By Rik Coder, vice president of public sector, Pexip.
Rik Coder
Today’s healthcare organizations face tremendous pressure to deliver high-quality care and improve patient satisfaction, all while reducing costs. As hospitals adapt to new value-based care models, telehealth can be a great way to improve patient satisfaction and engagement.
In fact, a recent study by Massachusetts General Hospital
found high levels of patient satisfaction with telehealth, with 68 percent of
patients rating virtual visits at 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale, and 62 percent
reporting that the quality of virtual video visits was no different from that
of office visits.
The technology
backbone powering telehealth plays a big role in patient satisfaction. It
must be simple and intuitive for patients to join video calls, while meeting
the security and workflow needs of physicians. So, when choosing a platform to
support your telehealth initiative, what factors should you consider?
1. Provide
a great user experience
One of the most important factors in driving
adoption for your telehealth platform is the user experience for both patients
and physicians. The interface of the video application must be intuitive and
easy-to-use, and the service high-quality and reliable. Organizations should
also ensure that the platform provides connectivity to patient home sites for
case management, post-procedure follow-up, and remote monitoring.
2.
Ability to connect with any device, anywhere
Telehealth can break down accessibility
barriers to care, whether those be technology-based or location-based. Patients
should be able to join video consults from the comfort of their own homes using
their mobile device or web browser, and physicians should be able to use the
technologies they are used to, whether those be telehealth carts, office
computers, video conferencing
systems, Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, or Google Hangouts Meet.
With the right connectivity to disperse
locations ranging from hospitals to clinics and rehabilitation centers,
patients can get the coordinated care they need. This also improves the speed
and quality of care as health systems spread across large geographies.
3.
Scalability
As health systems expand, adding new sites and
acquiring new practices, they need the ability to quickly scale to accommodate
increased usage. Each new site also needs the ability to easily connect with
each other for internal collaboration. With the right platform, you can add
video capacity to accommodate times of increased demand in real time, and add
capabilities to meet the changing needs of your organization with no additional
configuration needed.
4.
Flexibility
Each organization is different. Consider the
IT resources and existing infrastructure requirements of your organization to
determine the best deployment method for you (self-hosted versus as-a-service).
Also evaluate how the platform will integrate with existing technologies such
as EMRs and scheduling tools to make workflows as seamless as possible. If your
video platform is clunky or requires additional logins, physicians are less
likely to adopt it into their daily workflows.
5.
Customization
Consumers today expect a consistent experience
across all of their touchpoints with a brand, and when it comes to healthcare,
the patient experience is no different. For instance, will your telehealth
platform extend your organization’s brand and experience from the doctor’s
office to the patient’s home, or introduce a different look and feel? Providing
a seamless experience can increase patient trust and loyalty for your
organization over the long run.
Choosing the right video platform is a big
decision that can ultimately determine the success of your telehealth
initiative. Beyond the fundamental needs for security and regulatory
compliance, select a platform that puts user and physician experience first. With
physician buy-in, you can drive adoption and give your patients the care they need, when they need it.
Technology is advancing at an unbelievably rapid pace and there are new breakthroughs every day for artificial intelligence and big data in multiple industries. They have the potential to completely revolutionize the field of healthcare and some changes are already starting to take place. This article will cover the top startup companies in healthcare that are at the forefront of the AI revolution and what their products and discoveries mean for the medical industry.
Sword Health is the first digital
physical therapist that is powered by AI. The company recognized a need in the
industry because they noticed that there was always a lack of experienced
medical specialists. Even with the number of professionals finishing their
medical training each year, there is an increasing demand for them which cannot
be met. The AI-powered physical therapist created by Sword Health limits the
input of human specialists to elaborating the initial personalized physical
therapy journey for each patient. After this step, the patient does their
regular exercises at home and their motion tracker will let them know if each
exercise was done properly. This saves the patient having to make regular trips
to the hospital for physical therapy and allows the specialists to see more
people quicker.
