Over the past decade, there’s been a rapid explosion of innovative technology that has allowed the industry to reimagine our healthcare system and touched nearly every aspect of the ecosystem. This includes continuing medical education (CME)—an often-overlooked side of healthcare that’s always top-of-mind for clinicians as they seek to complete a certain number of credits to maintain their licensure.
Clinicians increasingly turn to third-party digital channels for medical information, and in parallel there is an increasing demand for digital CME as clinicians seek alternatives to in-person medical conferences. This shift is largely being driven by three trends that suggest the digital CME experience will continue to gain popularity and be an area ripe for innovation well into the future.
Providers have never been busier than they are today
Clinicians are facing more time pressures than they ever have before due to a growing number of administrative burdens, overwhelming staffing shortages, the prevalence of chronic diseases, and now, an unpredictable wave of patients as COVID-19 transmissions surge. As a result, there’s even less time than there ever has been before available for clinicians to stay updated on the latest medical developments.
By turning to digital learning options to complete CME requirements, clinicians can operate around their demanding schedules without having to carve out several days to attend in-person events (where only several of the sessions might be relevant). Instead, digital CME provides clinicians with the ability to select a specific course that’s most relevant to their individual practices or specialties, online or through the mobile app that’s always in their pocket.
User experience has become a key focus for digital CME offerings, which has largely been inspired by the convenience we have come to expect as consumers. Digital CME offers the ability to tailor activities to the individual user, and can offer recommendations and relevant activities in a similar way to Netflix or Amazon. Doing so is helping make these vast education materials easily available and at the fingertips of busy clinicians.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to have a transformative impact on the delivery of healthcare. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light seemingly insurmountable challenges in the healthcare system including, shortages in medical supplies, scarcity of hospital beds, and overflowing ICUs and emergency departments. Combined, these challenges have caused increased stress and burnout in healthcare providers (HCPs).
Although the issue of nursing shortages and burnout were well documented in the U.S. before the start of the pandemic, the unprecedented influx of patients within a short time span has exacerbated this issue, resulting in a mass exodus of nearly half a million healthcare workers since February 2020. The severe shortage of healthcare workers has led to an immense strain on the entire healthcare industry, ultimately impacting patients in need of both urgent and essential medical care.
Although still in a nascent stage, AI-based systems hold much promise for alleviating some of these burdens by improving individualized healthcare delivery to patients. This technology is gradually being adopted by healthcare providers to assist and supplement the standard clinical workflow. However, with the current state of the pandemic, it is imperative to consider appropriate measures to accelerate the implementation of these systems to improve patient outcomes.
Setting the Stage for AI and ML in Healthcare
The past decade has seen significant improvements in computational power, the development of powerful machine learning techniques, and a growing abundance of ‘big data’. Scientists have harnessed the power of these resources to develop innovative tools such as continuous monitoring devices and genetic screening tools which enable personalized healthcare. These advances have collectively propelled research in the field of AI in medicine to new heights.
Machine learning (ML), a branch of AI, focuses on the development of systems that are capable of learning from data. The development of ML-based clinical decision support (CDS) tools involves the initial training of a ML algorithm (MLA) with large electronic health record (EHR) datasets to analyze and “learn: complex trends from a vast number of input variables – like patient data and demographics – with the goal of identifying or predicting the onset of a specific medical condition or outcome. Following testing and validation, these systems are able to distinguish trends in the data and make assessments and recommendations without human intervention.
U.S. hospitals are struggling to see patients in a timely manner amidst hours-long backlogs.
The rise in Omicron variant cases has left many US hospitals unable to cope with the number of patients being admitted, with ERs bearing the brunt.
The backlog is not only causing problems for COVID-19 patients but also for people suffering from various other ailments wh are unable to get seen as soon as s they should be. Many urgent procedures have also been paused as medics desperately try to clear the backlog.
Long waits
California man, May Gleason, took his father Eugene, 92, to a local emergency room a week ago as he required a blood transfusion to treat his blood disorder The procedure, which should have taken a maximum of 10 hours, turned into a 48-hour ordeal, as medics struggled to attend to his, or the many other patients who were sat right beside him’s needs.
Om average, over 144,000 people were admitted to US hospitals with COVID as of January 24th. This was the highest number of recorded COVID patients since the pandemic started, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fortified Health Security released the 2022 Horizon Report. The report reveals how, as the industry continues to recover from a tumultuous 2020, cybercriminals continued to relentlessly target and attack providers, health plans and their business associates. The report goes on to explore how federal and state regulatory agencies along with cyber insurance companies are taking notice of breaches and the increasing number of ransomware attacks in the healthcare industry, adopting comprehensive cybersecurity policies and procedures that increase compliance and mitigation costs.
The report leverages a comprehensive cross-section of information, expertise, and statistical analysis to highlight industry-wide trends, insights, and predictions. Horizon Reports have been published by Fortified Health Security since 2017 and are designed to help healthcare stakeholders navigate the exceedingly complex cybersecurity landscape by sharing best practices and actionable guidance.
