Empower Health Strategies

So excited to read about this recent research on microbiome-based AI-assisted personalized diets for IBS management! This reminder that tech empowers rather than replaces the human component in healthcare aligns perfectly with our mission to enhance patient care and empower healthcare stakeholders through innovative, informed, and intentional solutions. 🗝 Some Key Takeaways from the Study: 1️⃣ Personalized Diets vs. FODMAP: The study found that AI-assisted personalized diets significantly improved IBS symptoms and quality of life across all IBS subtypes, outperforming the traditional low-FODMAP diet in several measures. 2️⃣ Microbiome Diversity: Personalized diets led to significant positive shifts in gut microbiome diversity, which is crucial for overall gut health and symptom management. 3️⃣ Holistic Patient Care: The integration of AI and microbiome analysis in diet planning underscores the importance of personalized and data-driven approaches in enhancing patient outcomes in functional gastrointestinal disorders. Huge thanks to the incredible Stephen Lupe, Psy.D. for sharing this study! #patientengagement #patientexperience #digitalhealth #healthtech #IBD #IBS #chronicdiseasemanagement

💭 Some thoughts from our Founder, Meredith Mangold ⬇️ I don't know about you, but when I'm on a doctor's exam table or filling out mountains of medical paperwork over and over again, I can sometimes feel like a medical object or problem to be assessed rather than a person. 🔬😞 Patients aren’t just cases to be solved—they’re people with rich lives, personal stories, values, and beliefs. 💫 They want to be seen, heard, and respected for who they are and what they need. 😌 It’s essential for digital health innovators to engage patients at every stage of their product development process so they’re equipped with the knowledge and tools they need to create truly effective, impactful, and human-centric solutions. 🤝 This collaborative approach helps maintain and encourage a compassionate and personal connection that can often be missing in traditional healthcare experiences. 🥰 ➡️ ❓What about you? Do you feel like your healthcare providers or the healthcare solutions you use treat you as a person first? What makes you feel one way or another about that? 🤔

Couldn’t have said it better! 👏👏👏 Patients are experts. Their insights are valuable. Collaboration is the key to creating successful healthcare solutions that matter! 🔥🎤 Thanks for including us (even peripherally) in this amazing project! Looking forward to continuing to collaborate with you, Sarah Stern! 🤩 Healthcare professionals - If you’re looking for an expert in human-centered healthcare design, look no further! ➡️ Sarah Stern

❗️ THIS!! 👏 Emma Sutcliffe perfectly articulates what we tell healthcare innovators on a daily basis. 🗣 ✚ Too often the concept of "#PatientEngagement" is in word only. By treating patients like "puppets" and neglecting to recognize them as equal partners, organizations are missing out on a valuable resource that can elevate their success and contribute to better outcomes all around. 🚀 ✚ Our goal is to demonstrate the power of the #PatientPerspective to #DigitalHealth innovators. 💥 We show them how to genuinely engage patients as integral players throughout their innovation process from ideation to iteration. 👩🏻🤝👩🏾 ✚ This intentional collaboration empowers innovators with the "insider knowledge" they need to create effective and meaningful solutions that truly improve the health outcomes and lives of their patient users. 🌟 ➡️ Ultimately, just like Emma said, "patients are experts, not entertainment." 🔥🎤 #InternationalSocietyforPatientEngagementProfessionals Empower Health Strategies

❓If you were to make a list of the most important factors that determine a positive/negative patient experience for you, what would they be? 🤔 This fantastic and quite accessible (even to a lay person) article from the Journal of Public Health delves into a study conducted to identify the key factors shaping patient experience and to assess the value of patient comments for quality improvement in hospitals. 🕵️♀️ As a patient experience (PX) nerd professionally 🤓 and a chronic illness patient personally 😷, I came away from reading the piece with several key takeaways 🗝 that connect with what we do at Empower Health Strategies to integrate the patient voice into our healthcare landscape to improve patients' experiences: ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ------ 🔎 Three primary drivers of patient experience: 1️⃣ Provision of safe, timely, and effective treatment. ⏰ 2️⃣ Fostering human connections with caring and attentive staff. 👫 3️⃣ Providing a comfortable and healing environment. 🏥 ------ ️ 💡➕: Bonus Insights: 4️⃣ Patient satisfaction is highly influenced by the visible effort made by staff to address patient concerns, rather than solely on outcomes. 👀 5️⃣ Qualitative data, especially negative feedback, provides valuable insights for quality improvement. Quick improvements can focus on tangible factors such as comfort, cleanliness, and noise levels. 📝 ----- ➡️ Next time you're seeking medical care, think about the things that really matter to you and add up to be your perception of your experience. 🧐 ------ 🌟 Article: "The three pillars of patient experience: identifying key drivers of patient experience to improve quality in healthcare" https://rb.gy/9bru1u 📜 Source: Journal of Public Health - Springer Publishing ✍️ Authors: Corey Adams, Ramesh Walpola, Maha Pervaz Iqbal, Anthony Schembri, Reema Harrison

