By Andrea Sorensen, associate vice president of product consulting, MedeAnalytics.
Andrea Sorensen
Healthcare providers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic continue to be overwhelmed by the increase of cases worldwide. Physicians, nurses and other direct providers are overworked, tired and mentally exhausted from non-stop diagnosis and treatment during the pandemic. And just as the number of new cases seems to decrease, they rise again.
In the US alone there are more than 10.3 million cases and 241,000 deaths. Worldwide, cases number more than 51.8 million with more than 1.2 million deaths. These numbers, undoubtedly, will continue to grow in the coming months. “By June 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had caused hundreds of thousands of deaths around the world, triggered the largest quarterly contraction of global GDP ever recorded, and left hundreds of millions of people without jobs,” according to research published by the McKinsey Global Institute.
Physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers are not immune from the coronavirus. From its deadly effect or the mental health impact of dealing with the pandemic each day. To date, more than 922 healthcare works in the US likely have died following contact with patients. “America’s health care workers are dying. In some states, medical personnel account for as many as 20% of known coronavirus cases. They tend to patients in hospitals, treating them, serving them food and cleaning their rooms,” according to KHN and The Guardian.
Overall healthcare providers, like those of us in society in general, are extremely stressed by the coronavirus pandemic. A study published in Psychiatry Research found “(o)f all 442 participants, 286 (64.7%) had symptoms of depression, 224 (51.6%) anxiety, and 182 (41.2%) stress. Being female, young, and single, having less work experience, working in frontline were associated with higher scores, whereas having a child was associated with lower scores in each subscale.”
But statistics aren’t necessary to understand that healthcare providers will continue to face substantial anxiety and rising tension for the foreseeable future. “Health-care providers were challenged by working in a totally new context, exhaustion due to heavy workloads and protective gear, the fear of becoming infected and infecting others, feeling powerless to handle patients’ conditions, and managing relationships in this stressful situation,” The Lancet reports.
The challenges and tragedies of the past year are well-known, but amidst the hardships of 2020 some hopeful signals have emerged in healthcare. Patients and the people and systems who care for them have been forced to do things differently this year, and many of these experiments will be with us to stay. These are some trends that will strengthen and take shape in 2021.
#1 Stakeholders embrace asynchronous
Payors, providers and other industry stakeholders who may have been reluctant to engage with async models in the past have been won over in 2020. The pandemic accelerated the understanding that async can safely and efficiently care for patients at scale. Providers who waded into async out of necessity during COVID have found that it allows for less rushed, more direct communication with patients that in many cases results in better care, while increasing provider flexibility and quality of life. Payors are realizing telehealth offers smart savings compared to legacy systems. State laws are coming along too — in May Maryland changed legislation allowing for asynchronous telemedicine to be accepted, and we expect more states to modernize in this way.
#2 Decrease of PCP as gatekeeper
Today’s young adults were already less likely than those of previous generations to have a primary care provider, and this trend will grow as PCPs close practices and people grow accustomed to a la carte care. Circumstances of 2020 have led people to get care formerly channeled through a primary provider directly, in a diverse array of settings.
COVID swabs at drive-through clinics, flu shots at supermarket pharmacies, and prescription medications through telehealth, combined with increased utilization of home monitoring devices and wearables, have transformed patients (for better or worse) into their own care coordinators.
#3 Patients moving away, literally, from brick-and-mortar care
Simultaneous with a decrease in PCPs as the first line of care, patients are on the move. With remote work allowing many professionals to live anywhere, some have chosen to move closer to family or to try out a new location. With urban centers less of a magnet during COVID closures, patients are moving to more affordable rural areas or less crowded resort communities.
All of this means a break with their existing brick and mortar healthcare systems, and makes telehealth an attractive alternative as it allows them to get care from anywhere and also maintain continuity of care when they’re unsure where they’ll move next. Great for people like me who frequently move and don’t have a regular OBGYN.
The success of any technology startup begins with a solid foundation made up of the three P’s and two S’s. The three P’s are people, process, and partnerships.
The three P’s are supported and enabled by the two S’s – security and scalability. To understand how the P and S elements work together to create that solid foundation for a successful startup, here’s an outline on the benefits of each:
The Three P’s
People – You can have all the processes, partners, security, scalability and synergy but if you have the wrong people it can mean the difference between fast success and fast failure. Be uncompromising on those first dozen or so hires. Not only do they have to be a great technical fit but they have to be someone you can work with who also brings a shared value-system to the company. In industries as competitive as technology, some qualities should include an unflappable nature, resourcefulness, innovative vision, and the ability to bring creative solutions to the table. The flexible nature of the team as a whole is critical to the success of a startup and you will be spending more time with this immediate team than anyone in your life for the foreseeable future, so choose wisely.
Process – At the start you need to begin defining and implementing the right processes to emulate how your business will run post startup phase. Establishing and implementing specific tasks and workflows will be a fluid process until you get up and running. You may have to pivot until you determine the flow that works best for your team. If you want to avoid a killer headache don’t wait till later to try to adopt the proper structure when things really start to take off. You’ll be able to identify the scope and limitations of the business sooner if you implement processes early on and will learn when it’s time to make a change.
Partnerships – Choosing the right partnerships to help your startup grow successfully can be a challenge. Knowing which technology partner your business needs to scale is critical. Your potential partner should have the experience and expertise in the areas that are important to your organization.
Likewise, try to find a partner whose vision is aligned with yours. Because of the uncertain nature of early-stage startups, it is not uncommon for there to be a lot of anxiety among partners and staff. Transparency and clarity among members is critical to your success, and this includes regular communication. Continuing to provide one another with feedback on milestones and deadlines will create the positive and nurturing environment required for a successful startup.
