By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    medicare part d benefits
    Everything that You Need to Know About Medicare Part D
    August 15, 2022
    Best Ways to Boost Your Immune System this Winter
    Best Ways to Boost Your Immune System this Winter
    November 15, 2022
    back pain issues
    Ways to Treat Constant Back Pain
    August 21, 2023
    Latest News
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    More On Wellness Programs To Improve Health and Reduce Costs
    January 25, 2012
    Privatizing Social Security and Medicare: Who Can Defuse Political Dynamite?
    June 12, 2011
    Study: Risk of Death in Elderly Patients with Dementia Doubled with Some Antipsychotic Medications
    February 26, 2012
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Engagement: Finding the Healthy Mix
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Medical Records > Engagement: Finding the Healthy Mix
eHealthMedical RecordsMobile HealthPolicy & LawRemote DiagnosticsTechnology

Engagement: Finding the Healthy Mix

etwilson
etwilson
Share
4 Min Read
engaging with patients online
SHARE

engaging with patients onlineIs it better to connect online, or face to face?

This modern question of how to engage has become a hot topic in fields ranging from business to education. But major shake-ups in health care delivery make it an important consideration for medical professionals as well.

engaging with patients onlineIs it better to connect online, or face to face?

This modern question of how to engage has become a hot topic in fields ranging from business to education. But major shake-ups in health care delivery make it an important consideration for medical professionals as well.

More Read

covid vaccine
How Will the Supply Chain Support Vaccine Distribution?
Even More Proof That Google Deserves Your Medical Marketing Dollars
Could Orphan Drugs Turn Health Economics on its Ear?
Introducing the Health “Prosumer”
Data Analysis, the Election and Health Care Reform

As hospitals, family practices, and clinics of all sizes make the obligatory shift to digital records, new possibilities for delivery models are opened up, including the old remote health care system popularly known as telehealth. While the drive for telehealth has typically been ensuring access (especially in remote or underdeveloped areas where there are fewer doctors—not to mention specialists), modern infrastructure and data mobility make virtual consultations more broadly viable.

The question is: what combination of remote and physical engagement yields the best health outcomes?

Medicare’s Plan D has quietly incorporated a powerful model for better managing patients with chronic conditions. More engagement—specifically, face-to-face time with their pharmacists—is required under the Medication Therapy Management (MTM) program. Seemingly intuitive (of course more communication reduces abuse and misuse of prescriptions), this program actually builds on several other emerging priorities in medical practice—and could provide important lessons for other care delivery models:

  • MTM is just one example of a growing trend of increasing the involvement of other non-physician professionals in a patient’s comprehensive care. Thanks in part to the Affordable Care Act, prevention is taking priority as an important cost-controlling mechanism. Though reform is needed to bring compensation fully in line with this new reality, primary care is benefitting from an influx of providers beyond physicians.
  • What is more, the MTM model puts a great deal of faith in the promise of Accountable Care. With Medicare money specifically earmarked for MTM services, the survival of the program depends on proving its worth by demonstrating that engagement does in fact help patients manage their medications more effectively.
  • Finally, digital records platforms, under Meaningful Use, should bridge inpatient and outpatient services with respect to pharmacy services. Physicians and pharmacists, by sharing a patient’s EHR, can better ensure everything from the optimal dosage, to the most affordable version of a drug, as well as reconciling their recommendations with the patient’s personal medical history. The patient-facing portal ties it all together, bringing the clinic and pharmacy together in the patient’s own home, and continuing the consultation virtually, as it were, and collecting feedback.

Clearly, much depends on the success of implementing full-scale interoperable EHR platforms, along with integrating providers into an Accountable Care network. While measurements of the success of applied MTM programs have been limited, there have been some promising signs.

In fact, a pioneering clinic in Oregon has gone so far as to bring its MTM pharmacists into its in-patient units, taking engagement even further than Medicare rules currently stipulate. Both patient and provider attitudes have been generally positive to the move.

As more institutions and practices pass their Stage 3 benchmarks for Meaningful Use, more opportunities should emerge to measure and track engagement, and paint a clearer picture of just how much face-to-face time can effectively be replaced—or, in the case of some telehealth efforts established—by virtual systems.

telemedicine / shutterstock

 

TAGGED:telemedicine
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
Global Healthcare Policy & Law
July 17, 2025
paramedics in surgical gloves and masks
How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
Health care
July 16, 2025
a woman giving a key
How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
Health
July 16, 2025
a woman with kinesio tapes on her back arm
How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
Health care
July 16, 2025

You Might also Like

BusinessMedical DevicesMedical Ethics

Science for Sale: The Very Sad Case of Medtronic’s “Infuse”

October 26, 2012
Health careMedical Devices

How Anesthesia Can Be Delivered With Anesthesia Machines

September 3, 2019
Public Health

How Many Tests Do Doctors Need to Make a Diagnosis?

April 29, 2012
Health careSpecialties

Drug Abuse and Addiction: How does it affect Teenagers?

May 29, 2018
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?