particular health issue
- Access to resources to complete doctor’s requests
- Patient willingness/desire to change their habits
So how can doctors overcome these challenges when almost every patient has trouble instituting a lifestyle change? For starters, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. If your current methods aren’t working, it’s time to try something new. Here’s how you can increase patient compliance with the use of remote patient care:
An Automated Daily Care Program
When you’re asking patients to make a lifestyle change you’re asking them to pump the breaks on their entire way of life and their way of thinking about their health. Let’s say that you have a diabetic patient who needs to change the way they’re eating. Two factors that are going to inevitably hold that patient back are their schedule and their knowledge base.
You could tell a patient to “eat more of this” and “eat less of that” and send them home with traditional tools such as educational pamphlets (link to Payton’s article) or a government issued chart of a plate. But how likely is it that your patient is going to be able to make a complete 180 with only that information?
This is where an automated daily care program comes in. For patients who need to exercise a little more everyday, you could enroll them in a beginner walking plan, for patients who need to eat for heart health, they could be enrolled in a DASH diet.
The BodySite remote patient care platform contains 60+ turnkey wellness plan templates and the ability for you to customize existing plans or to create your own. All of these plans serve the dual purpose of educating your patients and guiding them through what to eat, do and track every day, so they don’t have to figure out how to achieve their health goals all by themselves.
Tasks, Tracking and More…
The other issue with patient compliance? Patients think they’re being compliant but unfortunately, their ability to self assess their progress isn’t always on par with where they need to be. That’s why when patients are given your instructions and then come back for a follow up visit, they feel dejected and confused. They “followed your instructions” and they still feel the same.
The good news? In this day and age there are a myriad of ways to track patient compliance digitally so you and your patient can have an objective standard for their progress.
BodySite’s platform allows patients to track their food, activity, body metrics and any other customizable metric created by you. We’re also integrated with connected health devices/programs such as FitBit, Apple Health, Withings Blood Pressure Cuff, Innotech Scale, and more.
Leaving patients to self report their progress is going to create stress and confusion for both you and your patient. Take advantage of technology that is now so widely available and leverage it for greater outcomes.
A Digital Database of Content and Resources
We mentioned earlier that patients need the right resources and information in order to make a lifestyle change and remain compliant with your specific care instructions.
All the educational materials that you currently distribute are amazing resources that help you to get important information across to your patients. But it’s no secret that printed materials get lost. Using a digital database to store your content will allow patients to easily access these valuable resources at their fingertips.
BodySite has the ability to store documents, videos, photos and more so that with a few clicks patients can not only access their daily care plan but also find helpful resources as soon as they need them.
HIPAA Compliant Telemedicine and Messaging
Finally patients need a way to stay motivated and encouraged. While it’s understandable that you can’t meet with your patients every day, that’s the beauty of modern technology. Having a way to privately communicate with your patients today is now an essential part of any successful practice.
Thankfully, BodySite allows you to do all of the above functions in addition to its telemedicine clinic and HIPAA compliant messaging, all included in your monthly subscription.
Want to give it a whirl? Try BodySite free for 30 days, click here to claim your free trial.
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