Eating disorders have been affecting millions of individuals all over the world, usually, women aging 12 to 35 years old. Eating disorders are an array of psychological conditions causing unhealthy eating habits to develop. Eating disorders may begin to take place with an obsession with body shape, body weight, and foods.
Individuals with eating disorders experience severe disturbances in their eating behaviors as well as related emotions and thoughts. Sufferers from these disorders are usually preoccupied with their body weight and foods. In some severe cases, these can result in health consequences and worst death the serious eating disorders are left untreated.
Causes of Eating Disorders
Eating disorders can be categorized as serious cases often related to tenacious eating behaviors that impact the health negatively as well as emotions and individuals’ ability to function in most important areas in their life.
Experts stated that eating disorders might be caused by many different factors, such as:
Genetics
Studies that involve twins separated by birth and twins adopted by different families give evidence that eating disorders might be hereditary. It has been found out that if one of the twins develops an eating disorder, the other one has a 50% likelihood also to develop it.
Personality Traits
These are also causes of eating disorders. Perfectionism, impulsivity, and neuroticism are personality traits usually linked to a higher risk of developing eating disorders.
Motivating healthcare workers to follow proper hand hygiene compliance guidelines is the number one way to reduce the spread of infections in hospitals, according to both the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO).
In healthcare environments, effectively monitoring hand hygiene compliance has to move past visual observation, which only captures less than 2% of the hand hygiene compliance events in a 24/7/365 hospital. In order to capture most hand hygiene events, a device needs to be worn on the human body.
Challenges with Radio-Frequency Identification
For over a decade, the hand hygiene monitoring solutions on the market have relied on Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. Not only does this technology require intricate infrastructure installation, but based on simple physics, it is also ineffective at monitoring the WHO Five Moments of Hand Hygiene to tracking infection spread in a healthcare setting.
Devices with RFID present one main challenge if expected to be worn on the body. RFID does not accurately transmit through water, and given that human bodies are made up of up to 60% water, the technology becomes highly inaccurate when it is worn on the person.
For decades, healthcare providers have relied on putting pen to paper when it comes to signing off on prescriptions, discharge orders or even referrals to specialists. For patients, signatures need to be captured for reviewing and confirming care plans or after an office visit is completed. Although many hospitals and practices have made the move to some form of electronic signature solution, not everyone has adopted the technology. Enter COVID-19.
As the pandemic continues to push our nation’s healthcare system to the brink, provider organizations are ramping up efforts to implement digital, contactless consents. That includes the move to paperless workflows, something healthcare has struggled to adopt given the industry’s love-hate relationship with paper.
eSignature technology allows digital documents to be approved and authenticated with a handwritten signature, replacing the traditional ink on paper or “wet signature.” Most importantly, eSignatures eliminate a touchpoint – helping contain the spread of COVID-19 while easing patient fears of contracting the virus during healthcare visits.
In 2000, Congress passed the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-Sign Act; Public Law 106-229) which recognized electronic signatures as valid under U.S. law. When it comes to its use in healthcare, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stated eSignatures fulfill the HIPAA Privacy Rule as long as they satisfy the applicable requirements of State contract law.
Beyond expediting signature collection, eSignature technology helps ease patient’s concerns about the safety of visiting the doctor’s while improving medical practice workflows – here’s how:
When you visit the doctor for medical treatment, you usually assume that the physician is qualified to provide the medication or procedures you need to improve your condition. If you receive an inaccurate diagnosis, you can sue the physician for medical malpractice or negligence. Here is some important information to increase your chances of winning your case.
What Is Medical Misdiagnosis?
If you don’t receive an accurate diagnosis for your injury or illness, you have a valid medical malpractice lawsuit. A misdiagnosis is not necessarily considered medical malpractice, which means every hospital or clinical error can result in a valid lawsuit. Keep in mind that even the most qualified lawyers make mistakes from time to time. In order for a medical misdiagnosis to result in a case you can bring to court, you will have to provide proof of delayed treatment, no treatment, or improper medical treatment. If you don’t know which sickness or condition you have, you won’t receive the correct medications or procedures to improve your health, which can have permanent effects on your body and mind.
Over the past several years, we’ve heard a lot of predictions about new and innovative ways artificial intelligence (AI) will dramatically impact healthcare. For example: robot doctors, drug discovery and clinical diagnosis. While there is – and should be – excitement around what innovation may come, we need to look at what technologies exist today, and more importantly, what providers need to deliver higher quality and more coordinated care at a lower cost.
In 2020, we’ve watched a pandemic upend the healthcare industry as ICUs became overwhelmed, clinics had to close their doors and patients avoided care. Physician burnout that was 42% in 2018 is soaring as COVID-19 cases surge and disruptions continue.
With this backdrop, it’s time for us all to agree that the biggest need in healthcare right now is to help providers do their job more effectively and remove burdens that both stand in the way of the delivery of care and lead to that unacceptable rate of burnout.
Medical coding
In 2019, the U.S. is predicted to have spent more than $3 trillion on healthcare, over 95% of which was dispersed through an insurance company, where every dollar must be codified. The current international standard for those codes is ICD-10, which contains more than 70,000 codes for diagnoses. With that many codes, it comes as no shock that estimates for annual medical coding errors are around 30%, with billing errors reaching as high as 80% in many cases.
With such a complex coding system, we are adding to a provider’s administrative burden which, for many, is already at a breaking point. Today, a physician spends an average of 16 minutes on administration, which adds up to several hours every single day.
Over the past several years, we’ve heard a lot of predictions about new and innovative ways artificial intelligence (AI) will dramatically impact healthcare. For example: