Patient Engagement: Can innovative techniques empower patients to better manage their kidney disease?
A new buzzword popular among health care leaders is “patient engagement,” sometimes referred to as “beneficiary engagement” when referring to Medicare beneficiaries. What does this concept mean for kidney patients? In general, patient engagement refers to transforming patients from passive recipients of health care to active partners, with their providers, in self-management of their disease. We often hear from veteran dialysis patients that success in avoiding complications depends on the patient taking on an active role in his or her health care and working with clinicians on a “two-way street.” While this kind of active engagement is certainly typical among the [...]