Healthcare is a partnership between the provider guiding the healthcare journey and the patient taking steps toward better health. Engaged patients have the knowledge, confidence, and skills to take those steps. They understand their healthcare and are more likely to take an active role in it.

For patients, being readmitted to the hospital after returning home can be very disappointing. In addition to disappointment, patients who are readmitted face longer recovery times, financial impacts, and higher risks of complications. 

Around 12% of heart attack survivors are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge. While the reason for the readmission is sometimes another heart attack, that isn’t always the case. Around half of these readmissions are not even cardiac-related.

You know that not all patients are the same. Medical problems, reactions to medications, and many other health-related issues make every patient — and their experience — truly unique.

Actively engaged patients understand their health well and feel empowered to take proactive health management measures. Daily decisions like eating a healthy diet, taking medications correctly, or getting exercise come naturally, leading to better outcomes.

Hospital patients have a lot to remember when they leave the hospital, like self-care instructions, follow-up appointments, and medication changes. Remembering things like this is tough for healthy people, but trying to remember it all when you’re sick or in pain makes understanding a care plan much more difficult.

Patients typically get very excited when they hear “discharge.” Discharge means they are going home, but it also means patients will be caring for themselves once they get home. If patients don’t understand their care plan, or aren’t engaged in their plan, their chances of readmission after discharge increase.

The HCAHPS survey measures the patient experience over a wide range of domains, from environmental cleanliness to staff responsiveness. Communication is another theme across many domains, and for good reason: Without clear communication, patients cannot be engaged members of the care team.

The impact of the patient experience in healthcare goes beyond HCAHPS scores. When patients have a good experience, they build relationships with the care team. They are more likely to be engaged in their health. They learn better and make healthy choices.

No single physician can be an expert in all aspects of care, especially when patients have complex health conditions.

Complex care is common. A typical primary care doctor coordinates with 229 other physicians. Patients on Medicare visit at least two primary care doctors and five specialists every year.