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Physician burnout is associated with two-fold increased odds for unsafe care, unprofessional behaviors, and low patient satisfaction¹ and that electronic health records (EHR) are a leading factor in physician burnout².

“The Healthcare vertical is rife with Error and Misuse. In fact, it is the only industry vertical that has more internal actors behind breaches than external.”¹

Even with this grim realization, there is some good news for healthcare practices. Because more than half of healthcare data breaches are caused by inadvertent actions of employees, there is an opportunity for practices to greatly reduce their risk of attack with employee training and awareness that builds a pervasive “culture of security.”

Patient activation has a significant effect on a patient’s management of chronic disease.¹ Various studies indicate that promoting discussion and problem solving to help chronic disease patients make informed self-management choices on an ongoing basis increases activation and improves outcomes.²

The ability of patients to comply with discharge instructions is related to their activation level. Research indicates that identifying and intervening on behalf of patients with low activation levels could reduce their risk of an unplanned rehospitalization.¹

Patient engagement generally describes patient involvement in their own healthcare. The concept of patient engagement is not new; for example, diabetes educators have been talking about “shared decision making” since the early 1990s.¹ It is still a current hot topic among policymakers, though, and is a key component of meaningful use legislation, the Affordable Care Act, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care. Additionally, increasing patient engagement can benefit you and your patients. Engaged patients are more likely to have better outcomes and greater satisfaction with their healthcare experience and are also less likely to file malpractice lawsuits.²