Making Digital Health Work: What’s Next for Patient Access

Digital tools are now a routine part of how patients interact with the healthcare system. Per HIMSS, more than half of U.S. patients now use digital tools to communicate with their healthcare providers. From patient portals to online scheduling and virtual visits, technology has reshaped how people communicate with providers and manage aspects of their care. For many organizations, these tools represent years of investment and effort to modernize the patient experience. 

And yet, for many patients, access still feels harder than it should. 

Patients increasingly rely on digital tools to engage with their healthcare, but reliance does not always translate into confidence or clarity. Even as digital touchpoints multiply, many patients continue to experience fragmented journeys, uncertainty about next steps, and difficulty navigating care across providers and settings. These challenges often surface at moments when patients are already stressed or vulnerable, amplifying frustration rather than easing it. 

Healthcare organizations have invested heavily in digital front doors. What is becoming increasingly clear is that digital progress, on its own, has not resolved the access challenge.

What the Industry Already Knows About Patient Expectations 

A 2025 report from HIMSS reinforces a critical reality. Patients want digital experiences that feel supportive, complete, and designed with their needs in mind, not simply functional. Ease of use matters; but so do relevance, context, and continuity across interactions. 

Insights from the KLAS Patient & Consumer Innovation Summit with patients and healthcare leaders point to a similar conclusion: Digital maturity has outpaced experience maturity, leaving many organizations with sophisticated tools but inconsistent access experiences. 

Digital Tools Exist, but Patients Don’t Always Feel Considered 

Patients consistently say partnership and engagement matter in their healthcare relationships. They want to feel informed, involved, and respected when interacting with digital systems, particularly as those systems increasingly mediate access to care. 

This perception gap helps explain why access often feels disconnected. Tools may technically function as intended; but they do not always reflect how patients think, decide, or move through care. When patients feel that digital experiences were designed around internal workflows rather than patient needs, trust erodes quickly. 

KLAS reinforces this point, highlighting that patients often struggle to understand who owns their next step or how different digital touchpoints fit together, particularly after visits or test results are delivered.  

Incomplete Information Undermines Trust 

Even when patients actively use portals and digital platforms, many report that the information they need is missing, delayed, or difficult to interpret. This lack of completeness undermines one of the core promises of digital health: clarity. 

When information is incomplete or inconsistent, digital access can increase uncertainty rather than reduce it. Patients are left unsure whether they have the full picture, whether action is required, or where to turn next. In these moments, digital tools can unintentionally heighten anxiety instead of providing reassurance. 

This uncertainty becomes especially pronounced when care involves multiple providers, referrals, or follow-up steps that span clinical and administrative boundaries. 

The Access Gap: Why Digital Tools Alone Aren’t Enough 

HIMSS findings suggest that the core issue is not whether patients are willing to engage digitally. It is whether digital experiences help patients feel informed, supported, and in control of their health decisions. That sense of control remains uneven across tools and use cases. 

These numbers highlight a broader access gap. Digital tools may collect data or facilitate interaction, but they do not always help patients understand what that data means or how to act on it. Without clear guidance, data alone can feel overwhelming or irrelevant. 

Research consistently points to similar frustrations: duplicative forms, unclear communication, difficulty reaching the right person, and confusion after visits or test results. Patients often receive messages across multiple channels without a clear sense of priority or direction, leaving them unsure of their role in the next step of care. 

When access feels fragmented, patients don’t experience it as a digital problem. They experience it as uncertainty. True access is about helping patients understand where they are, what comes next, and how to move forward without friction.

STEVE NILSONPrincipal Program Manager, Access + Experience

Taken together, these challenges point to deeper issues that extend beyond interface design. They reflect gaps in workflow alignment, ownership, and coordination across the organization. 

Five Early Moves To Prepare for Access Transformation 

While no single change will resolve access challenges overnight, organizations preparing for the next phase of access transformation tend to focus on several early moves that reflect a broader shift in mindset. These moves signal readiness to think about access more holistically. 

1. Simplify Intake and Navigation 

Patients quickly lose confidence when they are asked to repeat information or navigate inconsistent workflows. Simplifying intake and reducing handoffs can ease friction for both patients and staff, while also improving data quality across systems. 

2. Design for How Patients Actually Engage 

Digital engagement is not one-size-fits-all. Patients move between digital, phone, and in-person channels depending on circumstance, comfort, and urgency. Per KLAS, access strategies that acknowledge this reality are better positioned to support continuity and reduce drop-off. 

3. Embed Education Into Moments That Matter 

Patients are most receptive to guidance during moments of uncertainty, such as receiving results, scheduling follow-ups, or transitioning between care settings. Delivering education at these moments helps patients feel supported rather than overwhelmed. 

4. Use AI To Reduce Friction 

HIMSS findings point to cautious optimism around AI when it is used to organize information, streamline communication, and support clinical understanding rather than overwhelm patients with additional complexity. Purposeful use matters more than novelty. 

5. Treat Access as a Shared Responsibility 

Access improves when digital, clinical, and operational teams align around common goals and shared accountability. Without that alignment, even well-designed tools struggle to deliver consistent experiences across the patient journey.

These moves are not a complete strategy. They are early indicators that organizations are preparing for a more coordinated approach to access. 

The Next Chapter in Access-Driven Care 

Digital health is not failing. It is unfinished. 

As patient expectations rise and pressures related to capacity, workforce, and financial sustainability intensify, access can no longer be treated as a front-door function or a collection of disconnected tools. The next chapter requires coordination across people, process, data, and technology so digital investments translate into experiences that patients can understand, trust, and rely on over time. 

Stay tuned for the full report.