We ask the industry’s top healthcare experts on what they think the biggest obstacle facing the industry today is and how we can overcome it.
Karly Rowe
Vice President for Patient Access, Identity, and Care Management, Experian Health
Which advancement in the healthcare industry has improved patient engagement and identification the most?
The security of patient information in portals has improved dramatically over the last several years. When patient portals were originally introduced, patients lacked confidence that their healthcare providers had adequate tools to protect personal information. This led to low adoption and falsified information.
Since then, healthcare organizations have adopted several tools that give patients security. As a result, use of patient portals has increased and created more accessibility services: view test results, submit payments, schedule appointments, and connect to community programs.
How can a healthcare professional implement new technology during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Re-examine or develop a digital front-door strategy that will define the organization’s patient engagement. More than moving to online processes, it’s also about delivering a seamless, integrated, and personalized patient experience. This strategy sets a roadmap for the next 3-5 years, ensuring that requirements are defined, and each buying decision compliments the organization’s vision without negatively impacting future integrations.
What is the biggest obstacle facing the healthcare industry today?
Many healthcare organizations struggle to balance day-to-day operations with the need to innovate for the future; these two are often at odds with each other both in budget and in resources. The pandemic, however, has quickly accelerated adoption of tools, putting additional strain on healthcare organizations already stretched thin as a result of the pandemic.
How can we overcome this?
Healthcare organizations are looking to reduce complexities of their systems using quick-to-implement and easy-to-use solutions. Companies need to focus on a holistic approach that solves for a number of challenges, rather than a single need.
Abbas Mooraj
Managing Director of Healthcare and Life Sciences, Cloudera
Which advancement in the healthcare industry has improved patient engagement and identification the most?
The ability to analyze the increasing volume, velocity, and variety of data plays a pivotal role in improving patient engagement and identification. For example, we’ve learned that implementing electronic health records helps collect volumes of patient information, such as physician notes and lab results. In addition, giving patients access to their own health information helps improve the overall accuracy of data within their health records and boosts communication leading to shared patient-physician decision making. All of this ultimately improves health outcomes.
When a single source of truth is created with data generated from a variety of sources, it helps enable better patient identification, better medication adherence and improve overall health equity. It also helps to reduce the cost of care.
Effective data analytics is the driver that helps manage clinical trials, reduce process run times for real-world patient data analysis, patient and member 360, and population health. Think of the potential benefits of analyzing data from patient populations to gain 360-degree views that incorporate key social determinants of health and specific consumer analytics to help improve community health.
How can a healthcare professional implement new technology during the COVID-19 pandemic?
New technology should be prioritized based on the most urgent need. Consider developing a data pipeline that automates and ingests COVID-19 data, to offer real-time patient data and predictive model capabilities. The data pipeline should include current numbers of patients at a facility, their symptoms, which medications they are responding to, and how much personal protective equipment and supplies are on hand. This will allow clinicians to accurately predict case volumes, avoid shortages of critical resources, and help them to make fast and accurate diagnoses.
Also, look at creating a forecasting model to better estimate regional COVID-19 case volumes that can help healthcare facilities forecast needed beds and caregivers for their hospital or health system. This helps not only plan and prepare for case spikes, but also for critical supply and personnel needs.
What is the biggest obstacle facing the healthcare industry today?
Speed, agility, resiliency, and accuracy are more crucial than ever, and the stakes are incredibly high. There are technologies the healthcare ecosystem has spent years adopting, including electronic health records that are now in place. Newer technologies are being developed at a rapid clip to solve issues with data quality, data curation, governance, and lineage.
For example, data analytics is essential for enabling greater agility that helps healthcare facilities ensure they have enough patient beds, staff, PPE, and other supplies to manage patient loads.
How can we overcome this?
Democratizing data so that business decisions can be made in real time is essential, but it must be secure and governed. At the same time, adoption of the best healthcare services, which improve health outcomes and decrease costs, needs to increase. This can only happen if they are developed on consumer-friendly digital platforms. The organizations I’ve talked with have achieved this with a hybrid cloud-based, multi-function data analytics platform fulfilling the criteria.
Mark Brandenhoff
General Manager, Healthcare at Ergotron
Which advancement in the healthcare industry has improved patient engagement and identification the most?
The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated the significant potential of telemedicine in delivering safe, high-quality care, as well as the incredible commitment and tenacity of care providers. When tech is accessible for patients, physicians, and caregivers, their experience will be better and may ultimately impact the bottom line. Optimizing the physical environment is critical to maximize the impacts of the technology and caregivers.
How can a healthcare professional implement new technology during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Whatever you are looking to implement must provide a vital solution to your workflow or greatly make an impact on performance and/or safety. In the case of telemedicine, as an example, where distanced diagnosing is now part of our daily repertoire, the time and investment into learning and implementing this technology is a direct solvent on workflow and safety. Knowing this importance, it is crucial to get consistent feedback from all stakeholders involved to properly gauge effectiveness, as health care facilities prepare for a future of increased telehealth compliance.
What is the biggest obstacle facing the healthcare industry today?
An elevated level of health and safety for both staff and patients. While health and safety for both is always the industry’s greatest priority, it is amplified in a way not yet seen in modern healthcare due to the pandemic. Ensuring adequate safety measures are steadfast for both staff and patients is an obstacle those in the industry face day in and day out.
How can we overcome this?
Utilizing technology that reduces exposure to pathogens, such as COVID-19, is a crucial component to overcoming the obstacle of elevated health and safety within facilities. Adopting these new tools and technologies that work hand-in-hand with current procedures sets up staff and patients for long term, holistic wellbeing.
