Involving sufferers in their own care

The use of digital tools in healthcare is growing, but there’s a whole lot more to be done.  At this moment in time, the majority of digital tools are designed for clinical staff to assess patients.  Even this is a significant step forward and helps reduce the amount of time that talented professionals spend doing things that can be done on at least a semi-automated basis.  But to say that what we’re seeing today is just the toe in the water of the real potential that can be offered by digital tools is an understatement.

At PhysioWizard®, we believe that the greatest outcome improvements and cost savings can be achieved by involving the patient in their health.  We believe that when effective, easy to navigate, simple to understand tools that start with some face-to-face involvement and move on to online become the norm that the real opportunities will start to be recognised.  Giving patients a clever combination of online and off is what we believe will get the best results all round.  Involving sufferers in their own care is, in our view, without a doubt the way to a better future.

It is our view that developing tools which patients can interact with will save significant clinical time and money at the same time as improving outcomes. This approach enhances compliance, encourages the patient to self-manage and reduces their reliance on medical services.  It is also a great foundation on which to start gathering the all-important data that will shape our future.

Patients today expect healthcare to be personalised to themselves and their individual circumstances, but many digital tools fall down because they’re too generalised and confusing to navigate.  According to this study published in JMIR they’re also criticised for being frustratingly difficult to use, containing content that’s irrelevant and incomprehensible as well as lacking face-to-face involvement.
It is our view that the only way that digital health tools can add value both to the patient and to the healthcare profession at large is if they are designed in such a way to appeal to the users’ needs and they keep the user engaged to the point that they support the patient back to wellness. 

At PhysioWizard® we truly believe that artificial intelligence and technology has the capacity to revolutionise how healthcare professionals deliver solutions to patients and sufferers.  To revolutionise how patients get well again.  But like any solution that’s delivered to any user the key is putting the unique needs, pains and problems of the user at the core of everything we do.  We know that succeeding in developing any successful digital wellness tool starts with the user. 

We also know that advice needs to be user specific to reduce drop-out rate and give the tool its best chances of reaching a successful conclusion.  It is also clear to us that patient tools need to be extremely simple so that irrespective of literacy or language a patient can interact (albeit with clinical support from time to time) and of course these tools need to be recognised as enhancing the service provided by the human side of the health service, not taking it over.

If you’re an Occupational Health professional, Private Health Care provider or are in the Public Health Sector and would like to find out more about how PhysioWizard® could make life easier for you and your patients, why not request a demo.