As more patients take an active role in their own care, they deserve clear, concise information that’s aligned with the content their care teams use to help them better understand their condition, adhere to treatment plans, and manage their care.
The Patient Partnership Maturity Model traces the path of patient partnership across five steps, from the initial baseline of printed materials to a final step where patients are confident decision-makers and empowered partners in an optimized care process.
This maturity model is meant to serve two key purposes: help healthcare organizations assess the current state of their engagement initiatives, both for individual patient encounters and at an enterprise level, and determine what actions will help empower patients as partners and achieve optimized care in alignment with overall objectives.
Where your organization is in the patient partnership journey?
Just as every patient is on a different step in their healthcare journey, every organization is on a different step in their journey toward patient partnership.
Some organizations have improved specific patient-facing approaches, such as expanded telehealth offerings or comprehensive condition management programs, and others have emphasized work on enterprise-facing systems for patient segmentation, outcomes intervention, or reimbursement optimization.
Wherever your organization is in the patient partnership journey, there is always a greater role for the patient to play, regardless of their health status or previous level of individual engagement. This is true both at the point of care and during the time patients spend away from the healthcare system.
A step-by-step approach to empowering patient partnerships
By working through the five-steps of the partnership model, organizations are better able to assess the effectiveness of their patient programs and provide short- and long-term clinical and business strategies for initiating, or improving, patient engagement efforts.
- Support – The baseline level of patient education and engagement. It is transactional with leaflets and other activities that mostly fulfil accreditation requirements.
- Engage – Efforts are focused on advanced support for specific service lines and patient populations. Patients can obtain trustworthy answers to their questions and build confidence in their ability to manage their own condition.
- Activate – Encounters undergo two important shifts: They become more proactive in nature, and they increasingly occur across the care continuum. Patients better understand the value of proactive measures, such as wellness exams, screenings, or vaccines, and they are more likely to participate.
- Coach – The focus at this stage is on the longitudinal care journey and not just individual, transactional encounters. Coaching helps patients keep their health and wellness on track, leading to fewer hospital visits and readmissions.
- Partner – At this final, aspirational step, care teams support whole-person care through real-time personalization throughout the patient journey. Patients are valued partners on their care teams, and both patients and providers are incentivized to improve health outcomes.
Learn more about providing patient-centered care and empowering patients as partners in our new white paper, The Patient Partnership Maturity Model: Five steps to better care.