Prognos’ goal is to completely
eradicate the world of diseases by developing a tool that will identify disease
at the onset. This company, formerly known as Medivo, has an ambitious goal
which is to use AI and data analysis to predict disease at the earliest
possible moment. A tech blogger at Australia2Write, Richard Key, explains why Prognos is so valuable to the medical
industry: “Their database can access 13 billion patient records and then AI is
used to gain actionable information. The registry helps Prognos figure out
which patients are most at risk and develop a plan for treatment that’s
personalized to each individual. It can also identify populations at risk and
look for gaps in existing care.”
Flatiron Health is aimed at the
challenge posed by cancer in the diversity and complexity of the disease. It’s
too difficult for doctors or healthcare organizations to deal with on their own
so the entire industry needs to be used to make any advancement in this field.
Flatiron Health is a company that’s developed an electronic health record (EHR)
to unify all the medical data that exists thus far and pull insights from it in
order to move cancer research forward at a rapid pace.
At its core, Babylon Health is a tool that permits patients to consult human doctors or other medical specialists online, through text or video in real time. As explained by a data analyst at Brit Student, John Hunt, “It also has an AI component which is a chatbot that can assist patients with simpler, more straightforward issues. Its capacity extends to making diagnoses and recommending treatment options.”
The goal of Babylon Health’s
company is to eventually have a completely self-sustainable doctor powered by
AI, so it seems as though the future of healthcare is receiving treatments
without seeing a human doctor at any point.
Arterys’ focus is radiology and
it uses AI to help existing human radiologists. Their oncology AI software is
already approved in the United States by the FDA and it actually assists
radiologists in measuring and tracking tumors in MRIs and CT scans using a
user-friendly, easy browser. The goal with this is to get accurate and quick
cancer diagnoses. The AI-powered tool uses what it’s learned to recognize and
alert to lung and liver lesions and its accuracy has been shown to equal human
specialists.
This is another American startup,
but one whose focus is on female fertility. Modern Fertility is a fertility
hormone test for women to use in the comfort and privacy of their own home. All
they need to do is take a finger-prick test and mail it to the company, and
then they’ll receive a report approved by a physician which tells them more
information about their hormones and a complete fertility profile. It’s
partnered with a medical facility in the United States and was founded by
former Uber executives.
The healthcare industry has long been known for its lengthy processes and difficult paperwork hoops. Much like the federal government, it has lagged behind other industries in updating technology to meet the expectations of modern system users. The sheer antiquity of the administrative work leaves patients feeling frustrated and like they are feeding information into a black box.
Though it has certainly taken a long time, the
healthcare industry is finally beginning to adopt technologies and incorporate
them into patient care. In many facilities, patients are now able to see note
taking in electronic medical records. Some are now even able to sync health
data they have collected on their smart devices with medical information needed
by doctors for certain health screenings.
This process of adapting the technologies
certainly hasn’t been easy. Beyond the time and difficulty of incorporating
tech into a monolithic industry, there are substantial barriers in tech skill
sets in healthcare professionals. The adoption of technology, however, has
become an absolutely necessary means to connecting with patients and staying
relevant in a surprisingly competitive industry.
A New Skill Set
As a healthcare professional, it is imperative
to keep up to date on new procedures and findings related to certain illnesses.
Many doctors, nurses, and physicians assistants spend years learning all of the
basics and training in advanced healthcare practices. This high level of
education is expected from all patients, whether their healthcare visit is a
simple checkup or a complicated procedure. When it comes down to it, healthcare
professionals have a lot of information stuffed up top.
With the advent of technology in the
healthcare system, it has become almost essential for healthcare professionals
to add one more skill set to their repertoire: healthcare tech guru. For some
doctors and nurses who have been in the practice for a long time, the technology
changes can be confusing and difficult to adapt to. Keeping personal health data private in an
electronic format that is easily shared can be especially challenging.
Some technologies such as telemedicine or
patient-centered healthcare have completely changed the way healthcare is
expected to be provided. Many recent medical field graduates are being taught different skills that will help
them to provide care more effectively in a more tech-based health setting. For
instance, they may be taught how to work alongside a healthcare robot, how to
communicate with patients effective without seeing them in person, or how to
use information collected on smart devices.
Boosting Engagement
Technology has also given another person new
healthcare tools — the patient. Patients have a far greater ability than ever
before to contribute to and be active in collecting their own healthcare data.
