Pre-Visit Patient Engagement
What are some examples of pre-visit patient engagement?
Benefits for Patients
Online self-scheduling options and automated appointment reminders are becoming mainstays in healthcare today. They’re quick, convenient, and available 24/7—exactly what modern healthcare consumers are looking for in terms of a digital experience. In fact, at least 78 percent of patients would prefer to schedule appointments digitally, and almost 66 percent of patients are interested in receiving email or text notifications about upcoming visits.
No one likes a surprise medical bill. Patients are also looking for more transparency around the cost of care—especially amid the rise of retail clinics, which typically offer prices and require payment up front. Plus, around 60 percent of patients want to receive notifications about costs that insurance won’t cover.
Benefits for Practices
Offering patients self-scheduling options and automated appointment confirmations and reminders leads to not only increased patient satisfaction but also greater practice efficiency. Taking these proactive steps up front helps to maximize providers’ schedules and minimize manual work (not to mention burnout) for your staff, reducing the number of phone calls and the risk of no-shows.
Additionally, up-front insurance eligibility verification and payment collection is a solid win for healthcare practices, helping to prevent missed payments (from both patients and insurers) and ensure a steady cash flow for the business as a whole.
Missed Opportunities for Pre-Visit Engagement
Despite increasing consumer interest, more than half of providers say scheduling is too difficult to offer as a self-service. If your practice isn’t offering online scheduling capabilities, you’re likely increasing manual work for staff and missing out on opportunities to attract and retain patients.
Failing to send automated reminders increases missed appointments while also frustrating current and potential patients. It can also lead to gaps in provider schedules due to increased patient no-shows. Plus, not taking time to verify each patient’s insurance eligibility and determine their out-of-pocket responsibility up front—in addition to payment collection—often leads to financial difficulties for patients and missed payments for practices.
In other words, your practice can miss the mark before you ever see a patient—all because of a lack of engagement.
![Blog #73 [ABM] How InteliChart’s Patient Portal Addresses Meaningful Use](https://www.intelichart.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog%20%2373%20%5BABM%5D%20How%20InteliChart%E2%80%99s%20Patient%20Portal%20Addresses%20Meaningful%20Use.png?width=920&name=Blog%20%2373%20%5BABM%5D%20How%20InteliChart%E2%80%99s%20Patient%20Portal%20Addresses%20Meaningful%20Use.png)
During-Visit Patient Engagement
What are some examples of patient engagement during a visit?
- Digitized registration and patient intake
- Virtual care alternatives (telehealth)
Benefits for Patients
Nobody likes to fill out paperwork—especially with a germy pen and clipboard in a doctor’s waiting room. Sixty percent of patients are interested in filling out forms digitally, and 35 percent say it’s a top motivator when considering switching providers. That’s why digitized registration and intake forms sent automatically after patients self-schedule appointments online are engagement game changers, offering consumers better, more streamlined patient experiences.
Consumers today also expect virtual care options like telehealth visits. Eighty-five percent of Americans said telehealth has made it easier to get the care they need, and 88 percent want to continue using telehealth services after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. Telehealth is not only more convenient for patients but also more affordable and accessible, improving care access for underserved populations.
Benefits for Practices
Automating and digitizing your intake process is a convenient, modern, and efficient approach that minimizes manual work and streamlines internal processes for practice staff and providers. Patients are in and out of their appointments seamlessly with fewer paperwork-related delays. On top of that, telehealth visits are more efficient and cost-effective for practices, simplifying workflows while also meeting evolving consumer and patient expectations.
Missed Opportunities for During-Visit Engagement
Sometimes healthcare practices fall short of meeting expectations during the visit stage, as well. For example, paper-based registration and intake processes are outdated, inefficient, and error-prone, requiring manual data entry by practice staff. Manual registration and intake workflows can lead to waiting room backlogs, patient delays, and dissatisfaction—or in other words, a very poor first impression.
And then there’s telehealth; adoption rapidly accelerated during 2020 and the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s here to stay. Practices that don’t get up to speed by offering virtual care options will likely lose potential patients to competitors that offer better, more modern digital experiences.

Post-Visit Patient Engagement
What are some examples of patient engagement after a visit?
- Automated post-visit surveys
- Population health management
Benefits for Patients
The patient-provider relationship is the foundation of a quality healthcare experience. Patients want the ability to communicate with providers, share their opinions, and engage in shared decision-making regarding their care.
Post-visit surveys are a great way to nurture the patient-provider relationship. This communication can remind your patients of what was discussed during their appointment and increase the likelihood they’ll adhere to treatment plans, make healthy choices between visits, and take a more proactive, engaged role in their own healthcare.
Benefits for Practices
Eighty-six percent of top-performing healthcare providers send patient satisfaction surveys after every visit. Automated, targeted surveys to assess patient satisfaction, and gather patient-reported outcomes improve outcomes and provider/practice reputation management while also supporting population health initiatives.
Ninety-eight percent of healthcare executives believe population health management is important for their organizations’ future success. Targeted patient surveys are an efficient and effective way to stay connected between visits and to actively manage the health of various patient populations, such as those managing chronic conditions like diabetes. Sending automated surveys is also a way to address disparities caused by social determinants of health.
Missed Opportunities for Post-Visit Engagement
Engagement initiatives shouldn’t come to a halt after a patient visits your practice—in fact, quite the opposite! A lack of post-visit follow-up can end up leading to decreased patient satisfaction, worsening health conditions, patient churn, poor adherence, and even negative health outcomes.
Plus, some healthcare practices are still not investing in population health management initiatives, which can impact quality performance and value-based care reimbursement in addition to patient health outcomes.