There has never been a more exciting time to work in digital health. The combination of policy changes coming to life, the proliferation of digital platforms, data interoperability and customer demand creates the best opportunity to make an impact on health service delivery more than ever before. These were big mountains to climb, and many are still climbing them. As any obsessed climber knows, there are always new challenges and climbs to face.
There are four challenges that healthcare professionals need to consider to drive meaningful impact in patient-centered healthcare: making platforms work for customers, advancing data interoperability, fostering new health relationships and reimagining service delivery.
While doctors have the mantra do no harm, those working in digital health should ask: Am I really improving healthcare? For a decade, “patient centricity” has been a hallmark for better health engagement and outcomes, spurring a movement away from a top-down, “paternalistic” style of modern medicine. By harnessing digital technology, patient centricity seeks to democratize healthcare and empower patients to take charge of their health which ultimately delivers better health outcomes. Books have been written about it, hospital networks have hired chief experience officers to advocate for it, famous doctors have been champions of it and some have even started revolutions.
That said, it’s time to acknowledge that the concept of digital health, empowered by patient centricity, hasn’t yet fully delivered on its promise. To realize the necessary outcomes in the future, it’s important for the healthcare field to be transparent about how it adapts to the changing digital health journey.
As of 2023, the cost of care in the U.S. continues to soar. The first steam engine didn't transport passengers until 50 years after James Watt patented the steam engine, which was 57 years after Thomas Newcomen invented it. The progress made in the last ten years is not invalidated because the end goal hasn't been achieved (although, hopefully, it won't take 107 years).
So, what has been achieved, and how does it build a framework for healthcare to achieve its goal of a fully patient-centric experience, allowing patients to focus on recovery and take charge of their health?
“The importance of designing for patient centricity has been picked up by policymakers and payers too—not just with CMS quality measures and star ratings, but in the value-based care contracts now forming 60 percent of incentive-based payments in 2023. Incentives now align to what we know about the importance of focusing on the patient, their needs and what they value.” – Hugo Manassei, GVP customer experience and innovation consulting
That said, digital engagement increases are largely siloed experiences, with provider portals, telemedicine and other point solutions still not connected. Although the healthcare industry is well-versed in patient needs, it is crucial to design the right digital services that improve outcomes and reduce costs in order to meet those needs. The challenge of breaking silos is ever-present, and the full impact of digital health cannot be realized unless healthcare moves towards becoming a fully integrated personal health service. There needs to be less emphasis on what it needs to be, and more on how it needs to happen. This is the challenge of the next decade. These are the next mountains to climb.
The market conditions are presenting themselves, and now is the time to move to a cohesive, ecosystem approach where the various parts work together in order to reduce the cost of care, improve outcomes and increase access. There are four key areas that, when organizations focus on them, accelerate their transformation into a successful part of the ecosystem.
It’s been hard for healthcare leaders to fulfill the future impact of digital health. Until now. Finally, the “train has left the station” with data interoperability in place, making platform investments worth it, which will unlock innovation amongst startups and existing health organizations. Along with continued policy support, healthcare will undergo more significant changes in the next 10 years than in the previous 10. If the past decade was overly focused on defining what healthcare needs to be, the next decade will concentrate on how it needs to happen. It’s time to shift gears and make it happen, so we can scale impact on accessibility, cost reduction and improved outcomes.
Tim Lawless
Senior Vice President Sales and Leadership
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