Here's your #TheMoreYouKnow moment for today! 🌈 😆 Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) is an approach that enables staff and patients (or other service users) to co-design services, innovations, and/or care pathways, together in partnership. 👫 Our work collaborating with digital health innovators to create healthcare solutions that make patients feel truly understood, supported, and empowered is grounded in EBCD. 📲✨ ➡️ We believe it's essential for healthcare solutions to be built WITH patients and not just for them. Patients must be fully engaged in innovation development to create solutions that are truly effective, meaningful, and impactful for patients. ❗️ ❓ Have you engaged in or seen EBCD in action before? 💫 🔗 Check out The Point of Care Foundation's website to learn more about EBCD! https://rb.gy/oi57kj #PatientCentricity #EBCD #DigitalHealth #PatientExperience #PX #ExperienceBasedCoDesign

❓How long have you had to wait to get in to see a healthcare provider lately?? ⏲ It's a given in the chronic illness community that we can be on the waitlist to see our specialists for months (or even over a year!!) Been there. Done that. 😏 This trend is increasingly spreading to the "general" patient population now too. 😣 I just read an eye-opening article by Tina Reed from Axios about how "shrinkflation" is creeping into healthcare, and I couldn’t help but think about the real impact it’s having on patients like us. 😖 Here are a few takeaways that really stood out to me: 1️⃣ Longer Waits, Less Care: Imagine waiting over two months just to see your doctor—almost 20% of patients are experiencing this. And when you finally get there, your time with them is getting shorter. It’s frustrating and can make you feel like just another number. ⏳ 2️⃣ Specialty Care Struggles: It’s not just primary care; specialists are also swamped. Neurology, psychiatry, OB/GYN—these are areas where timely care is critical, yet wait times are stretching out, sometimes for months. 📆 3️⃣ A System Under Pressure: Healthcare providers are doing their best, but the demand is overwhelming. Many doctors are burned out, leaving the field, or retiring early. The pandemic amplified these issues, and now patients are feeling the squeeze. 😓 ➡️️ This isn’t just a problem on paper—it’s something that’s affecting our lives, our health, and our trust in the system. I’m hopeful that innovations like telehealth and better scheduling tools can help, but we can’t ignore the deeper issues at play. ❗️ 💥 We deserve better than paying more for less. Let’s keep pushing for solutions that put patients first. 🎤 🔗 Check out the full article here to see if your experiences align with Axios' findings. https://rb.gy/4zzwgn

Have you heard the term "Patient Engagement Platform" before? 🤔 💡 PEPs are innovative digital health solutions that empower patients to be active participants in their health journeys in multiple ways. 💪 ➡️ Let's talk about 3️⃣ ways PEPs are changing the patient care game! 💫 #DigitalHealth #HealthcareSolution #PatientEngagementPlatform #PatientEngagement #PatientEmpowerment #PEP

🌐 The Starter Guide to Telehealth Technology 🏥 🔑 Key Insights from the homonymous article by Keri (Dostie) Souza, Head of Marketing at AMD Global Telemedicine, Inc. 💻 Telehealth continues to revolutionize healthcare delivery, offering significant benefits in accessibility and efficiency for both providers and patients. 🙌 📝 However, to maximize its potential, medical staff and institutions should take the following 4️⃣ steps to prepare for the successful implementation of telehealth services: --- 1️⃣ Prepare for Virtual Care: Address any internal resistance early by involving stakeholders, setting budgets, and providing comprehensive training. Proactive preparation is key to a smooth transition. ⏩ 2️⃣ Set Realistic Expectations and Outcomes: Choose user-friendly technology to bridge digital literacy gaps and gain buy-in from both providers and patients. Ensure that patients and providers are aware of expectations and how telehealth services will contribute to improved outcomes for both of them. ✅ 3️⃣ Outline Potential Operational Impacts: Integrate telehealth seamlessly into existing workflows to enhance efficiency and support quality care. Prioritize training to maximize provider engagement and patient satisfaction. 📚 4️⃣ Maximize ROI: Customize your telehealth solution to optimize efficiency and patient outcomes. Continuously evaluate and improve the technology to enhance service accessibility and operational effectiveness. 🔄 --- ➡️ Let’s continue to embrace telehealth as an exciting tool to transform healthcare delivery for both providers and patients. However, preparation is key! Healthcare institutions must mindfully and intentionally prepare for its implementation to reap its full potential. 🌟 --- Kudos to Keri (Dostie) Souza for this insightful how-to guide found in the HIMSS Resource Center! 👏👏👏 #Telehealth #HealthTech #HealthcareInnovation #HealthcareSolution