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The Hidden Power of Patient Engagement: Why It's the Future of Healthcare?
As the healthcare environment changes rapidly, patient engagement has become a force that cannot be ignored in the healthcare industry. This force not only challenges the patriarchy in traditional medicine, but also promotes the substantive participation of patients in the medical decision-making process, thereby improving patient satisfaction and outcomes. The concept of patient participation is no longer limited to a one-way information exchange between patients and doctors, but is transforming into a more interactive and collaborative relationship model.
Patient engagement improves access to healthcare resources, increases patient safety, and improves overall patient satisfaction.
When exploring the historical background of patient involvement, one can trace it back to the traditional model where professional medical staff dominate decision-making, a model that has been increasingly questioned. Many experts point out that patients' opinions and experiences should be carefully considered, especially in processes where patients lead decision-making. To this end, patient involvement is widely used in clinical scenarios, such as shared decision-making and patient-centered care. In addition, patient and public involvement approaches (PPI) are gaining importance to ensure that patients have a voice in health policy.
“Transparency, personalization, respect, dignity and choice are core elements of the patient engagement process.”
Patient engagement demonstrates its invaluable value in clinical settings. Multiple studies have shown that increasing opportunities for patient involvement not only improves healthcare outcomes, but also ensures that individual needs and wishes are included in the decision-making process through patient advocacy. Nurses play a particularly important role in this process, as they can effectively promote patients' opinions and help lead the medical team to adjust treatment plans.
“The success of shared decision-making comes from eliminating power imbalances through equal communication between patients and healthcare providers.”
In recent years, with the rapid development of science and technology, the model of patient participation has also undergone major changes. The use of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare is becoming increasingly common, such as IBM's Watson Health, which aims to provide diagnosis and treatment recommendations to help medical providers make more accurate decisions. Patient involvement, enabled by technology, can lead to greater personalization of care. This means that patients are no longer just recipients of information, but important participants who can have a substantial impact on their own health decisions.
When patients participate as stakeholders in health policy, they can influence the direction of policy. In the process of policy formation, patients can participate in the formulation of norms as consultants and decision makers, thereby influencing the operation of medical systems at all levels. In fact, patient participation can not only improve patient satisfaction, but also play a positive role in cost control and group health outcomes.
“Patient engagement plays a critical role in health policy research, particularly in ensuring that public health needs are accurately incorporated into policy recommendations.”
However, the process of patient engagement is not without its challenges. For example, how to ensure the representativeness of participants, avoid conflicts of interest, and how to evaluate the effectiveness of patient participation all require careful consideration. In recent years, there has been a growing criticism of patient participation, with some scholars arguing that patients’ abilities and goals to express their opinions should not be assumed or regulated.
Participation in the health technology assessment (HTA) process also demonstrates the value of patient contribution. During this process, patients can provide unique insights into the assessment due to their long-term struggle with the disease. Although many health technology assessment organizations have recognized the importance of patient participation, we still face multiple challenges in practice, such as differences in needs between individual and group patients, which also require further discussion and resolution.
Globally, the trend towards patient engagement continues to expand. Whether in Danish workshops or health advocacy activities in Austria, the strengthening of the patient's role has attracted widespread attention. These activities not only facilitate conversations between patients and healthcare providers, but also provide a solid foundation for future health strategy development.
Overall, patient participation builds a patient-centered health care model and plays an increasingly important role in the future medical system. As this trend continues, the relationship between patients and medical professionals will continue to evolve. After all, how else can patient participation influence and change our health experience in the future healthcare system?
