A recent study in Annals of Family Medicine confirms what many providers have long believed: stronger patient-provider relationships can yield better patient health outcomes.
It only stands to reason. Patients and providers can better understand and manage health conditions when communicating regularly and sharing information openly. This is especially beneficial when patients have multiple chronic conditions.
Enhanced relationships and communication also help providers identify barriers to care, so they can serve as advocates for patients who need further assistance. As rapport increases and trust builds, the partnership grows while improving and maintaining patients’ health.
What does it take to strengthen patient-provider relationships?
It is easy to say providers should strive for deeper patient connections. But what does that look like in practice? How can busy physicians make time for additional interactions to achieve stronger patient relationships?
In truth, it is not something physicians can—or should—do alone. Instead, practices should emphasize a culture where building connections with patients is a priority for every member of the team. That includes schedulers assisting patients with appointments; front desk staff checking patients in; nurses and physicians providing care; and business managers handling billing. Every team member has opportunities to engage with patients, build relationships, and help them better understand and manage their health.
Patient education is a vital part of this relationship-building culture. While “patient education” is a loose term that might mean different things to different team members, some of the most effective patient education opportunities start by conversing with patients and listening to their perspectives. What are they struggling to understand? What are their worries? What is preventing them from achieving their optimal health?
This conversation allows team members to fully understand an individual’s needs and concerns and address any barriers preventing them from following their recommended care plan. When everyone on the team has this shared mindset, the practice can provide meaningful, tailored education organically, which communicates to the patient that the practice cares about them and their specific situation.
How one physician group brought this idea to life
An independent physicians association (IPA) serving the Rio Grande Valley in Texas believes patient-provider relationships underpin all patient education and are crucial to patient outcomes. It also understands that physicians cannot build those relationships in isolation. It takes the entire IPA. Indeed, it takes an entire village.
That is why the IPA approached my team after determining that medication adherence was a challenge for many of its patients. They needed a way to identify patients who were not filling or refilling all their medications—especially those with chronic conditions. So, together we developed an initiative to analyze claims data to identify non-adherent patients and created a culture of advocacy. Every person on the care team is responsible for supporting and educating identified high-risk patients on how to get and take their medications.
Care team members engage patients in conversations throughout patient encounters to try to understand and address potential medication adherence issues. This could involve answering questions about medication side effects, providing clarity around benefits coverage, connecting the patient with community resources, adjusting prescriptions to a three-month supply, arranging prescription delivery, or other solutions to address barriers.
Social determinants of health (SDOH) frequently arise during these conversations, since the IPA serves patients in one of the most economically disadvantaged regions of the country. If care team members do identify SDOH barriers—such as medication costs or lack of transportation—they can work with my team to design additional layers of engagement and creative solutions.
Key messages about chronic disease management and medication adherence are reinforced by encouraging every staff and care team member to make patient connections and provide education. After the first year of this collaborative initiative, the IPA saw an impressive improvement in medication adherence. Patients who received an intervention were 20 times more likely to fill their prescriptions than those with whom the team could not connect.
As a result, practices continue to emphasize the importance of medication adherence by connecting with patients, listening to their challenges, providing education, and removing obstacles.
Building relationships with patients is always time well spent.
The more positive interactions patients experience with members of a practice’s staff and care team, the more comfortable they will feel talking about health issues, raising concerns, and sharing what may be preventing them from following their care plan. My team’s work with the IPA is a testament to the patient care benefits of nurturing a “village” approach to patient relationships.
The benefits also extend well beyond patient outcomes. The more connected and supported patients feel, the more likely they are to trust their physician and care team. This trust can lead to better rapport, improving patient retention and building a stronger community reputation. In addition, creating a culture of advocacy fosters a sense of shared responsibility and teamwork, which can increase staff satisfaction and reduce turnover, as everyone sees the difference they make in patients’ lives every day.
Joe Nicholson is a health care executive.
