Remember the days when robots and artificial intelligence (AI) were confined to the realms of science fiction? Fast forward to today, and AI in healthcare is rapidly transforming how we diagnose, treat, and care for patients. From intelligent algorithms diagnosing diseases faster than the human eye, to virtual health assistants providing round-the-clock support, AI is revolutionizing the healthcare industry. But with this technological revolution comes a host of challenges that must be guided by ethical considerations, data privacy protections, and ongoing evaluation to ensure equitable and safe patient outcomes.

What Is AI in Healthcare

Quick lesson – AI in healthcare refers to using AI technologies and systems to improve various aspects of healthcare delivery, including diagnosis, treatment, patient care, and operational efficiency. AI, by definition, involves the development of computer systems that can perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence. These tasks include learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and language understanding. In the context of healthcare, AI technologies are applied to analyze complex medical data, enhance patient care, streamline operations, and improve decision-making processes for healthcare professionals.

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The Transformative Potential of AI

As I mentioned, AI in healthcare represents a transformative force, offering significant potential to improve diagnostics, treatment personalization, and operational efficiency. Some examples include:

• Enhanced Diagnostics: AI algorithms, particularly those utilizing machine learning and deep learning, are capable of analyzing medical images, pathology slides, and genomic data with high accuracy and speed. For example, AI systems can detect early signs of diseases like cancer or diabetic retinopathy that might be missed by human eyes. This can lead to earlier interventions and better patient outcomes.
• Personalized Medicine: AI can process vast amounts of data to identify patterns that inform personalized treatment plans. By considering a patient’s genetic makeup, lifestyle, and other health variables, AI can help tailor treatments that are more effective and have fewer side effects. This customization moves healthcare from a one-size-fits-all model to one that is patient-centered.
• Operational Efficiency: AI can automate routine tasks, such as scheduling appointments and managing patient records, freeing healthcare professionals to focus on patient care. AI-driven predictive analytics can also optimize hospital resource management, reducing wait times and improving service delivery.

Key Challenges and Considerations

As AI continues to transform healthcare, it brings with it a double-edged scalpel, if you will, capable of making groundbreaking advancements yet full of challenges and considerations. Let me shed some light on the vital considerations necessary to navigate this new frontier responsibly:

Ethical Concerns

The use of AI in healthcare raises ethical issues, such as algorithmic bias that can lead to disparities in treatment, based on race, age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Ensuring that AI systems are trained on diverse data sets and are transparent in their decision-making processes, with accountability for errors and outcomes, is crucial for fairness and equity.

Data Privacy

Healthcare AI relies on large datasets that include sensitive patient information. Protecting this data from breaches and ensuring compliance with regulations like HIPAA is essential to maintain patient trust and confidentiality. Also, patients may not be fully aware of how their data is being used by AI systems. Therefore, clear communication about data usage, as well as obtaining explicit consent, is critical to maintaining trust.

Human Oversight

While AI can support clinical decisions, it should not replace human judgment. Physicians should use AI as a tool to augment their expertise, ensuring that they remain accountable for patient care and can question AI recommendations when necessary. In addition, healthcare professionals need proper training to effectively utilize AI tools and interpret their results.

Strategic Implementation for Optimal Impact

Imagine building a house without a blueprint. It would be chaos and probably wouldn’t stay standing for very long. Similarly, implementing AI in healthcare requires more than technological prowess. It requires a strategic plan that ensures seamless integration, ethical considerations, and long-term sustainability. As part of this plan, healthcare organizations need:

1. Transformation Strategy: A successful transformation strategy for AI in healthcare involves aligning technological advancements with the organization’s overall mission to improve patient outcomes and operational efficiency. It begins with defining clear objectives, such as enhancing diagnostic accuracy or optimizing administrative processes, and securing leadership commitment. Investing in scalable technology infrastructure, ensuring data quality and security, and fostering a culture of innovation are crucial steps.
2. Collaborative Development: Developing AI solutions should involve collaboration between technologists, healthcare professionals, and patients. This multi-disciplinary approach can ensure that AI tools meet the practical needs of healthcare settings and address patient concerns.
3. Continuous Evaluation: AI technologies should be subject to continuous evaluation and regulation to ensure they meet safety standards and adapt to new medical insights. Post-implementation monitoring can help identify and rectify any unforeseen issues that arise.
4. Education and Training: Healthcare professionals must be trained to understand and work with AI systems. Education programs should focus on interpreting AI data, understanding its limitations, and integrating AI insights into patient care.

AI holds the promise of significantly enhancing healthcare by improving diagnostic accuracy, personalizing treatment, and increasing operational efficiency. However, this potential can only be fully realized if AI is implemented with careful consideration of ethical, privacy, and oversight issues. By taking a strategic and inclusive approach, we can harness the power of AI to improve healthcare outcomes while ensuring the technology is used responsibly and equitably.

Success Story: Improving Health Through Innovation and Technology

AI in Healthcare Expertise

Perficient combines strategy, industry best practices, and technology expertise to shape the experiences and engagement of healthcare consumers, streamline operations, and improve the cost and quality of care. Contact us to learn more.

Leverage AI to Drive Outcomes in Healthcare

The saying “one size fits all,” absolutely does not apply to the healthcare industry. Consumers are flat out demanding a more tailored approach to their health care.