This engagement can be a blessing and a curse. It gives patients the ability to
track their own information and identify possible concerns, but it can also
encourage some to write off going to the doctor completely.
The biggest way this technology has changed
the jobs of healthcare professionals is by giving them a bigger window into the
day-to-day lives and activities of their patients. Now more than ever before,
doctors have the ability to confirm whether or not patients are following
health suggestions and can document changes, adjust treatment, and coordinate care
accordingly. Because of this, they are likely to need to learn how to better
frame patient conversations to accurately convey the urgency and importance of
their prescriptions.
On the flip side, technology also gives the
patient a greater window into the black box that is their medical information.
Electronic medical records have made it relatively simple to compile all
medical information about one person and share it with other healthcare professionals or the patient.
This means that patients have a greater knowledge base and more control over
what happens to their medical information.
Staying Relevant
Finally, as with most businesses — and
healthcare is certainly a business — the adoption of technology is a critical
piece of staying relevant. Successfully making the conversion to a technologically savvy doctor’s
office can mean the difference between expanding to serve more
patients or falling behind the rest of the industry. It is something that
health administrators are certainly thinking about, even if the doctors aren’t.
More so than in previous decades, patients are
expecting that doctors are able to meet their schedules. A digital and
tech-savvy clinic can help make that happen. At this point, the vast majority
of potential patients are going online to research doctors and facilities prior to
making appointments — which they also greatly prefer to make online.
Perhaps the most important means of making sure the transition to a digital healthcare environment is successful is helping to train doctors and nurses to understand the technology they are going to be using. A greater understanding is critical to accepting and even promoting the changes as positive ones. If the majority of the office is struggling with understanding the purpose and need of going digital, it is going to be difficult to make the transition stick.
Make no mistake, technology is rapidly
changing the healthcare world. This means many healthcare professionals are
working hard to develop the necessary skills to successfully integrate
technology into their practices. Doing so can help ensure they are both getting
and giving out the most information to patients, which is better for overall
health outcomes.
By B.J. Boyle, vice president and general manager of post-acute insights, PointClickCare.
B.J. Boyle
As every nurse, physician,
clinical case manager, and healthcare IT professional knows well, we have
passed the stage in which locking up patient data is an effective care
practice. In fact, ineffective data siloing can slow down operations and can
drastically and negatively impact patient care, as well as put unnecessary
strain on an already overtaxed workforce. In short, data silos are a great
barrier to realizing a fully
implemented state of interoperability.
We must unlock — and
importantly, share — critical health data to improve the quality of
patients’ care throughout their medical journey. Data sharing will
improve efficiencies in our nation’s health facilities by reducing
readmissions, reducing negative drug interactions, and improving care to
decrease patient length-of-stay, to name a few. Acute providers know that
reducing readmissions is critical in a value-based payment environment because
the penalties can be detrimental to the financial health of the facility.
That makes the need to share data quickly and efficiently more
pressing than ever. Only by embracing technological innovations and sharing
data can care providers see a holistic view of the patient — from potential
injuries and emotional challenges to drug interactions and comorbidities.
That’s not to say that keeping
up with demand while offering high-quality patient care will be an easy task.
But we know it certainly isn’t possible with the way things are.
Further, by accessing data about previous patient outcomes, case
managers can help patients and their families determine the right treatment
facility for them, increasing the effectiveness of referrals and increasing the
chances that your facility will become the preferred provider. When patients
are matched with the right facility for their specific needs the first time,
their recovery time and health outcomes will improve. That’s good for everyone:
decreasing costs and increasing hospital ratings by reducing readmissions is a
win-win.
More confident care
Data that has been removed from silos and integrated into a
cohesive and actionable digital chart allows providers to follow their
patient’s journey post-discharge, improving the speed and quality of
information exchange with skilled nursing and acute care facilities, which
leads to more confident care.
Modern EHR technologies and cloud-based solutions can finally make
interoperability possible and can increase efficiency so providers can stop
waiting by the fax machine and instead get back to doing what is most
important: helping patients heal.
