The Value of Patient Engagement in Pain Management

For pain management physicians, keeping patients engaged can help increase the frequency and quality of care. 

While telehealth may resolve many of the challenges pain patients face, physicians can adopt additional processes and technology to support the possibility of better outcomes. Digital portals and apps, automated communication, and easier prescription management can reduce barriers to care and improve engagement outside of visits.

Then, during visits, pain management physicians can build stronger relationships that empower patients to stay involved in their own care. 

When it’s easier and maybe even less painful to make and keep appointments,  patients may adhere more closely to recommendations. They may be able to expand their support systems by including loved ones in the process.

Pain management can be complex, but with advanced engagement strategies, your practice can help simplify the road ahead for patients.     

How Can Telehealth Help with Pain Management?

How you deliver pain management care may have an impact on whether your patients receive adequate medical attention or not. Telehealth that integrates with your pain management EHR can help improve the quality of your services and meet patients where they are.

Engagement Tools for Pain Management Physicians

Digital engagement solutions may become more important to your patients as remote communication trends evolve. Your practice can keep up by developing a robust telehealth offering and ensuring your staff has access to engagement tools that make their lives easier, too. 

At ModMed, our telehealth video platform integrates with EMA® for healthcare professionals, which is available on our APPatient™ app. This allows you to provide personalized care from almost anywhere with internet access:

• Let patients show you where the pain is via high-resolution video.
• Explain treatment plans or review imaging in real time.
• Respond to questions that may be harder to answer over phone or email.
• Express your bedside manner. Pain patients may appreciate empathy.
• Attract younger patients to your practice. They may expect telehealth.

Here, we’ll share a few additional patient engagement solutions that can be extremely effective in increasing involvement and building relationships  

Increase Patient Engagement with Online Portals and Apps

Without an accessible patient portal, some patients may look for a new provider. Pain management physicians can help ensure patient engagement with cloud-based EMR systems that are easy to access and easy to use.

That’s because pain levels can make it hard for patients to handle tasks like updating records, reviewing lab results or going through the payment process. Prescription management can be challenging, too, even though it may be vital to their ability to work, take care of children or socialize.  

Making it easy on patients also makes it easier on your staff by limiting the number of phone calls and emails they have to handle each day. 

Automate Targeted Communication Outside of Visits

Give your patients fast and simple ways to schedule telehealth or in-person visits. Then, support them with automated reminders. After you’ve concluded your visit, follow up for feedback. 

ModMed’s self-scheduling add-on for Practice Management lets patients request or reschedule appointments via your portal or directly from patient recall messages.** You can still maintain control over appointment availability, customize appointment types and manage waitlists to ensure you can see as many patients as possible. Patients get 24/7 access to real-time schedule availability to help reduce friction. 

Another reason engagement matters: One out of three patients surveyed claim they missed appointments because they did not get a reminder from their doctor’s office.* Automated reminders can help patients stay involved with their online pain management.

Once you’ve seen a patient, you can automate text and email surveys to encourage actionable patient feedback. This lets pain patients share anything they wish about the experience, so that you can continue to improve engagement and opportunities for greater care.