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Three ways technology supports a patient’s health & wellness goals well beyond appointments

Today, more than half of the U.S. adult population has at least one chronic health condition, and upward of 40% have multiple. These chronic diseases – heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease included – are the nation’s leading causes of death, disability and healthcare costs. In fact, some 90% of the nation’s $4.1 trillion in annual healthcare expenditures are spent on treating chronic and mental health conditions.

The complexities and expenses associated with chronic diseases make their prevention and treatment burdensome; plus, the challenges are being compounded. Facing the rising prevalence of chronic diseases, an aging population and worsening shortage of primary care physicians, the treatment and prevention pathways of chronic diseases are on track to get even worse.

It’s clear: the way our healthcare system has long treated chronic diseases, with occasional check-ins and at-home management, isn’t enough. Why? The problem of adherence to at-home chronic disease management remains unsolved. But technology offers a remedy.

Here we explore 3 ways primary care and lifestyle medicine providers can utilize digital wellness solutions to help patients stay on track after, and in between, their in-person appointments.

No. 1 : Establish regular connections

The current management model for chronic health conditions is failing patients. Today, patients schedule appointments, undergo testing and receive diagnoses, treatment plans and medicine. Often, patients are then left to their own devices. Providers can do better. Utilizing a digital wellness solution, providers can fill in the gaps between appointments to check in on patients and monitor their progress and adherence to recommended treatment plans. These regular patient-provider connections can establish trust and foster meaningful engagement that drives lifestyle changes, treatment consistency and healthy outcomes.

No. 2 : Provide convenient, flexible care

Patient lives aren’t linear. They have ups and downs, take left turns and don’t always go according to plan. This means to truly be effective, treatment plans should factor in a level of flexibility that allows patients to adjust their care and goals as their lives inevitably shift. Whether a patient is trying to lose weight, quit smoking, reduce stressors or improve their overall health, providers can now offer convenient, flexible care pathways that address individual health issues and goals digitally. With the right tool, providers can launch on-demand courses, content and videos that educate patients with quick information hits and tips on improving their health and reducing chronic disease risks when it’s convenient.

No. 3: Enhance patient experiences

With digitally enabled at-home support, providers can boost patient engagement. How? By delivering personalized care experiences that align with an individual’s lifestyle, health needs, goals and learning styles. Providers can now launch, and scale, patient-specific care pathways with the help of digital tools that automate personalized support, patient reminders and content specific to a patient’s health conditions and interests.

As providers grapple with how best to manage the continued strains on staffing, the growing number of aging patients, the rise in chronic conditions and increased patient needs, they need to consider the available technology solutions bridging the widening gaps in healthcare. By leveraging a digital wellness solution, providers can support patients beyond their in-person appointments to make chronic disease management easier and patient goals achievable.

Discover how Avidon Health’s Engagement Rx® can aid primary care and lifestyle medicine providers in helping patients achieve lasting outcomes in their health, to ultimately prevent and treat chronic disease, get in touch with our team.

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How technology is transforming the patient experience and boosting engagement

The health of our nation is at a critical level. Today, it’s estimated 6 in 10 American adults have a chronic disease, with 40% of adults having two or more such diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With the prevalence of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity and other chronic illnesses, lifestyle medicine is needed now more  than ever.

With the potential to prevent, and reverse, chronic diseases, lifestyle medicine providers can effectively drive change to help individuals add years to their lives. And yet, barriers to positive outcomes exist – predominantly where patient engagement is concerned. How can providers keep patients engaged after their appointments and throughout their journey to better health? Personalized care with the help of the right technology.

Here we look at how digital wellness tools equipped with automation technology can help lifestyle medicine providers see benefits in their practices and patient populations.

Increased motivation for lasting lifestyle changes

Often, individuals are highly motivated to make critical lifestyle changes when they, or a family member, are diagnosed with a chronic illness or present risk indicators of disease. This a-ha moment is the first step in helping individuals improve their health and well-being.

With digital wellness technology, lifestyle medicine providers can capitalize on these moments of realization and early motivation to engage patients with vital educational offerings to better understand health issues. Providers can now easily launch personalized online courses, with on-demand content, videos and articles, to educate and engage patients throughout every stage of their health and wellness journey. Whether it is for weight management, fitness, sleep, smoking cessation or healthy eating, these convenient, microlearning courses keep patients on track to achieve lasting health goals.

Streamlined communication and administrative operations

Lifestyle medicine providers transform lives, but often get bogged down by administrative tasks and are often limited by short appointments. With digital tools at their fingertips, providers can now deliver individualized care at scale, driving positive patient and practice outcomes beyond the clinic.

