Social determinants of health can have a serious negative impact on health outcomes. While these determinants like race and zip code are complex to address, simple text-based outreach can be an effective way to connect disadvantaged people with information, services, and assistance that can help bridge many gaps in care. Leverage consistent, proactive communication to ensure that patients have accurate, useful information and have the tools they need to stay engaged in their healthcare.

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Reduce Healthcare
Inequities with Patient
Engagement Technology

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Health Catalyst Editors

3. Article
Summary
Social determinants of health can have a serious negative
impact on health outcomes. While these determinants
like race and zip code are complex to address, simple
text-based outreach can be an effective way to connect
disadvantaged people with information, services, and
assistance that can help bridge many gaps in care.
Leverage consistent, proactive communication to ensure
that patients have accurate, useful information and have
the tools they need to stay engaged in their healthcare.

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Leveraging Remote Patient
Monitoring Technologies
to Reach More Patients

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Leveraging Remote Patient Monitoring Technologies
to Reach More Patients
Addressing healthcare inequities is no
simple task. The causes are complex,
from environmental to socioeconomic
factors, and aren’t easy to address.
There are opportunities, though, to
bridge gaps in healthcare by leveraging
patient engagement technology.
Remote patient monitoring – staying
connected with patients outside of the
medical setting – has the potential to
deliver several important benefits for
disadvantaged communities.
Staying Connected With Patients

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Connect Patients with
Resources and Information

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Connect Patients with Resources and Information
Many poor and disadvantaged people do not always
know when or how to seek care, which can lead to
uncontrolled chronic conditions, unnecessary visits
to the emergency department, poor outcomes, or
worse. SMS text-based communication is widely
accessible for almost all communities and is a very
effective way to reach people and build trust with a
healthcare provider.
By automating a series of messages that combine
different content including videos and easy to
understand handouts, healthcare can become more
holistic and less episodic, which can foster trust and
ensure patients feel supported. Consistent
communication ensures that patients have accurate,
useful information, and helps them stay engaged in
their healthcare.
Text-Based Communication

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Gain Better Insight into
Barriers That Negatively
Impact Health

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Gain Better Insight into Barriers That Negatively Impact Health
Remote Patient Monitoring is also an
effective way to collect valuable information
to better understand what patients may
need. By prompting patients to report how
they’re doing periodically, a healthcare
provider can be alerted about a potential
issue before it causes serious deterioration.
If patients don’t understand how to correctly
take medication or manage a chronic
condition like diabetes, the likelihood of the
condition worsening goes up. If a patient is
facing a more practical problem like food
insecurity or transportation issues,
healthcare providers can proactively
intervene to provide support and connect
the patient with helpful resources.
Valuable Information

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Empower Patients with
Improved Health Literacy

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Empower Patients with Improved Health Literacy
Automated digital patient communication between medical
visits is also a great way to keep patients engaged with their
health and provide step-by-step guidance to help them
adhere to their medical plan of care. If a patient is living with
a chronic condition, for instance, they can be prompted to
report their blood pressure or glucose level, and then receive
automated guidance relative to those inputs.
These systems can deliver encouragement when the
condition is well managed or coaching and support if there is
room for improvement. The more patients understand why
something like blood pressure matters for their long-term
health goals, the more motivated they will be to make
healthy choices.
Learn about the five key advantages of leveraging patient
engagement technology to optimize and streamline chronic
condition management.
Automated Communication

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Simple, But Effective Remote
Patient Monitoring Program

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Simple, But Effective Remote Patient Monitoring Program
Technology alone can’t eliminate healthcare
disparities, but it can be used to create better
connections between disadvantaged communities
and healthcare providers. Meeting patients where
they are can lower barriers like childcare,
transportation, inflexible work hours, and more.
A great example is a program implemented at
ChristianaCare that is improving early detection of
postpartum hypertension by overcoming low
attendance for follow-up office visits. They deployed
a remote patient monitoring platform to engage new
mothers after discharge. They are prompted to
report their blood pressure and answer a few
questions – entries outside the normal range trigger
care team intervention.
Lower Barriers

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Simple, But Effective Remote Patient Monitoring Program
This simple approach has built trust and helped the care team better understand
their patients’ potential barriers – all without the new mother needing to leave her
home. The program has successfully reduced postpartum hypertension-related
readmissions and eliminated long-standing racial disparity.
While only 30% of patients attended in-person postpartum office visits, the remote
monitoring program drove 91% of new mothers to submit at least one blood
pressure reading (a 203% increase in hypertension screening) and decreased 30-
day readmissions by 55%.
Interested in learning more?
To learn more, watch an on-demand webinar, “How Remote Monitoring Improves
Access to Care, Reduces Health Inequities.”
Build Trust and Understanding

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1 Advancing Health Equity: A Data-Driven Approach
Closes the Gap Between Intent and Action
3 How Managing Chronic Conditions Is Streamlined
with Digital Technology
2 How Managing Chronic Conditions Is Streamlined
with Digital Technology
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