5 Actions To Unlock Patient Engagement And Deliver Value

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of articles on patient engagement.

Patient engagement isn’t a tool or a campaign. It’s a strategy, and a substantially under-leveraged driver of outcomes, cost control, and health equity. When patient engagement is amplified, it leads to better health outcomes and reduced costs, including a 50% reduction in complications and a 25% decrease in readmissions. But to realize these results, organizations need to stop viewing it as a standalone initiative and start treating it as an unlock to system performance, via optimizing their existing investments.

Rethinking Engagement: Realizing the Full Potential of Existing Investments

The healthcare industry has invested heavily in digital transformation and data infrastructure over the past decade, with various analyses showing that provider organizations increased their digital health investments by 27% over five years . These investments have focused on scalable platforms, interoperability, and programs to extend care beyond clinic walls. Yet studies also show that health systems use just 57% of their data to drive decisions. And while 73% of patients adopt portals, only 29% actively engage with the information. To achieve a meaningful return on investment – whether by improving care quality, capturing revenue under fee-for-service, or reducing unnecessary utilization under value-based care — healthcare leaders must intentionally activate tools around behaviors that drive better outcomes and in ways that recognize the patient as a valuable participant in their own care.

Looking ahead, the next wave of impact will come from four capability areas that are already seeded in most organizations, but need sharper focus and follow-through to deliver value:

Digital Tools: Evolve from passive portals and broadcast messages into proactive, personalized engagement platforms. Too often, core features like secure messaging, reminders, and refill management go unused. Knowing who needs support is just the first step. Digital tools must be wired into operational goals they’re meant to support, using data appropriately to drive timely, personalized action that improves adherence, follow-through, and cost containment. The opportunity now is to mine data and apply intelligence to drive deeper adoption and embed behavioral nudges into everyday workflows, turning digital tools into true companions in patient care.

Community-Based Programs: Move beyond pilot status and become integrated extensions of the care model. Investments in community health workers and partnerships with local organizations have created a strong foundation. The next step is to operationalize those relationships to extend in-home support, particularly for high-risk and historically underserved populations.

Data Integration and Analytics: Most organizations struggle to translate data into real-time, actionable insights. The future-state is one where patient engagement strategies are guided by predictive analytics, timely visibility into patient behaviors and risk, and incorporation of feedback mechanisms directly into patient and provider workflows. The organizations that will reap the benefits of these investments are those capable of responding immediately to this feedback, continuously refining engagement strategies based on what’s working and what’s not.

Cultural Competency: There’s renewed attention to this, particularly as part of health equity initiatives. However, investments in language access and health literacy too often sit at the edges of strategy. To drive better engagement, these considerations must become central and embedded into design processes, communication strategies, and staffing models.

The Patient Engagement Playbook: From Strategy to Sustained Impact

To make patient engagement successful, organizations need a clear path from strategy to sustained action. That path must align business goals — like cost reduction and improved outcomes — with the real needs and behaviors of patients. Our five-point Patient Engagement Playbook offers a structured way to achieve mutual value, helping organizations realize ROI on their existing investments while improving lives in measurable ways. This isn’t about building big new programs. It’s about making the most of what has already been invested in and showing exactly how that engagement effort drives ROI.

1. Align on Value-Creating Engagement Objectives. Start by defining what successful engagement looks like in your organization. Ground it in objectives that create mutual value — reducing avoidable costs, improving outcomes, and enhancing patient experience. Clarify the patient behaviors that will move the needle most and the metrics that matter.

2. Diagnose Friction in the Patient Journey. Use a structured diagnostic to uncover where engagement is breaking down, drawing on patient data, provider input, and cross-functional collaboration. Whether patients are missing screenings, dropping off treatment plans, or struggling with follow-ups, understanding the root causes of disengagement is the first step to correcting it.

3. Operationalize the Capabilities You Already Have. Shift from assessment to action by putting existing tools to work. Use digital outreach to close gaps in chronic care management. Equip staff with scripts and workflows to reinforce key behaviors. Leverage community partnerships to extend your reach. The focus isn’t on building new infrastructure, it’s on making everyday operations work harder for engagement.

4. Personalize at Scale Using Data and Analytics. Move beyond generalized outreach and toward n=1 personalization. Use predictive analytics and segmentation to identify patients at risk of disengagement, then tailor communications, timing, and channels to meet them where they are. When combined with behaviorally informed design, even small data signals can lead to meaningful shifts in patient behavior.

5. Close the Loop with Continuous Measurement. Build feedback loops that track engagement in real time through patient surveys, clinical outcomes, utilization trends, and care coordination data. Use both patient-level and population-level insight to measure what’s working and refine your strategy accordingly. Success depends not just on engagement, but on adapting that engagement over time.

Why Now: The Case for Immediate Action

The healthcare industry is at an inflection point. Value-based care models are raising the bar for what patient engagement must achieve. Regulatory pressures around health equity and patient outcomes are intensifying. And consumer expectations for personalized, digital-first experiences continue to climb. Organizations that act now to rethink their approach to patient engagement will be better positioned to realize measurable impact — improving both care delivery and financial performance, regardless of the payment model — and all the while making the most of the investments already made.