For providers looking to streamline their communications, send patient reminders, save time on administrative operations and enhance their program offerings, automated digital wellness tools could be their all-in-one solution. With digital tools like Engagement Rx®, clinics can automate the delivery of personalized content – addressing everything from substance use to stress management – while sending encouraging patient messages and program reminders. Providers can effectively, and automatically, educate patients, boost engagement, track progress and encourage patient participation without the employee involvement.

Improved patient engagement, retention and outcomes

As chronic diseases maintain a stronghold on U.S. adults, lifestyle medicine providers need tools that help, not hinder, their practices. With digital wellness tools – like Engagement Rx – providers can hyperfocus on what they do best: treat the whole patient to prevent and reverse chronic health issues. Such tools have a number of positive outcomes, including:

  • Increased Knowledge: With the ability to launch on-demand educational courses, content and videos, providers can easily provide patients with bite-sized information and tips on improving health and reducing health risks whenever it’s convenient.
  • Deeper Engagement: Providing discrete, digital communication tools and learning options, providers can ensure patients feel supported and secure as they address their health and wellness needs and work toward their goals in a safe, private manner.
  • Better Outcomes: By facilitating the delivery of additional program offerings and opportunities for digital engagement, providers can inspire patients to stay motivated, increase program retention and, ultimately, see more positive health outcomes.

Lifestyle medicine providers are ideally positioned to help adults nationwide improve their health while preventing, treating and reversing chronic diseases – and with the right digital tool, there’s no limit to the positive impact providers can have on patient outcomes.

Contact our team for more information on how our all-in-one digital wellness platform and automation technology can help practices engage patients and drive positive outcomes.

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3 steps to improving community wellness program engagement

The major determinants of good health lie outside of the healthcare system.

Health and well-being are shaped by a wide array of influences like where we are born, live, work, learn and play. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies five social determinants of health that include: 1.) access to quality healthcare and 2.) education, 3.) social and community support, 4.) economic stability and 5.) the built environment.

At the center of improving outcomes for individuals and communities — are community centers that offer programs to address the health and well-being of local residents. With a plethora of programs and activities, it can be challenging for centers to educate members on all that’s available to them.

Here are three steps that can help community centers attract, engage, and keep community members on track

Step One: Provide motivating educational programs

When it comes to improving their health and well-being, people are often excited to learn, make changes and get involved in health, fitness and social programs. However, keeping members hooked long-term is a challenge. With the help of digital wellness solutions, community centers can elevate their in-person programs and services. How? By launching personalized online educational courses that are geared toward keeping members engaged. These easy-to-activate offerings can provide personalized, on-demand content that addresses the individual needs of members, without requiring a staff member to deliver the information, and are accessible at their convenience.

Step Two: Automate program reminders and support

The excitement to make positive changes tends to be high at the beginning of someone’s fitness or wellness journey. Then, as life gets in the way, old habits creep back in and progress slows, this initial spark of motivation fades. So, how can community centers help members keep that engagement spark alive to meet their health and wellness goals? Automation.

With the ability to automate personalized content, messaging and reminders, community centers can bridge the gap between in-person and at-home experiences. Do you have members wanting to improve their nutrition, sleep, stress management? You can now automate the delivery of individualized content, program reminders and messages of support that fuel member knowledge, track progress and encourage them to stay engaged.

Step Three: Give them easy digital tools to use

Community centers have the power to help people improve their quality of life. But they are only effective if programs and learning opportunities are easily accessible. This can be accomplished with the right digital tools.

As community centers juggle managing in-person programming and administrative tasks, digital wellness tools — like Engagement Rx — can be leveraged to keep members engaged in their health and wellness journeys. A few key benefits include:

  • Offering on-demand, microlearning content and short courses that make it easy for members to learn how to make positive changes without becoming overwhelmed.  
  • Providing discrete communication and learning options that help members feel supported and secure in addressing their health and wellness needs and goals in a safe, private and convenient way. 
  • Giving staff members a convenient mechanism for automating the delivery of program content, messages of encouragement and progress tracking.  
  • Facilitating additional program offerings and opportunities for digital engagement that inspire members to stay motivated and increase wellness program retention.  

With the ability to automate, and deliver, personalized digital education offerings, reminders and messages of support, community centers can help members stay on track to meet goals long after their initial excitement has waned.

For more on how digital wellness offerings and automation can help community centers connect with members to improve their health and well-being, contact our team.

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