Patient engagement tools are digital features built into electronic health record (EHR) systems. They let patients take part in their healthcare outside of in-person visits. One common example is a previsit questionnaire given through patient portals. In this system, patients can say what they want to talk about before their appointment. This helps doctors know patients’ main concerns ahead of time, making the visit more focused.
A study looked at three big healthcare groups — University of California San Diego Health (UCSDH), Sutter Health, and Reliant Medical Group. It found that tens of thousands of patients used these previsit questionnaires in 2020. For example, 26,441 UCSDH patients filled them out. UCSDH also expanded the use of these tools during 2020, especially for telehealth visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. This shows that both the healthcare organization and patients accepted the tool quickly.
The questionnaire asks a simple question like, “What is the most important thing you want to discuss today?” Patients write a short answer, usually less than 250 characters, using secure portals like Epic’s “MyChart.” The clinical team looks at these answers when the patient arrives. Then, doctors include this information in clinical notes using shortcuts in the EHR system, like “SmartPhrase.” This makes it easier for doctors to use the information and keep proper records.
Health workers see that these digital tools are helpful, but patient views matter for long-term success. Studies show some things help and some things block patients from using these tools:
These findings show that clinic leaders and IT staff must choose and teach technology to match the different skills and worries of their patients.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are part of many EHR systems now. They improve how patient engagement tools work and help clinical workflows:
For medical practices, using AI-powered EHRs that include patient engagement tools can lower paperwork, improve documentation, and help care run better. IT managers must carefully check software to make sure AI fits clinical needs and follows the law.
People who run healthcare clinics in the U.S. can use patient engagement tools in EHRs to improve patient experience and clinic work. These tools help patients and providers talk better, make appointments more efficient, and handle telehealth visits—now a regular part of care after the pandemic.
By learning about how these tools work, their benefits, and their challenges from recent research, leaders can plan ways to get staff and patients to use them well. Adding AI and automation can reduce doctor paperwork and improve note quality.
Using patient engagement tools fits with goals for better care, following rules, and managing the health of populations in U.S. clinics.
Healthcare leaders should think about these points when choosing or updating EHR systems with patient engagement features. With good planning, these tools can improve care and clinic work in the changing U.S. health system.
The top EMR/EHR systems for 2025 include Praxis EMR, Epic, Oracle Cerner, CPSI, eClinicalWorks, Athenahealth, Allscripts, Nextgen, Meditech, and Practice Fusion, each offering diverse features tailored to different healthcare settings and specialties.
Praxis EMR is highly rated for its AI-driven ‘Concept Processing’ which adapts to physician workflows, its template-free design enabling flexible and fast documentation, high user satisfaction, scalability, and cloud-based deployment. It reduces charting time and improves medical quality, making it ideal for small to mid-sized practices.
Key features include an easy and intuitive user interface, HIPAA-compliant security, remote accessibility with mobile compatibility, online patient portals for communication, MACRA/MIPS certification, health maintenance and quality reporting, interfaced lab systems with automatic lab analysis, ePrescribing, clinical decision support, and AI or machine learning capabilities instead of rigid templates.
AI-driven EHRs, like Praxis, learn and adapt to the physician’s practice, enabling faster, more personalized documentation, reducing charting fatigue, improving medical accuracy, and allowing physicians to focus more on patient care rather than administrative tasks.
Cloud-based EHRs provide remote access from any device, reduce IT infrastructure needs, enable continuous software updates, improve scalability, and facilitate patient engagement through portals, improving workflow and operational efficiency.
Integrated practice management combines scheduling, billing, revenue cycle management, and patient engagement with clinical documentation, streamlining workflow, reducing administrative burden, and improving financial operations and patient care coordination.
Interoperability facilitates seamless data exchange between different healthcare systems and providers, improving care coordination, enabling efficient resource management, and supporting population health management initiatives.
Patient engagement tools such as secure portals, appointment scheduling, telehealth, and communication features enhance patient involvement, improve satisfaction, enable just-in-time clinical information sharing, and support better clinical outcomes.
Template-free EHRs use AI and machine learning to adapt to physician workflows, allowing free-text charting and customized documentation, leading to faster, more natural documentation and reduced charting fatigue, unlike rigid, slow template-based systems.
An effective EHR system must be certified for MACRA/MIPS and Meaningful Use to comply with CMS quality reporting and avoid penalties. It should also be HIPAA-compliant and support security, privacy, and interoperability standards to ensure legal protection and high-quality care delivery.
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