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For years, healthcare teams have worked to help patients stay involved in their care, but the stakes feel higher now. Patients have more ways than ever to share feedback, compare providers, and choose where they go for treatment. A woman managing breast cancer might expect personalized education materials in her native language. A father with diabetes may want reminders tailored to his work schedule. People recovering from surgery might hope for follow-up check-ins instead of feeling left on their own once they leave the hospital.
This article looks at how patient engagement is changing and what healthcare leaders can do about it. We’ll explore new trends shaping patient expectations and walk through evidence-based strategies that help patients feel seen, heard, and supported. Whether you’re running a hospital, a clinic, or a digital health startup, understanding these approaches can help you deliver care that patients trust — and improve outcomes along the way.
Key Trends in Patient Engagement
Several key trends are reshaping how healthcare leaders think about engaging patients. These developments are influencing where healthcare organizations invest in technology, workflow design, as well as the way care teams interact with patients both in-person and virtually.
Personalization Through Data Integration
One of the most significant trends is the drive toward personalizing the individual patient experience based on insights and analytics from detailed health data. Instead of sending generic outreach, many organizations are using patient demographics, past medical history, language preferences, and social determinants of health to shape tailored communication and support. For example, a health system might identify that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are at higher risk for hospital readmission in winter months and proactively reach out with education on managing symptoms during colder weather.
Expansion of Digital Engagement Tools
Digital engagement has become a core component of how healthcare providers manage patient relationships. Online portals, secure messaging, mobile apps, and virtual visits have become part of how many patients, especially younger ones, expect to manage their care today. But it’s not enough for health systems to simply offer these tools—they have to be easy to use, reliable, and built with patients’ real-life needs in mind. A great example is a young professional juggling work and diabetes management might prefer quick text reminders instead of navigating through multiple app screens just to log blood sugar readings.
Increased Emphasis on Health Equity
The pandemic exposed how uneven health outcomes can be, sparking new conversations among patients, healthcare leaders, and investors about health equity and health disparities. Many organizations are now looking closely at whether their engagement efforts help close gaps—or unintentionally widen them. One big shift has been making information and services more culturally sensitive and accessible.
When patients feel understood and respected in their own cultural context, they’re more likely to ask questions, follow medical advice, and stick with care plans, all of which can improve outcomes. At the same time, there’s growing awareness that not everyone has reliable internet or feels comfortable using digital tools, also known as the technology gap, which makes it essential to design engagement strategies that work for people with lower digital literacy or limited access.
Integration of Social Determinants of Health
Providers increasingly recognize that engagement isn’t only about medical advice—it’s also about supporting patients in managing the non-clinical factors that shape health outcomes. Screening for housing stability, food insecurity, transportation needs, and financial barriers has become routine in many settings. When clinics help patients get connected to community resources, they’re not just addressing immediate needs—they’re building trust and giving patients a stronger foundation for staying healthy over time.
Top Evidence-Based Strategies to Improve Patient Engagement
Healthcare leaders seeking to improve patient engagement need practical, tested methods.
1. Prioritize Clear, Personalized Communications
Effective patient engagement relies on communication that is both clear and relevant to the specific individual and their personalized plan of care. Patients who understand their diagnoses, treatment options, and next steps are more likely to follow care plans and participate actively in decision-making.
This of a patient discharged after a hospitalization for congestive heart failure. Instead of receiving a dense, printed packet of instructions, they benefit far more from a brief conversation using plain language, followed by a simple digital summary they can reference later. Such approaches have been shown to reduce readmission rates and improve medication adherence. Communication should be always tailored to each patient’s health literacy level, language, and cultural context.
2. Make Digital Tools User-Centric and Accessible
While digital health has enormous potential, many digital tools remain underused because they’re not designed with patients’ realities in mind. Healthcare organizations have found that successful digital engagement strategies begin with deep understanding of patient preferences and technology comfort levels. For example, one urban health system discovered that its older adult population was far more responsive to text-based appointment reminders than to email notifications or app alerts.
The key that cannot be overlooked is simplicity; patients should be able to navigate portals, find lab results, and message care teams without extensive instructions or need for IT support calls. Usability testing with actual patients is invaluable, helping developers identify frustrating hurdles before widespread rollout. Digital tools also need to integrate seamlessly with existing clinical workflows so that patient updates reach providers in real time.
3. Engage Patients Between Visits with Remote Monitoring and Feedback Loops
One proven method to keep patients engaged—and to spot early signs of trouble—is remote patient monitoring combined with timely follow-up. A patient recovering from a knee replacement surgery, for example, could be instructed to use a daily survey to report pain levels. If pain spikes unexpectedly, a clinician can reach out quickly to modify the care plan, possibly preventing a fall or other complication.
For chronic disease management, patients with hypertension might use home blood pressure cuffs that upload readings automatically, triggering nurse calls if numbers drift outside target ranges. Research shows these types of proactive monitoring programs lower hospitalizations and improve satisfaction because patients feel cared for even outside clinic walls.
