Consumer Technologies in a Changing Industry
How to exceed patient expectations as healthcare delivery evolves
Healthcare continues changing with no signs of slowing. And for all the challenges that will arise from these transformations, there is tremendous opportunity to deliver better care. One recent trend worth noting is how much control consumers now have over their health and wellness. But how can organizations best meet patient expectations in an industry that is constantly evolving?
Now that EHRs have become commonplace, how have they changed physician interactions with patients?
GC: Ultimately, the digitization of clinical data within EHRs helps physicians provide safe, high-quality care for patients. Also, with analytics and decision support solutions, physicians can use this digital health information to improve clinical insights and deliver more personalized care. In addition to better health outcomes, these solutions also deliver an improved patient experience.
Analytics is especially critical in providing the best clinical decision support for physicians. EHR data and powerful analytic engines provide physicians and patients with greater insight into patients’ current state of wellness. For example, solutions can provide predictive insights that enable more precise interventions to improve health. It is essential that physicians receive these insights within their workflow to facilitate determination of the most appropriate plan and to help reduce clinician burden.
What are the most common concerns about today’s consumer experience?
GC: Clients are often curious and eager to meet the needs of the consumer, but sometimes they don’t know where to start with their engagement strategy. They want to know which approach will help maintain and improve consumer loyalty.
More than anything, clients want solutions that are the best fit for their populations and organizations. If it is a community hospital, for example, which solution will best meet the needs of the town’s population and its network partners? Finally, health care organizations must understand the value of the solutions and how they will help deliver a more positive patient experience, improved outcomes, lowered cost and increased provider satisfaction.
What consumer experience solutions does Allscripts offer to help improve the patient experience?
GC: Allscripts offers a comprehensive mobile experience for patients with our FollowMyHealth® solution. FollowMyHealth delivers a patient portal, appointment reminders, gaps-in-care outreach, chronic care management, telehealth, patient education, referral coordination, just to name a few capabilities. We want to help consumers take a more active role in their own healthcare and wellness.
The Allscripts Developer Program (ADP) offers third-party applications to improve the consumer experience. Of the hundreds of applications, one good example is CHADIS, which streamlines the screening process, and help save time by enabling patients to complete forms and questionnaires at home.
What advice would you give other providers who are looking to improve their consumers’/patients’ experiences?
GC: First, providers must understand their patients and their patients’ goals, and map those goals to the priorities of the organization. In doing so, it can facilitate the conversation for a stronger consumer experience strategy. Providers must also be aware of the other essentials required to deliver a successful consumer strategy. For example, will the organizational structure support the project? Are internal processes in place to ensure success? Keeping a steadfast focus on the consumer will help develop initiatives that improve patient experience, increase patient engagement, and achieve better health outcomes.