According to CDC statistics, 6 in 10 US adults have a chronic condition, with 4 in 10 having two or more. These conditions are the leading drivers behind the nation’s $3.8 trillion annual health costs. These conditions include heart disease, cancer and diabetes, and even less dangerous problems which are caused by factors such as substance abuse, smoking and second-hand smoke, malnutrition, and a lack of exercise.

With such a wide array of conditions, all of which have such a wide array of possible causes, finding a one size fits all solution is nigh impossible, and so the treatment depends almost entirely on the individual. This, however, poses another challenge. To get ahead of these conditions and improve general population health, providers must improve the ways in which they attract, retain and engage patients. Addressing patients on an individual level through personalized content is the only way to keep them engaged for long enough so that providers can attempt to prevent and successfully treat chronic conditions.

Using one-to-one communication to promote healthy habits

The absolute best way to go about engaging patients would be one-to-one education sessions, on how they can prevent chronic illness, and what kind of habits and behaviors they need to adopt in order to make a chronic illness more manageable. Working with a health coach in this manner has been shown to have a dramatic effect on the health and well-being of patients and their medical adherence.

However, the problem remains that this method is not scalable. Continuous one-on-one coaching is not feasible for large patient populations. There would need to be a dramatic increase in the number of providers, otherwise, providers that already exist would have a massive workload. One must also factor into this the new approach towards medicine taken by millennials and younger generations. These patients are already active participants in their own healthcare, which is an advantage, though they are also more demanding, expecting help and answers from their providers whenever they need it. Technology may offer a solution.

The time and personnel required for one-on-one care can be massively reduced through proper usage of technology. Integrating virtual solutions such as telehealth and AI can give providers the ability to manage larger populations easier, while the latter can handle simpler situations without provider oversight.

Individualized content and care pathways

Attempting to encourage patients to adopt healthier habits through personalized care means providing constant access to health strategies that can bring about those changes. This can be achieved through content and instructional courses, along with a variety of other strategies. Simply providing these resources isn’t enough to get patients engaged, the content itself must go beyond just providing assistance in dealing with specific conditions. To be truly engaging, the content must have the following characteristics:

• Approachability: Really getting to know the patients through personal, two-way conversations.
• Flexibility: The care pathways provided through the content must be flexible enough to cater to patients with a wide variety of conditions, whilst also recognizing that every individual may not be able to take the optimal course. To remain relevant, the content should offer alternatives.
• Enhanced patient experience: The content should also enhance the patient experience through interactivity. Creating meaningful experiences means actually listening to patients, and giving them the type of content they desire.
• Individualized communication: Any platform looking to encourage patient engagement should possess the ability to facilitate individualized, two-way communication between patients and providers, giving providers the ability to create meaningful relationships with the patient populations they serve.

Personalized recruitment and delivery

The first impression is the most important, and thus the personalized care process must start during the recruitment and onboarding stage. The platform must possess the ability to communicate across multiple communication channels in order to cast the widest possible net for engagement. This involves detailed intake assessments, including a lifestyle questionnaire to create a comprehensive health risk assessment. Feedback must be collected constantly from each individual patient, to learn what motivates them in the pursuit of bettering their health.

By integrating personalization into the very beginning of the process, providers have more chances to learn about each individual patient through open communication. This knowledge can then be used to generate tailored content and to create individualized treatment plans that will benefit the patients later on, as well as creating a strong relationship through which providers can encourage patients to stick to those plans, and make better decisions regarding their own health.

By individualizing the chronic illness care process in this way, providers can improve population health and lower healthcare costs. Informed and engaged patients are less likely to make poor decisions, leading to them requiring more expensive treatment later down the line.