Regardless of the clinical environment, a properly educated and engaged patient is critical to the care plan and instrumental in a successful outcome. Improving the resources available to occupational health clinicians and the education materials provided to employees correlates with increased adherence to clinical recommendations, as well as decreased ER visits and hospitalizations.
To that end, the new ACOEM guidelines underscore the importance of ready access to easy-to-read, multilingual patient education materials relevant to the employee diagnosis and context.
OEHRs can simplify education, communication and increased patient engagement
In alignment with the new ACOEM guidelines, preferred OEHRs incorporate access to patient education materials. Providers select appropriate, actionable content that can be sent to the employee electronically, or printed onsite. The materials are also noted in the patient chart, creating a durable, referenceable record of what was shared.
Bridget Hamm, chief knowledge officer for Enterprise Health, explains, “The Enterprise Health OEHR offers an integration to the WebMD Ignite database, formerly Healthwise. Ranked #1 in patient education by the 2024 Best in KLAS report, WebMD Ignite enables users of our software to easily access text, visual and more than 800 videos to push to their patients through our employee health portal. The materials are tightly integrated into the visit note, so recommendations pop up automatically based on diagnosis. The provider simply selects which pieces to share or print — in a choice of languages.”
Benefits extend beyond the employee to reduce burden clinic staff
This is a significant step forward in simplification for the provider, patient and the clinic overall. By integrating a comprehensive library of patient education materials into the OEHR, employees leave the encounter with the information they need, and clinics eliminate the expense and time-consuming need to maintain wall-mounted pamphlet libraries which are limited in scope and often outdated.
In Hamm’s experience, Enterprise Health clients consider the integration to WebMD Ignite “a no-brainer.” The database covers a wide range of occupational health hazards with accuracy ensured. To reduce barriers, all materials are available in English and Spanish, written at or below a 6th grade reading level, highly visual and intentionally emphasize diversity in age, skin tone, body type and gender identity.
And, instead of using clinician time to search and retrieve patient education materials manually, the OEHR integration does it automatically based on the diagnosis codes and associated with the visit note.
The Enterprise Health OEHR checks every box on the ACOEM guidelines — including patient education materials.
See how your current system stacks up. Download the checklist.