Patient discharges, for example, can be extraordinarily labor-intensive and are further complicated when they are transferred to a post-acute care provider. As a result of the inherent complexities, hefty paperwork and need for seamless transitions, manual processes, a lack of transparency and data silos can cause significant negative impacts on patient health and frustration for families and providers alike.
The cloud-based technology we need already exists to assist with such paperwork, cutting down discharge time and allowing providers to get back to the myriad of other tasks awaiting them. Faster discharges mean more free hospital beds, helping with overall efficiency and an improved bottom line.
More information sharing between clinics also means patients can make informed decisions about their own health. Both patients and physicians or case managers will have a full picture of both acute and chronic issues while referrals can be made more effectively based on past results of patients with similar conditions.
When you think about it, using integrated technology to share success rates is a no-brainer. People research their meals on Yelp before going to dinner, or read reviews on a pair of shoes before buying them, so why shouldn’t patients be equally as informed about something as important as their health in real-time?
Data sharing can also effectively eliminate issues like drug or
medication problems. Researchers estimate that nearly half of all seniors between the ages of 70 to 79 take five
medications a day. A patient might be given his or her medication twice—or perhaps
not at all—because their care information is siloed between facilities. It’s a
problem that can easily be solved.
We know that outdated, labor-intensive processes that involve manually transmitting data to separate servers doesn’t make sense in a cloud-based world, especially when it comes to solving a crisis we know is coming. While a piecemeal data strategy might have worked in the past, we can’t afford to be less than buttoned up now or in the future.
With the anticipated increase in demand for skilled nursing and acute care services, innovative and integrated data systems are critical. Increased interoperability means patients and providers can make informed decisions, quality care is improved, and paperwork-heavy tasks are simplified, improving hospital and clinic efficiency and making life easier whether we’re the patient, caregiver, or provider.
We already live in a data-driven world, but it’s up to us to
embrace a better way to take care of our patients’ health information now and
in the future.
Rochester
RHIO has released its inaugural population health study—the Community Health
Indicators Report—based on the analysis clinical data points from more
than 600,000 screenings. The report provides a glimpse into residents’
well-being across New York State’s Greater Finger Lakes region, for which Rochester
RHIO is the secure electronic health information exchange (HIE).
The report was made possible, in part,
through Rochester RHIO’s implementation of Stella Technology’s Prism, a big data analytics platform
that makes best of class advances in agile analytics, and optimizes them for
specific use cases, including large scale population health analysis.
Four
key health measures were assessed using full-year 2017 anonymized data,
including Body Mass Index (BMI), blood pressure, diabetes risk (HbA1C) and smoking
status. While the report is intended to serve as a benchmark for the
community, it can also be used for incorporation by regional leaders in their
own health programs.
“The
Community Health Indicators Report is a first-of-its-kind report and a rich
resource for public analysis and planning,” said Jill Eisenstein, president and
CEO, Rochester RHIO. “Population health data is often based on health insurance
claims data or self-reporting. Now we have actual clinical inputs that help us
better understand our community and can set the stage for health improvement
concepts and programs in the years to come.”
“We
are thrilled that Rochester RHIO was able to achieve this breakthrough and
derive actionable insights from the clinical data they have worked so hard to
gather over the years,” said Lalo Valdez, president and CEO of Stella
Technology. “In times of an ever-shifting healthcare landscape, Stella Prism,
with its unparalleled scalability and flexibility, allows healthcare
organizations to not only find key insights from their data today, but also
harness the power of that rich data set to futureproof their business.
Rochester RHIO and Stella teams worked hand-in-hand to produce this first of
many reports. We look forward to continued collaboration with Rochester RHIO
and other HIE initiatives to identify additional population health insights and
opportunities in the future.”
A
report summary is now available at rochesterrhio.org
or by direct PDF download at bit.ly/chirhio2017, with a full data release anticipated
for later this summer. Rochester RHIO also plans to publish 2018 data, using
Stella Prism to compare year-to-year data that will show the evolution of
residents’ health.
WakeMed is the first health system in central North Carolina to launch an mobile wayfinding and patient engagement app. The health system announced today that the platform – the WakeMed All Access App – is now live and available for patients and visitors to download for free to their smartphones via the App Store and Google Play.
The health system collaborated with Atlanta-based Gozio Health to
develop and implement the mobile
wayfinding platform.
