Designing the optimal care journey for orthopedic patients

Improving orthopedic patient engagement and their end-to-end journey 

The orthopedic sector is a $62 billion global market¹ driven in part by an aging population and a thriving youth sports market, among other trends. Orthopedic practices are undergoing significant consolidation, according to research firm Gabelli, which predicts growth of between four and five percent over the next few years². At the same time, surgeries that were once performed in a hospital setting are continuing to move to outpatient settings such as surgical centers and offices as regulations change.³

And yet, long wait times, uneven physician communication, and unmet or misaligned pre- and post-surgical patient expectations are all taking their toll on musculoskeletal and pain management practices.

There is a way to address these issues, though. Musculoskeletal groups can improve access, satisfaction, operational efficiency, and continuity of care by intentionally designing a connected patient experience as opposed to optimizing individual touchpoints. Everything — from the first doctor search to rehab and follow-up — should reduce patient challenges while preserving clinical rigor.

Practices may need to do more to evolve than simply adding or updating a patient portal or letting patients make their own appointments via orthopedic online scheduling if they want to build or improve orthopedic patient engagement. Rather, they might think about the patient experience as a continuous episode of care, where every transition either builds confidence or introduces friction. After all, patient-facing technology is most effective when it supports that broader experience rather than several capabilities operating in a silo.

Simply put, patient journey mapping is essential for success. A better digital experience can influence whether patients book, show up, follow instructions, leave positive reviews, and remain in-network for imaging, surgery, physical therapy, and follow-up care. 

A successful patient journey

A patient journey may start with a patient's simple web search or with a search of an insurance company’s plan network after an injury. It may continue with phone, text, or online scheduling, and proceed through intake, imaging, diagnosis, treatment — including surgery — rehab, and follow-up.

For orthopedic patients, the transitions through every stage are especially important. Musculoskeletal and pain management care often unfolds over weeks or months, spanning consultations, imaging, procedures, rehabilitation, and recovery. Patients may remember each interaction individually, but they experience them as one continuous journey. The goal is to help instill confidence within the patient that they are getting the continuous care they need, and a connected experience that would encourage them to return if they seek future care.

Patient journey mapping helps orthopedic practices see the entire patient experience. This allows practices to identify issues. Left unchanged, breakdowns and missing steps may lead to operational and clinical consequences such as missed appointments, incomplete forms, and confusion. Such problems can also lead patients to seek care elsewhere.

Step-by-step: Designing the patient experience around patients

Orthopedic practices are a good match for patient journey mapping because patients present with unique and often complex problems. By creating a truly personalized orthopedic experience, practices help patients feel heard, understood, and cared for while reducing headaches and angst. Doing this work may help practices identify opportunities to strengthen patient retention, support continuity of care, reduce avoidable administrative errors, and improve communication among patients and care teams.

Finding personalized solutions for the patient journey starts with the first step:

Find

At the Find stage, a patient may be dealing with a recent injury, chronic or worsening pain, a change in mobility status, or the need for a second opinion or planned procedure. Whatever brings them to the practice, they are looking for clear information and timely access to appropriate care.  

Patients need a pathway that helps make communication consistent, timely, and scalable. At this stage, patients are often looking for reassurance as much as access. A clear, responsive experience helps establish confidence before clinical care even begins. Technology can support this experience by embedding patient engagement directly into clinical workflows, helping practices deliver consistent communication without creating additional administrative work.  

In the Find step, practices can create clear service-line web pages that have high internet search visibility by adding keywords and details about physicians, locations, and available services. Patient reviews also help since they give site visitors an idea of what patients have gone through and how they feel about the practice and its providers. 

Book

Booking is one of the earliest moments where patients begin forming expectations about how the rest of their care journey will unfold.

Patients need a way to make an appointment. Traditionally, appointments were scheduled by phone, but many patients are accustomed to completing everyday tasks online at any time of day. Providing an online booking option can make it easier for patients to request or schedule care at a time that's convenient for them. Research suggests that it may also help practices use their scheduling resources more efficiently. In fact, providing a way for patients to book their own appointments increases the chance that more patients will complete the scheduling process. One recent study published in Frontiers in Digital Health found that “online appointment scheduling (OAS) increases patient satisfaction and enables more efficient care… OAS improves flexibility and resource use in the practice.”^4*

While that study looked at a different specialty, the findings may still apply: Patients are accustomed to self-service options and don’t want to have to wait until 9 a.m. when the phones open to make an appointment. They also don’t want to wait on hold or have to leave a message and wait for a callback. Having access to the patient portal and other patient engagement tools within athenaOne®, including the athenaPatient™ app, allows people to look for appointments and make them, bypassing the delays and friction that phone-only scheduling can create. Some research has found associations between portal use, higher patient satisfaction, and lower no-show rates.⁵

Online booking isn't just for new patients, either. Patients should be able to book an initial appointment, post-op follow-ups, pain management or injection visits, imaging reviews, and physical and occupational therapy appointments. Any scheduling option should be able to route patients correctly so access improves without throwing scheduling into chaos.  

