#outcomemeasures

[likita123]

Healthcare Web Analytics: Measuring Engagement and Outcomes

Introduction

In today’s digital age, healthcare organizations are increasingly leveraging web analytics to enhance their online presence, improve patient engagement, and measure health outcomes. The power of data-driven decision-making cannot be overstated, especially in a field where patient care and operational efficiency are paramount. This blog delves into the importance of web analytics in healthcare, key metrics to track, and how to use these insights to drive meaningful outcomes.

The Importance of Web Analytics in Healthcare

Web analytics provides valuable insights into how users interact with healthcare websites, including patient portals, educational resources, and appointment scheduling systems. By analyzing web traffic and user behavior, healthcare organizations can:

Enhance Patient Engagement: Understand which content resonates most with patients and tailor communication strategies accordingly.

Improve Patient Experience: Identify and address usability issues to streamline the online experience.

Optimize Marketing Efforts: Measure the effectiveness of digital marketing campaigns and adjust strategies to reach target audiences more effectively.

Monitor Health Outcomes: Track how online interactions influence patient health behaviors and outcomes.

Key Metrics to Track

Website Traffic: Measure the number of visitors to your healthcare website, including unique visits, page views, and session duration. This helps gauge the overall reach and popularity of your site.

Bounce Rate: Track the percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate may indicate that users are not finding relevant information or that the site’s user experience needs improvement.

Conversion Rate: Monitor the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, such as booking an appointment or signing up for a newsletter. This metric helps assess the effectiveness of calls to action and overall site functionality.

Patient Engagement Metrics: Analyze interactions with specific content, such as educational articles or health quizzes. Track metrics like time spent on page, social shares, and comments to measure engagement.

User Journey Mapping: Understand the path users take through your site, from entry point to conversion. This insight can help identify potential bottlenecks and areas for improvement in the patient journey.

Mobile vs. Desktop Traffic: Compare traffic from mobile devices versus desktops. With the growing use of smartphones, ensuring a mobile-friendly experience is crucial.

Referral Sources: Identify where your web traffic is coming from, whether it’s search engines, social media, or other websites. This helps evaluate the effectiveness of different marketing channels.

Patient Feedback and Reviews: Collect and analyze patient feedback and reviews to understand their online experience and satisfaction levels.

Utilizing Web Analytics for Improved Outcomes

Personalize Content and Communication: Use analytics to identify the types of content that resonate with different patient demographics. Tailor content and communication strategies to address the specific needs and interests of your audience.

Optimize Website Design and Functionality: Regularly review user behavior data to identify and fix usability issues. Ensure that your website is user-friendly, accessible, and optimized for both desktop and mobile devices.

Enhance Patient Education: Leverage insights from engagement metrics to create and promote educational resources that address common patient concerns and health topics.

Improve Appointment Scheduling and Follow-Up: Analyze data on appointment scheduling and follow-up interactions to streamline processes and reduce no-show rates.

Monitor and Adjust Marketing Strategies: Use referral source data and conversion rates to assess the effectiveness of digital marketing campaigns. Make data-driven adjustments to improve reach and engagement.

Outcome

Healthcare web analytics is a powerful tool for measuring patient engagement and outcomes. By tracking key metrics and leveraging insights, healthcare organizations can enhance their online presence, improve patient experiences, and drive better health outcomes. Embracing data-driven strategies is essential for staying competitive in the digital landscape and delivering high-quality patient care.