The App offers a GPS-like experience for WakeMed patients and visitors with turn-by-turn directions to guide them from their home to their parking spot and on into their point of care inside. This includes five million square feet of navigation offered in three hospitals and six parking garages across the WakeMed health system. It also includes navigation to the more than 80 WakeMed locations throughout the area. The interactive maps guide users with step-by-step navigation to doctor’s offices, patient care floors, on-site dining options, pharmacies, nearby restrooms, and other points of interest.
In addition to wayfinding, the app includes several advanced capabilities
that improve the patient experience and access to care. Patients have access to
their WakeMed MyChart patient portal and medical records as well as a robust
“Find a Doctor” database. App users will also be able to schedule an
appointment, reserve their seat in urgent cares, check up-to-date emergency
department and urgent care wait times, access virtual urgent care and more.
“Improving access and engaging with our patients at each step of their journey before, during and after care is a core value of WakeMed,” said Debbie Laughery, vice president of marketing and communications for WakeMed. “WakeMed is a large and growing health system, and the WakeMed All Access App makes it easier for our patients to find their way as they navigate our facilities. This app is another tool to help guide patients to their point of care as well as access the right resources to meet their health needs.”
The app is offered in addition to WakeMed’s existing wayfinding resources,
including its team of WakeMed Guest Ambassadors – volunteers who assist
patients and visitors to ensure they get to the right place for their point of
care within WakeMed facilities.
“WakeMed is committed to providing a seamless, positive patient experience across all points of care within their health system.” said Joshua Titus, CEO and Founder of Gozio Health. “Gozio’s system-wide mobile wayfinding platform with advanced patient engagement features is proven to get patients to their appointment on time and increase rates of in network retention and new patient acquisition.”
Funding for the wayfinding app was made possible by The WakeMed Foundation.
You’ve got to agree –
academic writing is always an intensive process. You are required to spend
endless hours researching, drafting, interviewing people, correcting data, and
so on. In this relation, expert writers and coaches at Mydissertations.com
opine that there will be a significant difference in your health by the time
you graduate.
Many of the health impacts of intense academic writing are caused by the long hours you have to spend working on the paper. The effects can be felt physically but also psychologically. Here are some of the effects of intense academic engagement and the ways to overcome its negative consequences.
Stress
Academic writing
requires intense physical, mental, and psychological engagement. A
dissertation, for example, requires you to read voluminous books, articles, and
journals, among other reference materials. As a result, the body has no time to
rest and fully relax.
The mind never rests
until you complete all the work at hand. Even though you could be resting after
working for hours, the deadline still looms over your head as you think of the
next chapter or submission. Finding resource materials is also challenging for
most students. That leaves the body and mind fatigued to the point of stress
and depression.
A student can avoid stress by planning their time to include intervals for relaxation. You must prepare mentally for the task at hand before commencing your academic work. Supervisors, mentors, and seniors are to help whenever you feel stuck. This way, completing a paper of such intense nature as dissertation will not be a depressing affair.
Long Sitting Hours
Academic writing
requires you to sit long hours in the library or the desk perusing through
reference materials and drafting the paper. That has a dangerous effect on your
body because of immobility. Your body frame and bones may be affected alongside
bowel movement.
Experts have
recommended that students sitting for two and more continuous hours should
stretch a bit before rising up. The desk should be comfortable – it shouldn’t
strain any part of your body, like your hands or buttocks. There are ergonomic
seats and tables to be used whenever you have to study for long hours.
Drink a lot of water and healthy liquids that support bowel movement. Stretch your academic hours like research, literature review, drafting, and editing within a reasonable duration. It saves you the stress of having to sit long hours as you rush to beat the deadline. You should gradually increase the hours you sit instead of being abrupt in the increase. In case you feel pain or back strain, consult a specialist, and make adjustments on your sitting space as well as the schedule.
Poor Diet
Diet is a significant
struggle for students working on their PhDs and theses. Students preparing for
the exams also lack the time or nerve to eat well because they need to cover a
lot of reference materials within a short time. A lot of PhD and Masters
students will show signs of poor health or diet as all focus goes to the paper
they are working on.
