KLAS, a healthcare research and insights firm, and Phreesia, a leader in patient intake, outreach and activation, are pleased to announce the release of a report that aims to shed light on patients’ preferences and expectations for the technology they interact with as a part of their healthcare experience. The report is the result of a survey designed to better understand patient sentiments on a range of topics, including how they like to schedule appointments, their participation in telehealth visits and their communication with their doctor.

KLAS and Phreesia partnered together on this report because they share a common mission of improving healthcare and the patient experience, and they recognize that patients’ voices and preferences are not always reflected in healthcare technology. The two organizations leveraged the size and scale of Phreesia’s network—which performed more than 100 million patient check-ins in 2021—to get a firsthand perspective of patients’ priorities.

"What do patients want?" asked Adam Gale, CEO of KLAS Research. "This report, based on a survey with nearly 13,000 patients, provides deep insights into how providers and vendors can help meet patient preferences."

Phreesia surveyed patients across the U.S. over a two-week period in 2021, as they checked in to a doctor’s appointment using Phreesia’s automated intake platform. The quantitative survey asked 14 questions about patients’ experiences using healthcare technology. Respondents represented a wide range of demographic groups across age, education level, race and gender.

The report includes many detailed, data-driven insights and recommendations to providers, including:

• Digital access tools are very important to patients: Online appointment self-scheduling and check-in, price transparency and online bill pay are among the offerings patients desire most. Survey responses indicate that patients aged 18-34 are almost twice as likely to choose organizations that have digital access tools.
• There are gaps between what patients want and what is offered by vendors and provider organizations—for example, the ability to schedule and reschedule an appointment or request a prescription refill online.
• Patients are still interested in telehealth: Nearly half of respondents had at least one virtual visit in the past year. Of those who did not, 40% reported they are likely to receive care virtually in the future.
• Only 33% of respondents interact with a provider portal at least once a month, and 26% don’t use a portal at all, with the youngest patients (18-24 years old) most likely to fall into the latter category. The report recommends providers take a multi-pronged approach and offer technology alternatives for things like virtual care and patient communication to better engage those who rarely or never use a portal, in addition to encouraging increased portal adoption.

“As the report describes, patients want to be more actively involved in their healthcare, especially since the start of the pandemic,” said Phreesia CEO Chaim Indig. “We believe that patient-centered care is critical to the transformation of our healthcare system. It’s incredibly important to us to be able to use our insights to help providers better engage patients and improve their experience. We’re thrilled to partner with KLAS on this valuable work.”

This collaboration is a result of Phreesia and KLAS’ common interest in ensuring patients’ voices are heard and that technology reflects their needs and preferences. As part of the non-financial agreement, KLAS performed its own analysis of Phreesia’s data, created this report and maintains editorial rights. KLAS’ partnership with Phreesia is in no way an endorsement of Phreesia’s performance and has had no impact on Phreesia’s standing in KLAS ratings.

About KLAS

KLAS has been providing accurate, honest, and impartial insights for the healthcare IT (HIT) industry since 1996. The KLAS mission is to improve the world’s healthcare by amplifying the voice of providers and payers. The scope of our research is constantly expanding to best fit market needs as technology becomes increasingly sophisticated. KLAS finds the hard-to-get HIT data by building strong relationships with our payer and provider friends in the industry. Learn more at klasresearch.com.

About Phreesia

Phreesia gives healthcare organizations a suite of robust applications to manage the patient intake process. Our innovative SaaS platform engages patients in their healthcare and provides a modern, convenient experience, while enabling our clients to enhance clinical care and drive efficiency.

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