The term “patient engagement” attained buzzword status in the healthcare field some time ago. These days, companies tout technology as the main vehicle for keeping patients engaged, both within and outside a treatment facility. Care providers have email boxes inundated with vendor pitches to prove it.
But the setting of care remains as important a tool for patient/resident engagement as any smartphone app or other online product. When patients are made to feel welcomed in a facility, and believe that their experience of care matters to their provider, their prospects for success inevitably rise. Equipping your care sites with safe, attractive and functional furniture helps to communicate that positive message.
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) has defined patient engagement as “providers and patients working together to improve health.” Genuine human interactions are essential to high-quality care, with treatment providers encouraging open communication with patients and building mutual trust. This level of respect can occur only in care environments that convey security and comfort for the patient.
Educating patients about their treatment is necessary but not sufficient for success. Providers also must honor their patients’ dignity and autonomy, and this begins with creating a safe space for healing. This will enhance patient satisfaction, an essential component of good health outcomes. Our years of expertise at Furniture Concepts can help you create environments that speak to your facilities’ ever-changing needs, while always keeping the quality of the patient experience as the primary target.
Patient engagement is by no means a simple task. For most of the industry’s history, the needs of patients were traditionally seen as secondary to a focus on providers. Let us help you to create care settings that elevate patients’ interests and facilitate their journey to wellness.