Prepare

Once an appointment is booked, practices need to ensure that the Prepare step prepares both the patient and the provider. Preparation should reduce uncertainty for both patients and care teams. When clinical information, expectations, and logistics are aligned before the visit, everyone is better positioned for a productive encounter.

Digital intake, either in the portal or on an app, should capture orthopedic-specific details, including:  

• Injury location, including the affected side  
• Cause of the injury
• Pain level and any functional limitations
• Prior imaging or treatment
• Relevant surgical history
• Insurance and referral requirements

Digital pre-visit outreach in the form of emails or text messages can help improve patient completion of questionnaires called patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). One randomized orthopedic study found that pre-visit portal or email messaging increased PROM completion compared to no pre-visit messages.⁶

Provider preparation can improve when intake forms are completed before the office visit. It also saves front-office staff time and effort. But it starts with a solution that actively engages the patient ahead of time and automatically services reminders for them to complete digital intake well in advance.  

Taking the next step: visit, rehab, and follow-Up

Practices that take the patient journey into account can help position everyone for a better experience. From patients, to front-office staff, to the care providers, everyone is ready for the next step in the journey: the appointment.

Visit

This step, when done correctly, has one goal: making the patient feel cared for and ensuring the visit itself is focused on clinical issues. The patient has completed much of the administrative work ahead of time. But it's crucial that everything — including digital intake forms, check-in, records access, and test and imaging results — is connected. Beyond information availability, the goal is to help ensure the patient's story will move with them, reducing the need to repeat information and allowing clinicians to focus on decision-making rather than reconstruction.

Patients should be able to check themselves in before the visit, alerting the care team and making relevant patient data available. This gives the care team a clearer idea of what the patient is experiencing before anyone walks into the room and starts the encounter.  

The provider who has access to all the above knows why the patient is there, where their injury or pain is located, whether this is a new or chronic issue, and what treatments have been tried. Instead of spending time asking basic questions, the provider can dive right in, focusing on diagnostics, treatments, patient education, and potential next steps, including imaging or referrals.  

In addition, if the patient is referred to an imaging center, a pain management center, or a physical therapist, their information is ready to move with them. Connected clinical information can help each transition feel like part of one coordinated experience rather than a series of disconnected encounters.

Rehab

Recovery often lends itself to increased engagement between patient and practice. For example, one research study found that more than 78% of a cohort of Medicare knee replacement patients went to physical therapy within 90 days of their surgery.⁷

Patients need a way to find and access care instructions, see exercises, find a physical or occupational therapist, monitor and communicate about ongoing pain or symptoms, and contact their care provider with questions or comments. Giving them a way to ask post-op questions, request medication or refills, and get care-plan clarification is just another way to help them feel cared for and heard.  

Digital tools support this step and help practices stay connected to the patient and any providers who are working with them. Secure messaging options, for example, allow patients to raise nonurgent questions and concerns, which care teams can address through established response and escalation protocols. In addition, appointment reminders and patient education resources can reinforce care instructions, address common, routine questions, and make it clear when patients need to contact their care team or seek urgent evaluation.

Follow-up

Thoughtful follow-up reinforces confidence, strengthens continuity of care, and helps patients feel supported throughout recovery. Part of that includes meeting patients where they are and offering flexible options for continuous care.  

For example, if a patient's wound is healing or their recovery from an injury is progressing, telehealth may make certain follow-up visits more convenient. Patients don't need to drive to the office and wait to see the provider, and the practice can reclaim staff time and clinical resources.

Telehealth can be appropriate for certain routine musculoskeletal follow-ups, post-op check-ins, imaging reviews, and care-plan discussions. In addition, a systematic review of studies on orthopedic telemedicine found that telemedicine generally enabled good clinical outcomes, high patient satisfaction, and lower costs in some of the studies.⁸ The review did acknowledge some evidence limitations.

Offering connectivity throughout the care journey to improve engagement

Designing an exceptional orthopedic experience isn't about optimizing one appointment or implementing one new technology. It's about creating a connected journey where each interaction builds on the one before it.

Digital capabilities—from scheduling and intake to secure messaging, telehealth, and clinical workflows—are most valuable when they help practices reduce friction across that journey rather than simply digitize individual tasks. That's the philosophy behind athenaOne for Orthopedics.

Musculoskeletal and pain management groups can help supply patients with a more consistent and supported experience from the first time they search for a doctor through treatment and rehabilitation. And an integrated software enabled by vast amounts of network data can help providers and staff get quick access to relevant patient information, with fewer disconnected workflows and opportunities to service a strong, continuous care experience.  

Learn more about athenaOne for Orthopedics and how it can help connect patient engagement, telehealth, practice management, and clinical workflows – empowering practices to design the experience their patients deserve.