Study: Highly Engaged Patients Have Lower Healthcare Costs

Patients who are more engaged in their care tend to have lower costs, according to a study in Health Affairs.

Researchers examined patient activation, defined as understanding one's own role in the care process and having the knowledge, skills and confidence to take on that role, according to the study. The researchers differentiated activation from engagement, which they defined as "a broader concept, including patient activation, the interventions designed to increase it, and the patient behavior that results from it."


To measure patient activation, the researchers administered an assessment that asked patients about their beliefs, knowledge and confidence in managing health-related tasks. The researchers looked at the connection between these activation levels and all billed costs at Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services for 2010 and the first six months of 2011.

An analysis of 33,163 patients of Fairview showed that the predicted average costs of patients with the lowest activation levels were 8 percent higher in 2010 and 21 percent higher in the first half of 2011 than patients with the highest activation levels.

More Articles on Patient Engagement:

11 Healthcare Leaders Share Patient Engagement Strategies
Enhance Patient Engagement With Device Connectivity to Patient Portals

20 Examples of Patient and Family Engagement Strategies

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