Reasons Why Your Hospital Needs a Patient Engagement Platform

As we venture further into the digital era, patient engagement has become increasingly important for the healthcare sector. In fact, a patient survey found more than 75% of all patients would like to use digital healthcare services. This is where patient engagement platforms come in. But how can they help?

We’ll discuss what a patient engagement platform is, why it’s essential and its benefits.

1. What Is a Patient Engagement Platform?
2. Boosting Patient Happiness
3. Greater Transparency About Quality and Outcomes of Care
4. Supporting People to Live Healthier Lives
5. Analytics That Promote Smart Spending
6. Improving Overall Efficiency and Productivity of Healthcare Teams
7. Creating the Highest Quality Healthcare Service

What Is a Patient Engagement Platform?

A Patient Engagement Platform (PEP) is a digital tool that provides healthcare-related information from a patient’s device, such as a smartphone or tablet. At just the touch of a button, patients have access to integrated services such as meal ordering, wayfinding, hospital radio, children's games, appointment check-in, free television and a whole lot more. 

As a result, patients take more control of their healthcare, maintain communication with friends and family and have an overall happier stay while in hospital. 

Boosting Patient Happiness

Patient entertainment systems have been relatively basic in the past, offering limited access to television channels and forcing patients to pay to watch.

At WiFi SPARK, we offer the latest in patient entertainment. Our entertainment package provides free TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, games, health videos and many other services to any WiFi-enabled device with a web browser. It’s free to use and enables users to listen, watch, read and learn while also empowering patients to take control of their healthcare journey. 

Long stays in the hospital can be lonely and boring without access to WiFi and entertainment. With a package like WiFi SPARK's, boredom is alleviated and so is stress on staff. For example, a patient who has a TV show to focus on may not be as unsettled and will be less of a distraction for ward staff who are busy with other important tasks and responsibilities. 

Ultimately, an entertainment package as part of a patient engagement platform makes the patient’s stay a lot easier and less stressful.

Greater Transparency About Quality and Outcomes of Care

Receiving a diagnosis from a doctor is often stressful for the patient, so it can be hard for them to retain the information. This was found in studies that showed up to 80% of what doctors tell patients is forgotten almost immediately, making it difficult for care providers to deliver an efficient service. 

With a digital patient engagement solution, such as a PEP, patients can access more information that can help them retain essential details about their healthcare management.

This empowers patients by giving them access to videos related to their condition, and information such as follow-up appointments and post-discharge treatments, ensuring it won’t be forgotten. This enables more transparency, reduces inequalities in access and improves the quality of care and outcomes.

Supporting People to Live Healthier Lives

There’s no doubt about it - prevention is as important as cure. However, many patients still ignore letters posted from the NHS or stare straight past posters and leaflets when waiting at the GP or hospital.

Patients will notice key messages or information if it’s right in the palm of their hand when on-site. 

This is exactly what a digital patient engagement solution does. Health promotion messages are displayed on the entertainment homepage, making it much harder to ignore. Plus, patients can also be reminded to book preventative appointments, such as vaccinations and check-ups, while they’re in the hospital. 

Analytics That Promote Smart Spending

Gaining analytics through WiFi can help the Trust distribute resources more efficiently while maximising income from rented retail and hospitality spaces in the process. Through usage reports analysing peak times, popular locations and data from patient surveys accessible through the platform, the Trust can plan their facilities more effectively to best suit the patients.

Trusts may also dedicate a space on the entertainment platform homepage that could be suitable for retail vendors to advertise. Deals could be made with the integrated retail outlets on-site to promote offers or encourage visits to their shop, in turn providing a source of income for the Trust. 

Improving Overall Efficiency and Productivity of Healthcare Teams

As patient engagement platforms provide information about the Trust to patients and visitors when they’re on-site, they can make the best use of the facilities available. It gives visitors access to everything they need to access instantly, such as the ability to check in to their appointments, order meals if they're an in-patient, see which facilities are available and view a digital map of the hospital.

As a result, people no longer need to ask the staff for assistance.

This improves their overall healthcare experience. As patients no longer need to ask staff for assistance on these matters, practitioners can spend more time on other vital tasks. This also improves the overall efficiency and productivity of the healthcare team.

Creating the Highest Quality Healthcare Service

Digital patient engagement solutions allow visitors to access all of the relevant information they need right from their devices, whether from a mobile, tablet or laptop. They can check in to appointments and get there on time by consulting a digital map of the hospital, see where the on-site cafe is and order meals via the platform.

These platforms allow visitors to obtain the information they need by themselves, meaning they’ll require less assistance from staff. This allows staff to focus on their vital tasks and gifts visitors with the power of convenience.

However, the PEP doesn’t just give patients the information they need. It also serves as an entertainment portal. Patients can watch live TV, stream movies, listen to the radio or play games - all from one platform they can access via their own device, for free. This means the patient is more likely to be engaged, entertained and more cooperative. 

Overall, this helps to improve the quality of care a patient receives while also creating a better hospital journey. To gain these benefits, though, you need to find the right provider that can help you deploy a Patient Engagement Platform solution to help your hospital or Trust.

Interested in Deploying a Patient Engagement Platform to Help Your Trust? Our team Can Make That Happen

At WiFi SPARK, we don't just provide healthcare facilities and hospitals with an engagement platform — we also help you check if it works in practice. We empower you to make the required adjustments you need so you're always providing the best support services. To get started, speak to one of our experts using the button below to see how a patient entertainment system will reduce patient isolation in your healthcare facility.