One of the most common questions we get is, “Why would a healthcare system invest in a mobile platform like Gozio if they already have a mobile app for their patient portal?”
It’s a fair question, and we wanted to answer it in this blog post with a side by side comparison that weighs the features of each.
A 2022 survey of 272 healthcare executives found that 9 of 10 believe robust patient-facing mobile platform can help them achieve their digital strategy goals. However, only 22% of respondents said they had a mobile solution that was customized to the needs of their patients. Most were using the mobile version of their patient portal or their mobile-responsive website as their “mobile presence”. Given that a McKinsey study showed that only 6% of patients indicated that a provider app fulfilled their needs, this approach doesn’t seem to be working.
Not long ago, the Advisory Board shared a “Digital Front Door” patient journey infographic that shows what features and functions are needed to effectively meet the needs of patients across the journey. Below, we use that list to compare a mobile patient portal with a mobile native engagement platform. What you’ll probably notice pretty quickly is that while a portal is great for known patients with accounts who know what they need, it isn’t as good for recruiting new patients or finding what you need when you aren’t sure what to do next.
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Awareness |
Mobile Engagement Platform |
Patient Portal |
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Digital Advertising / Brand Promos |
Yes |
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Population Health Campaigns |
Yes |
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Interactive Preventative Health Tools |
Yes |
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Social Media Access: Share news, get feedback, health communities |
Yes |
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Promote web events to share expertise |
Yes |
|
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Articles / Thought Leadership |
Yes |
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Finding Care |
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Real-time provider availability / access to care |
Yes |
Yes |
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Physician ratings and reviews |
Yes |
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Symptom Checker / Chatbot |
Yes |
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Self-assessment tools |
Yes |
Yes |
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Triage to appropriate care setting |
Yes |
|
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Pricing estimate tools |
Yes |
Yes |
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Scheduling & Pre-Appointment |
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Virtual tours |
Yes |
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Insurance capture & verification (Pre-reg) |
Yes |
Yes |
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Live or automated chat functionality |
Yes |
Yes |
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Appointment reminders / instructions (text / email) |
Yes |
|
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Real-time wait times |
Yes |
|
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Self-scheduling |
Yes |
Yes |
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Digital forms / checklists / instructions for pre-registration |
Yes |
Yes |
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Pro-operative coaching (physical therapy, health tips, etc.) |
Yes |
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Appointment & Receiving Care |
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Digital facility wayfinding / location-based app triggers |
Yes |
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Clinical care tools and devices (within acute care setting) |
Yes |
Yes |
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Clinical trials recruitment |
Yes |
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Patient portal / mobile app instructions |
Yes |
Yes |
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Check-in (in-person, kiosk, tablet, mobile) |
Yes |
Yes |
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Transportation service integration (i.e. Lyft, Uber, etc.) |
Yes |
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Post-Care / Appointment |
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E-prescribing and Rx Refill Management |
Yes |
Yes |
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Transitional Care Management |
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Care Coordination |
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Real-time feedback reviews / surveys |
Yes |
Yes |
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Patient portal for: provider notes, labs, and other medical record data |
Yes |
Yes |
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Billing & Payment – Consolidated statement with online / mobile bill pay option |
Yes |
Yes |
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Digital follow up scheduling |
Yes |
Yes |
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Personalized care plans supported by: wearables, connected devices and digital therapeutics |
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