[biointernet]

Gas Discharge Visualization to measure massage therapy

Evaluating the use of gas discharge visualization to measure massage therapy outcomes

Jolie Haun,* Nitin Patel, Gary Schwartz, and Cheryl Ritenbaugh Jolie Haun, HSR&D Center of Innovation on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, James A. Haley VA Medical Center, Tampa, FL, USA; Department of Community and Family Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

Abstract

Background The purpose of this study was to evaluate the short-term effects of massage therapy using gas discharge visualization (GDV), a computerized biophysical electrophoton capture (EPC), in tandem with traditional self-report measures to evaluate the use of GDV measurement to assess the bioenergetic whole-person effects of massage therapy. Methods This study used a single treatment group, pre–post-repeated measures design with a sample of 23 healthy adults. This study utilized a single 50-min full-body relaxation massage with participants. GDV measurement method, an EPC, and traditional paper-based measures evaluating pain, stress, muscle tension, and well-being were used to assess intervention outcomes. Results Significant differences were found between pre- and post-measures of well-being, pain, stress, muscle tension, and GDV parameters. Pearson correlations indicate the GDV measure is correlated with pain and stress, variables that impact the whole person. Conclusions This study demonstrates that GDV parameters may be used to indicate significant bioenergetic change from pre- to post-massage. Findings warrant further investigation with a larger diverse sample size and control group to further explore GDV as a measure of whole-person bioenergetic effects associated with massage. Keywords: complementary therapies, massage, outcome measures, gdv camera, GDV/EPI

Introduction

Massage therapy has gained recognition for having therapeutic effects for individuals, including those with a diverse range of conditions. Throughout the field of massage, practitioners commonly recognize a change that occurs in the person after receiving a massage treatment; often referred to as an “energetic” change. Therapists and clients commonly refer to this therapeutic effect of massage, yet research has yet to capture the essence of this change using traditional outcome measures. There is growing evidence to suggest massage has significant effects on outcomes in diverse populations. The majority of literature on massage therapy focuses on associated outcomes supporting pain and tension reduction , stress and anxiety reduction , alleviating depressive symptoms , and general well-being/quality of life . Fewer studies have evaluated additional outcomes including immune function , blood flow , nausea management , and quality of sleep . Subjective self-reports are most commonly reported to demonstrate massage outcomes for symptoms related to perceptions of pain, tension, stress, anxiety, and well-being . To support the validity of findings, previous research has relied on objective biomarkers to demonstrate effects of massage. Psychological outcome measures have been used to demonstrate changes in cortisol , norepinephrine , and serotonin levels . Physiological objective measures have focused on impacts on electrocardiogram (EKG) and electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns , respiratory rate , pulmonary function , blood glucose , serum insulin and IGF-1 levels , natural killer cells , white blood cells , and neutrophil counts . The reports of these outcome measures provide an indication of the mechanisms of therapeutic massage on individual biosystems (e.g., cardiovascular, immune, etc.); however, little research has adequately demonstrated the whole-person bioenergetic effects (i.e. the person as a whole-complex system) of massage therapy that is commonly seen in practice. This research was designed to evaluate the bioenergetic effects of massage therapy in a healthy population using the gas discharge visualization (GDV) device, an electrophoton capture (EPC) measure that theoretically measures the biophoton emissions surrounding the finger tips, as an indication of one’s energetic field . The GDV device provides a potential computerized biophysical screening of the psychophysiologic state of an individual . The GDV uses modern optics, electronics, and computer processing for analyzing photon emission stimulated by a pulsed electromagnetic field . Theoretically, GDV imaging and analysis process measures quantify the biophoton emissions surrounding the finger tips , such that energy photons are emitted from the corona discharge formed as a result of the ionization of air molecules surrounding the fingertip (see Figure 1). Theoretically, it is these energy photons which cause the resultant image, and as such represent the individual’s bioenergetic field.

Gas Discharge Visualization to measure massage therapy Full text Gas Discharge Visualization to measure massage therapy: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5323251/ Gas Discharge Visualization to measure massage therapy Read the full article

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Tweeted

Participants needed for online survey! Topic: "Validating the Use of a Psychosexual Outcome Measure" https://t.co/ynRjD8Il5d via @SurveyCircle #psychology #sex #psychosexual #outcome #nhs #measure #OutcomeMeasure #survey #surveycircle https://t.co/N1A03ysRnX

— Daily Research @SurveyCircle (@daily_research) Jan 25, 2023

[sri-pallavaram]

Why must Managers and Leaders be wary of an obsession with "final outcome" measures?

