Medical practice administrators, owners, and IT managers in the United States face ongoing challenges to improve patient access, quality of care, and financial performance.
One critical area gaining more attention is patient digital engagement—the degree to which patients interact with healthcare providers using digital tools.
Understanding how to measure and improve this engagement is important for practices wanting to do well in a digitally connected world.
The Patient Digital Engagement Index is a special combined measure created to track and study how patients use digital health tools, especially those linked with electronic health records (EHRs).
It gathers data from over 6,300 practices and 50 million patients across the country, making it one of the largest ways to see digital interaction trends in healthcare.
The PDEI measures engagement through three main areas:
The goal of these measures is to give an overall view of how actively and well patients use digital systems offered by medical practices.
Even though digital tools have increased in healthcare, the average PDEI score for 2023 was low at about 14 out of 100.
This shows there is a lot of room to grow digital patient engagement in the U.S.
There is a clear difference in PDEI scores among different types and sizes of medical practices.
Many patients see digital tools as important for managing their healthcare.
Over 75% say digital connections with healthcare providers are somewhat or very important.
Also, 86% accessed personal health info through portals, apps, or safe websites in the past year, and about 60% use patient portals actively.
For healthcare leaders, one key reason to focus on PDEI is its close connection to financial results.
Data shows that if a practice’s PDEI score rises by one point, patient payment rates go up by one point within a year.
This means practices with better digital engagement get more money from patients, leading to fewer unpaid bills and more revenue.
Also, this link between digital use and financial success fits with value-based care models, where practices work to improve both patient health and efficient operations.
Some worry that more digital engagement will make providers work more after hours, especially with extra electronic records and messages.
But data shows the opposite.
Clinicians at practices with higher PDEI scores spend less time doing paperwork outside normal work hours, sometimes called “pajama time.”
This means digital tools, when used well, can make workflows easier and reduce extra work for clinicians.
They can spend more time with patients during office hours.
The Patient Digital Engagement Index links to better overall patient experience.
Doctors like Dr. Katherine Gregory highlight that patients who use digital platforms feel more connected and report better care experiences.
This keeps patients informed and involved, which helps their satisfaction.
Dr. Christopher Apostol from Evans Medical Group also points out that patient portals give easy access to health records and test results, which patients appreciate.
Good patient experiences with digital tools also help patients follow wellness plans and keep up with care, which leads to better health over time.
Even with clear benefits, some barriers slow full use of digital health tools:
Studies show digital health efforts must help by offering patient education, technical support, and designs that work for many kinds of users.
Recent reviews list 44 factors that affect how patients use their health data online.
These are grouped into social/demographic factors, patient ability and motivation, healthcare professional attitudes, health system features, technology traits, and policies.
Healthcare practices that deal with these factors can better improve their PDEI scores by making digital tools easier to use and more effective.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and workflow automation are becoming more important in increasing digital engagement in healthcare practices.
These tools can do simple routine work, speed up communication, and tailor patient interactions, which helps both operations and patient satisfaction.
For example, AI can automate front-office phone tasks, making appointment scheduling, cancellations, and reminder calls faster.
Simbo AI specializes in this type of phone automation and answering service using AI, helping practices reduce call wait times and improve patient phone experiences.
This automation lets office staff focus on harder tasks, while patients get quick answers to usual questions.
AI can also manage incoming calls, send them to the right place based on patient needs, and update appointment data instantly, making patient-provider talks smoother.
AI chatbots on patient portals or websites can answer common questions about appointments, insurance, and prescriptions.
They work 24/7, letting patients get help even outside office hours, which matches patient expectations for digital access.
Automating simple talks and data entry also improves data accuracy and reduces missed appointments.
This affects financial results as shown by the PDEI’s financial scores.
Adding AI tools to EHR systems helps data sharing and allows personalized patient outreach.
For instance, AI can study patient history to schedule follow-ups or send medicine refill reminders, raising engagement.
These changes also reduce clinician workload.
By handling administrative work and quick patient questions, AI and automation cut down after-hours documentation or communication time, matching the fact that higher digital engagement means less clinician “pajama time.”
For administrators and IT managers in the U.S., using AI front-office tools like Simbo AI’s service can boost PDEI scores and improve day-to-day work and patient satisfaction.
Research shows a gap between technology made and what patients actually need.
Tools designed without patient input often get less use.
Including patient feedback through design methods that involve users helps make tools that cover real usability and privacy worries.
Personalization that fits individual needs also supports regular use.
This patient-focused way matches the goal of improving PDEI by making digital health platforms easier and more relevant.
This helps more patients start using them across different groups.
Patient experience is related but different.
It covers many ways patients interact with healthcare, like scheduling, visits, discharge info, and communication.
Measuring experience through surveys like CAHPS lets practices get feedback on communication, access, and response.
When combined with digital engagement data, this helps leaders find what needs work.
Good digital tools improve patient experience by making appointment scheduling simpler, cutting wait times, and offering clear info.
This supports positive health results.
Practice leaders who check PDEI regularly can see trends and gaps in how patients use digital tools.
By sorting data by age, specialty, or clinic site, they can target outreach to groups that engage less.
Teaching patients digital skills is important, especially in places with lower PDEI scores.
Working with federally funded programs can help clinics give devices or internet access to reduce gaps.
Investing in digital systems, adding more portal features, and using AI for front-office work can raise engagement scores.
This not only helps practice income but also meets rules about patient access and engagement.
The Patient Digital Engagement Index gives medical practices in the U.S. a useful way to measure and understand how patients interact digitally.
Focusing on growing digital access, making financial activities easier, and improving healthcare information exchange can help healthcare groups improve patient satisfaction, boost payments, and lower clinician workload.
Adding AI automation and patient-focused design will support these aims and make digital engagement a key part of modern healthcare management.
Patient engagement is crucial for healthcare practices; engaged patients are more likely to adhere to care plans, return for future care, and contribute positively to practices using value-based care (VBC) models.
The Patient Digital Engagement Index (PDEI) is used to quantify and assess patient engagement across digital tools, including telehealth, patient self-scheduling, and online messaging.
PDEI tracks three core digital activity categories: access to care, financial activity, and healthcare information.
Larger organizations generally have higher median PDEI scores, indicating that size may correlate positively with patient digital engagement.
The most digitally engaged patients are predominantly White or Asian millennial women residing in urban areas.
Practices with higher PDEI scores collect a greater portion of patient responsibility, resulting in fewer write-offs and better overall financial performance.
Women’s health and behavioral health specialties exhibit the highest digital engagement scores, with median PDEI scores ranging from 20-24.
Higher PDEI scores correlate with a lower proportion of time clinicians spend on documentation after hours, suggesting better workflow efficiency.
Patients express a strong preference for using digital tools for scheduling appointments, receiving test results, and managing prescription refills.
Over 75% of patients find digital tools important for simplifying their interactions with the healthcare system, indicating a strong appetite for adoption.
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