Significant findings from the 2022 Horizon Report include:
DeliverHealth, a global provider of technology-enabled solutions for hospitals, health systems and group practices, announced today that its mobile-first patient engagement software has earned top customer satisfaction scores in a KLAS Emerging Technology Spotlight report.
KLAS states in its recent Emerging Technology Spotlight on DeliverHealth’s Gemini digital health capability, “Though the software is relatively new, early adopters highlight DeliverHealth’s close partnership, proactive customer service, and strong go-live execution.”
Mac Boyter, research director, KLAS Research, said, “Of the clients we spoke with for our report on DeliverHealth’s Gemini Digital front door solution, 100% of the respondents when asked about their overall customer satisfaction reported being ‘highly satisfied.’ They also reported A+ metrics on all key performance indicators like supporting integration goals, and executive involvement.”
In addition, 100% of the customers surveyed said they would buy the patient engagement solution again. KLAS, now in its 26th year, publishes unbiased customer data and insights on software, services, and medical equipment. Read more about DeliverHealth’s report here.
By Chris Evanguelidi, director, enterprise healthcare market, Redpoint Global.
In a new survey of more than 1,000 U.S. healthcare consumers conducted by Dynata and commissioned by Redpoint Global, more than 80% of respondents said that they prefer to use digital channels (online messaging, virtual appointments, texts, etc.) to communicate with healthcare providers and brands at least some of the time, and 40% prefer digital communications most of the time.
Along with digital-first communications and experiences becoming a standard expectation, consumers are also on record that they want their providers to display a deep, personal understanding across the full spectrum of engagement touchpoints and channels. In the survey, 60% of consumers said they would choose a provider based on how well the provider understands them, beyond patient data, so that the experience is relevant and personalized. Beyond patient data means that a provider has a single view of the healthcare consumer, to include clinical and claims data, consumer and social determinants of health (SDOH) data such as economic stability, access to health care, etc.
Furthermore, 66% said the selection of a provider was dependent on the provider’s ability to communicate in a timely and consistent manner.
Examples of the depth of understanding that patients now expect – and that are also indicative of the digital-first mindset – are a provider’s ability to proactively contact patients at the right time and in the right context (e.g., via text, email or online portal). Nearly half (44%) of respondents expressed that this ability is now the expectation. And 36% said they expect communications from their provider to match their in-person experiences in terms of relevancy, consistency and outcomes.
In a recent Harris Poll survey about marketer and consumer perceptions about customer experiences across various industries, consumers consistently ranked healthcare third (behind retail and financial services) in terms of providing a consistent experience that demonstrates a thorough understanding of the customer. Yet when consumers were asked which industry should provide the most consistent experience that demonstrates a thorough understanding, healthcare polled first.
In 2020, healthcare providers quickly implemented new solutions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, providers evaluated their ongoing needs and optimized their patient engagement and operational processes.
As we enter a new year, the pandemic and its effects continue to influence the healthcare landscape. The consumerism of healthcare continues to drive the deployment of virtual care technology and paperless solutions, as providers focus on increasing patient engagement. At the same time, providers continue to experience challenges with revenue loss and burnout, placing strain on both budgets and staff alike.
As a result, some of the biggest priorities for healthcare providers in 2022 will revolve around how they can best engage patients without burdening staff. Healthcare technology will rise to meet the challenge, supporting providers with solutions to help them increase efficiency, streamline operations and continuously improve the patient experience while reducing time spent on administrative tasks. Read on for three healthcare technology trends we can expect to see in 2022.
Telehealth Will Grow As Hybrid Care Models Develop
However, in-person appointments are still important and even a preferred option for many patients—in a recent poll by NPR, Harvard University, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, while 82% of respondent households that used telehealth reported being satisfied with it, 64% of households that have used telehealth said they would have preferred an in-person visit over telehealth in their last visit with their provider.
The Federal Communications Commission approved an additional 100 applications for funding commitments totaling $47.89 million for its COVID-19 Telehealth Program. This is the FCC’s sixth and final funding announcement of approved Round 2 applications. The FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program supports the efforts of health care providers to continue serving their patients by providing reimbursement for telecommunications services, information services, and connected devices necessary to enable telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic has forced us to think differently about how to deliver health care services and the FCC has risen to the challenge through a number of telehealth programs, including our COVID-19 Telehealth Program,” said FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “From offering remote behavioral health services in Decatur, Illinois to supporting the underinsured and those living below the poverty line in Dade City, Florida, the healthcare providers announced today offer just a snapshot of the breadth of connected health care services this program has helped support in the past year. I want to commend the work of our team in the Wireline Competition Bureau for their dedication to this program that has made such an impact on our nation’s doctors, nurses, and their patients.”
Round 2 is a $249.95 million federal initiative that builds on the $200 million program established as part of the CARES Act. The FCC took action last year to develop a system for rating applications factoring in the hardest-hit and lowest-income areas, Tribal communities, and previously unfunded states and territories. Over the course of two funding rounds, this program has approved 986 awards to providers in each state, territory, and the District of Columbia.
Below is a list of healthcare providers that were approved for funding in this final wave (listed alphabetically):
