Did you know that a typical patient forgets 80 percent of what is discussed with their doctor in the exam room? This presents a big problem for the Canadian health care industry — and for patients themselves — because patients simply aren’t retaining enough of the information (or remembering it correctly) required to adequately manage their health.

Research conducted by St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto1 shows that a patient’s ability to understand health information and subsequently make decisions based on that information — otherwise known as health literacy — is vital to their overall health and well-being. A similar study published in Applied Nursing Research2 demonstrated a strong link between patient education, empowerment, and satisfaction.

Technology is increasingly being relied upon to address the many needs of our health care industry. One such innovation is paving the way for improved patient empowerment by providing a platform that is devoted to patient health literacy.

Helping doctors empower patients

Thousands of health care professionals across Canada are using iMD Health’s patient engagement platform to facilitate the delivery of complex health information to their patients. The easy-to-use online platform, developed in Toronto and refined by a decade’s worth of in-field user experience feedback, provides a much-needed solution to the problems of poor patient health literacy and limited consultation time.

“Our vision is to create happier, healthier, better-informed patients by equipping health care professionals with the information they need, when and where they need it,” says Jared Sonnenberg, Vice President of User Engagement and Product at iMD Health.

The platform provides health care professionals and their patients with access to thousands of professionally vetted images, videos, documents and other resources from over 50 of Canada’s leading health organizations, as well as the Mayo Clinic. The platform covers over 1,700 health topics, and resources are organized within an intuitive user interface designed for efficient and effective education delivery.

Using high-quality visuals, patient-friendly resources, and secure email functionality that allows patients to review and learn more post-appointment, iMD makes complex medical topics easy to understand. Consultation time is reduced, while patient adherence, compliance, and satisfaction are improved.

The company attributes a large portion of its success over the past decade to its ability to provide top quality patient resources from Canadian medical institutions.
For iMD, it’s all about providing health care practitioners and their patients with reliable information in the exam room, quickly and easily.

“iMD has created a versatile and easy-to-use tool that provides me with reliable information I can use to counsel patients,” says Dr. M. Alexander of Niagara Falls, ON. “I am always up-to-date, all on one platform.”

Are you a health care professional?
Click here for free access to iMD Health and see everything iMD can do for you, your practice, and your patients.

References:
1 http://www.stmichaelshospital.com/education2016/patient_and_family_education.html
2 https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/applied-nursing-research/vol/39/suppl/C