In today's world of objectivity, data-driven decision making, and the dire need to quantify everything, there is tremendous emphasis on measures of success (or outcome), and for good reason.

However, amid all this data buzz, many leaders, teams, and companies get caught up in an obsession with final outcome measures that sets them up for failure in spite of their best intentions. Talking to entrepreneurs, managers, and leaders I realize this is often the primary reason why we end up missing our end goal that we had so objectively defined.

While I was recently working on business development and partnerships opportunities for SplitSecnd, I came upon The 4 Disciplines of Execution, by Chris McChesney. Sean Covey, and Jim Huling. I was particularly struck by Discipline 2 in the book that talked about Lead and Lag measures and seemed to hit the nail on the head of this problem.

The real problem, it turns out, lies not in the absence of a measurable outcome, but rather in the absence of measures along the way that lead us to that desired outcome. We could think of these as the individual stones that bridge our path from start to the desired finish.

The final outcome measure or the objectively defined goal is called the lag measure because it's the end result. Measures along the way that lead to the final outcome are called lead measures. The challenge, however, lies in identifying the lead measures that can act as levers to help us reach our desired outcome. Covey et al. suggest looking for two very important and inevitable attributes for lead measures:

They be predictive of the final outcome.

They be influenceable.

Weight loss example:

An excellent example is that of losing weight. Let's say that a friend of yours wanted to lose weight and did the right thing of objectively defining the end goal of, say, losing 12 pounds in 1 month. That's a very specific and clearly defined desired outcome. Excellent. But, is that sufficient? No, because they now need a plan to achieve that goal. So, when you ask them for their plan they declare that they would "diet" and "exercise" for one month and at the end use the same high precision electronic weighing machine to measure their weight with which they started. Would that be sufficient? Unfortunately no, because they could be on the wrong diet or the wrong kind of exercise program or both through that month by the end of which it would be too late to take corrective action. The only option left then would be to extend the deadline of the goal. In most cases in the real world, especially in a competitive business environment and even more so in the startup world of entrepreneurs that could mean the end of the line.

The right approach would have been to define lead measures, i.e. "actionable or influenceable" measurements that our friend could have taken and analyzed over the month so that necessary adjustments could have been made to their plan. They could have measured 1.) calories consumed on a daily basis, 2.) calories burned on a daily basis, 3.) recorded their weigh every 3 days, and so on. These measures are both predictive of the desired outcome and also influenceable through the course of the project and would have helped our friend maneuver the path to their end goal.

Sales Example:

Let us say that a company wanted to increase sales from 500 units to 620 units over 12 months. That would be the desired final outcome and hence the Lag measure. An increase in sales by 120 units (from 500 to 620) over 12 months could be thought of as increasing sales by 10 units on average monthly sales compared to the previous year. That does NOT qualify as a lead measure because it still the same "end goal" with just the time duration changed from 12 months to 1 month. It may be predictive of the final 12 month outcome, but it is not an influenceable measure. It is still only an outcome measure.

Examples of lead measures in this case would be, on a weekly basis, the 1.) average productivity of sales reps on the team, 2.) conversion rates of leads into sales, 3.) rates of lost sales due shortage in inventory, etc. These are predictive of the desired final outcome and also influenceable. If these are analyzed on a frequent basis and the knowledge gained from them be applied to correct the course of action, the chances of meeting the monthly and the final annual sales goal become stronger.

Sticking to and executing this approach is easier said than done though. The key lies in thoughtfully and meticulously identifying and defining lead measures and executing the measure and adjust process diligently. Capturing and analyzing the lead measures frequently well before the final outcome is measured enables us to hit our final target more often than not. Obsessing with the final outcome alone is not only insufficient, it actually gets in the way of achieving it !