What patient doesn’t want to feel informed, supported and heard to make meaningful decisions and choices about their care? The term Patient Centricity translates the process of developing a product or service around the patient. (making him an agent with active participation in decisions involving his health).
This patient-centric approach requires a partnership between the pharmaceutical industry, physicians, patients and their families to align decisions with the patient’s wants, needs and preferences. This also includes the specific education and support patients need to make these decisions and participate in their own care.
Engagement
There is abundant evidence that physicians who engage with their patients and caregivers achieve dramatically better outcomes. Patients report positive experiences, develop greater trust in their physicians, and are less likely to change providers, allowing for greater continuity of care.
Communication and the digital world
Currently, patients also have more and more access to information through websites, portals and, mainly, social networks. Often, they access it before talking to the doctor in charge of the treatment.
In a survey carried out in February 2021, with the participation of 2,040 young people (between 23 and 39 years old), by Harmony Healthcare IT, 83% of participants stated that, even after receiving medical guidance and clinical diagnosis, they still seek own explanations on the internet.
The way healthcare professionals communicate with their patients has a direct impact on their experience. Therefore, the strategy of providing person-centered care through empathetic contact with reliable, useful information focused on the health and well-being of these clients can help them on this journey so that decisions are made in a shared manner, in accordance with with the preferences and needs of each patient.
Within this approach, the physician needs to be able to:
Meet the needs of the patient;
Respect your time;
Inform you;
Understand you as a person (with a life, values and preferences);
Answer your questions;
Connect you to your data/information;
Connect you to other people and
Allow caregivers to participate in the process.
And yet, act as the main driver of digital platforms, providing feedback and guiding their patients during each phase of the treatment journey, as this is the only way to consolidate a healthy and lasting partnership.
Featured image: Photo by Karolina Grabowska no Pexels