Diet must form part
of your plans when pursuing a PhD. Work in places like the library or
institution where you can access quality food on the regular basis. Take a lot
of liquids since you will remain still for long hours. Sitting late in the
night when it’s cold also affects your immune system – thus, you must eat
healthy foods to enhance your health and keep fit.
Add some fruits and vegetables to your diet. Remember that missing meals also affects your mental processing capacity, and will slow you down. Watch your diet, do regular exercises, and take a lot of water to remain healthy.
Lost Social And Family Contacts
Losing contact with
your family members and friends is one of the key issues when working on PhD
dissertations and Masters theses. In particular, it has a psychological effect
on your health. They feel that you are withdrawn and do not give them the
quality time they require and deserve.
Maintaining contact with friends and family requires planning as well as dedication. It doesn’t make any sense to complete your PhD only to return to an empty home or children who cannot associate with their parents. Plan your time with full knowledge of all other responsibilities that you must fulfill.
Long Hours At The Computer Affect Your Vision
A lot of students experience problems with their eyes because
of spending a lot of hours with computers and paged books. Limit the hours you
spend reading or writing. Use natural lighting as much as possible, and ensure
that the room you are working in is well-lit. Get help from a doctor any time
your eyes become problematic.
As you can see, the state of your health while working on
academic paper depends solely on the plans you make. Give yourself enough time
to relax, eat well, and drink a lot of water.
Health
information management leaders told members of Congress today that removal of a
nearly two-decade ban on the use of federal funds to adopt a nationwide unique
patient identifier would allow collaboration between the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) and the private sector to identify solutions
for reducing medical errors and protecting patient privacy.
During the
briefing, members of the American Medical Informatics Association and the
American College of Surgeons joined AHIMA and CHIME in recounting existing
patient identification challenges and the patient safety implications when data
is matched to the wrong patient and/or when essential data is lacking from a
patient’s record due to identity issues.
“Critical to
patient safety and care coordination is ensuring patients are accurately
identified and matched to their data,” said AHIMA CEO Wylecia Wiggs Harris,
PhD, CAE. “The time has come to remove this archaic ban and empower HHS to
explore a full range of patient matching solutions hand in hand with the
private sector focused on increasing patient safety and moving us closer to
achieving nationwide interoperability.”
“Now more than
ever we need a nationwide unique patient identifier to ensure that patients are
correctly identified in our increasingly digital healthcare ecosystem,” said
CHIME President and CEO Russell Branzell. “This is a top priority for our
members. We applaud the House for taking a leadership role on this issue by
removing the ban and we strongly encourage the Senate to do the same.”
The Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) originally required the creation of a unique health
identifier in 1998. However, Congress included language as part of the annual
appropriations process that prohibited the US Department of Health and Human
Services from using federal funds intended for the creation of a unique patient
identifier out of privacy concerns.
Not having a unique patient
identifier system means that healthcare providers typically rely on a patient’s
name and date of birth to identify their medical records in electronic health
record (EHR) systems—information that is often not unique to one individual.
This means that providers often have a difficult time properly identifying
patients and often incorporate medical information into the wrong health
record.
“Those of us
who work in provider organizations have seen the serious consequences of this
ban on patients and their families,” said Marc Probst, CIO at Intermountain
Healthcare and a member of the CHIME Policy Steering Committee.
“Misidentifications threaten patient safety and drive unnecessary costs to
health systems in an era when the industry and Congress are trying to lower
healthcare costs. Congress has an opportunity to fix this, but only if the
Senate also removes the ban on a unique patient identifier.”
Speakers at the
briefing included:
Marc Probst, MBA, CHCIO, chief information officer and vice president, Intermountain Healthcare
Shaun Grannis, MD, MS, FAAFP, director, Center for Biomedical Informatics, Regenstrief Institute, Inc.
Frank G. Opelka, MD, FACS, medical director, Quality and Health Policy, American College of Surgeons
Katherine Lusk, MHSM, RHIA, FAHIMA, chief health information management and exchange officer, Children’s Health System of Texas
Moderators, Leslie Krigstein, vice president congressional affairs, CHIME and Lauren Riplinger, vice president policy and government affairs, AHIMA
