You’ve likely heard the adage, “Confidence breeds success.” It’s a saying that doesn’t only apply to goals and achievement. Confidence can also have a powerful influence on your health.

In this era of patient-centered care, it’s important that hospitals always think about the patient first. That includes how and when they prefer to learn about their health and in-hospital care.

At Women & Infants Hospital in Rhode Island, part of the Care New England health system, we took this patient-centered approach when we recently launched an online birthing class called the “ Understanding Birth eClass.”

A patient-first approach, combined with the right tools to promote and deliver the right message at the right time, helped us connect the dots when communicating with, engaging and educating patients online.

Why is it so hard to understand—and apply—this concept?

With good information (i.e., reliable data) that is easily accessible, you have the power to change the world. Well, perhaps not the entire world, but your own part of it!

In my position as Manager, Lactation Services at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA, I’m expected to keep the department running efficiently, prove the economics of our efforts and, of course, educate and provide resources for new and expectant parents. This is a challenging task!

In the past year that I have held my position and Baystate Medical Center’s nine years of using UbiCare’s SmarteXp patient engagement solution for Pregnancy and Early Childhood, we’ve learned the value—both figuratively and literally—of connecting with our patients digitally through educational messages that start at the beginning of pregnancy and continue through the child’s third birthday.

First, there is the intangible value of providing health education resources to new moms and their families—helping the entire family feel involved in the birth of a child—and building a relationship between our hospital and these new parents and families in the process.

Then there is the real, tangible value that we can see on paper.