4. Build Trust Through Continuity and Relationship-Based Care
Trust is one of the biggest factors that determines whether patients stay engaged in their care. People tend to open up more, ask questions, and stick to treatment plans when they feel recognized and respected by the same doctors and nurses over time. Familiarity matters: patients are less likely to hold back concerns when they know their provider remembers their history and personal details (like a patient whose doctor recalls how their arthritis makes it hard to play piano).
In primary care settings that follow a patient-centered medical home approach, patients often work with the same team visit after visit, helping conversations feel less like business transactions and more like a real partnership. When patients see familiar faces and feel genuine interest in their lives, they’re far more likely to stay involved in managing their health.
5. Incorporate Shared Decision-Making into Clinical Encounters
Patients tend to stay engaged when they feel like active partners in their own care, not just people being told what to do. Shared decision-making (SDM) is about creating space for patients and providers to talk through choices together, weighing medical options alongside what matters most in the patient’s life. In cancer care, for example, treatment decisions can involve tough trade-offs—like balancing potential side effects against quality of life—and studies show that SDM helps patients feel more confident and less anxious about these decisions.
Tools such as visual charts or decision aids can make these conversations clearer, translating risks and benefits into plain language. When patients help shape the plan instead of feeling dictated to, they’re often more committed to following through.
6. Address Social Determinants Directly Within Care Plans
It’s become clear that engaging patients means looking beyond medical charts and into the realities of daily life. No matter how good the clinical advice, it’s impossible for patients to follow through if they can’t pay for medications, don’t have stable housing, or lack a safe way to get to appointments. More health systems are bringing social workers and care coordinators into primary care teams to help spot these barriers early.
For instance, during a routine visit, a provider might screen a patient for food insecurity or ask whether they’re worried about keeping their housing. If a need comes up, the team can connect patients right away to community resources, housing programs, or even help with transportation vouchers.
7. Continuous Measurement and Improvement
Organizations committed to patient engagement know that this is not a “set it and forget it” kind of initiative. Instead, it requires ongoing attention and refinement. Tracking key metrics like patient portal logins, response times to messages, rates of missed appointments, or patients’ confidence in managing their health, can reveal where engagement efforts are working and where they’re falling short.
For example, a health system might notice that older adults use digital tools less often. Rather than assume these patients aren’t interested, leaders could explore whether barriers like complex logins or unfamiliar technology are getting in the way. By using data as a starting point, healthcare teams can test new solutions, adjust their approach, and ensure engagement strategies remain effective across the board.
Final Thoughts
Patient engagement has become a core clinical and operational imperative tied directly to quality, outcomes, and financial sustainability. Those of us in healthcare see firsthand that true engagement goes far beyond pushing reminders or flooding inboxes with generic outreach. It’s about making patients genuine partners in their care decisions, whether that means integrating shared decision-making (SDM) into complex treatment discussions or identifying social barriers that might derail even the best medical plans.
Engagement is ultimately about meeting people where they are and acknowledging the full context of their lives—medical, social, and emotional. The systems willing to invest in real connection, personalized conversations, and practical tools for self-management are the ones that will earn patient trust and deliver better outcomes. (And frankly, as clinicians, we know that trust and understanding are half the battle when it comes to adherence and long-term health.)
Frequently Asked Questions: Patient Engagement Strategy
Patient engagement strategies often raise practical questions among healthcare teams seeking to implement or improve programs. Below are brief insights into two of the most common concerns.
Are there any specific strategies to help with patient and family engagement?
There are absolutely specific strategies to help with patient and family engagement. One of the most effective approaches is involving family members directly in discussions about care plans, especially for patients managing complex or chronic conditions.
Families often help interpret medical instructions, monitor symptoms, and provide crucial emotional support. Successful programs offer family-inclusive education sessions and decision-making tools so loved ones feel prepared to help patients stick with care plans. This shared understanding can significantly improve adherence and outcomes.
What role does personalization play in patient engagement in healthcare?
Personalization is at the core of successful patient engagement. When patients receive messages, educational materials, or support services tailored to their individual health status, language, cultural values, and personal preferences, they’re far more likely to stay engaged. The key is to make every interaction feel relevant and respectful as it pertains to the patient’s individualized plan of care and needs.
Sources
Accenture. The Health Provider Loyalty Imperative. Accenture, 2022, https://www.accenture.com/content/dam/accenture/final/accenture-com/document-2/Health-Provider-Loyalty-Accenture.pdf.
Deloitte. Health Care Outlook 2023: Digital Transformation. Deloitte Global, 2023, https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/gx-health-care-outlook-2023-digital-transformation.pdf.
McKinsey & Company. Telehealth: A Quarter-Trillion-Dollar Post-COVID-19 Reality. McKinsey & Company, 2021, https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare/our-insights/telehealth-a-quarter-trillion-dollar-post-covid-19-reality.Georgetown Health Policy Institute. “Cultural Competence in Health Care: Is it Important for People with Chronic Conditions?” Health Policy Institute, Georgetown University, https://hpi.georgetown.edu/cultural/.