To provide this type of more personalized and effective care and services, healthcare organizations (HCOs) need to take concentrated efforts to understand the diverse needs and preferences of their consumers. As reported in Global Research Health Network, this includes:

• Identifying who the patients are and what beliefs, affinities and requirements shape their decision-making
• Determining who to target, how to talk with them and how to best tailor communication strategies to resonate with them
• Uncovering where to find these consumers and the drivers of their current behavior

That is where the value of healthcare segmentation comes into play.

What is Healthcare Segmentation?

Healthcare segmentation has emerged as a powerful tool for healthcare providers, payers, and other stakeholders to tailor their services and interventions. It is a strategic approach of dividing a population or target audience into distinct groups or “segments” based on certain characteristics, such as demographics, health behaviors, medical history, or other relevant factors.

Segmentation allows healthcare professionals, organizations, and marketers to gain valuable insights into their consumers’ behavior, preferences, and health care needs, and enables them to tailor their strategies, interventions, and communications to specific groups, thereby improving the efficiency and effectiveness of health care delivery.

Healthcare segmentation involves categorizing the population into distinct groups based on various characteristics. These categories can vary depending on the specific objectives of the segmentation strategy and the available data.

There are five common categories of healthcare segmentation:

• Demographic: age, gender, race, income, education, and occupation.
• Geographic: geographical location, such as region, country, state, city, or rural vs. urban areas
• Behavioral: health behaviors, lifestyle choices, motivation, interaction with technology, and adherence to medical recommendations
• Psychographic: attitudes, values, and interests and behaviors
• Clinical: medical conditions, severity of illness, treatment responses and other clinical factors

These categories are often used in combination to create more comprehensive and nuanced consumer profiles, enabling HCOs to better understand their consumer populations and design targeted interventions and strategies to improve outcomes and satisfaction.

Unleashing the Value of Healthcare Segmentation

Healthcare segmentation offers immense value in the modern healthcare landscape. Through segmentation, HCOs can facilitate personalized care delivery, efficient resource allocation, improved engagement, targeted interventions, and better health outcomes. By tailoring health care services to specific consumer segments, HCOs can enhance satisfaction, optimize health care delivery, and drive overall system efficiency. Moreover, healthcare segmentation plays a crucial role in promoting health equity, reducing disparities, and fostering innovation in care delivery models.

Let’s dig in.

Tailored Interventions

• With advancements in medical technology and genomics, there is a growing emphasis on personalized medicine. Segmentation enables HCOs to identify subgroups of patients with similar characteristics or health profiles, allowing for more targeted communications, treatments and interventions that are tailored to individual needs and preferences.

Resource Optimization

• In an era of limited resources and rising healthcare costs, optimizing resource allocation is critical for HCOs. By understanding the unique needs of different segments, HCOs can identify high-risk patients who require intensive interventions or resources, allowing for more efficient and effective allocation of resources and prioritizing and optimizing the distribution of health care services and cost savings.

Improved Patient Outcomes

• Tailoring healthcare strategies to specific segments can lead to better health outcomes. Personalized interventions are more likely to resonate with individuals, encouraging continual engagement, positive behavior change and better health management and adherence to recommended treatments.

Enhanced Patient Experience

• Consumers today are more empowered and informed than ever before, and they expect personalized experiences across all aspects of their health care journey. When health care services are tailored to individual needs, consumers are more likely to have a positive experience. This, in turn, can contribute to increased satisfaction, engagement and loyalty.

Health Equity

• Understanding the unique needs and barriers faced by underserved or marginalized communities, HCOs can use segmentation to identify disparities in healthcare access, utilization, and outcomes among different population groups and develop targeted strategies to improve health equity and reduce disparities in health care delivery.

Data-Driven Decision

• By leveraging data analytics and segmentation techniques, HCOs can make more informed decisions about resource allocation, service delivery, quality improvement initiatives, and strategic planning by analyzing trends and patterns of their populations.

Ultimately, by harnessing the power of segmentation, HCOs can strive towards the goal of delivering consumer-centered care and services, value-based care that meets the diverse needs of individuals and communities.

Challenges To Healthcare Segmentation

While healthcare segmentation offers numerous benefits, there are also challenges associated with implementing and effectively utilizing segmentation strategies. Some key challenges include:

Data Quality and Availability

• Data may be fragmented across different systems, inconsistent, or incomplete, making it difficult to develop accurate and comprehensive consumer profiles.

Privacy and Compliance Concerns

• HCOs must navigate complex privacy regulations, when collecting, storing, and analyzing patient data for segmentation purposes. Ensuring compliance with privacy laws while leveraging data for segmentation can be challenging and requires robust data governance and security measures.

Integration of Data Sources

• Harmonize data from disparate sources, such as electronic health records (EHRs), claims data, surveys, and social determinants of health (SDOH) to create a unified view of the patient population for segmentation purposes can be a struggle in creating a unified view of the consumer.

Analytical Complexity

• Analyzing large volumes of data to identify meaningful consumer segments requires advanced analytical tools and expertise and most HCOs lack the necessary analytical capabilities or resources to conduct sophisticated segmentation analyses effectively.

Accuracy and Validity

• Developing accurate and valid consumer segments requires careful consideration of segmentation criteria and methodologies. Challenges related to the selection of appropriate segmentation variables, sample sizes, statistical techniques, and validation methods may arise.

Patient Engagement and Trust

• Implementing segmentation strategies may raise concerns among patients about privacy, fairness and discrimination, and the use of personal data. Therefore, HCOs must communicate transparently with consumers about the purpose and benefits of segmentation to build trust and ensure engagement in segmentation initiatives.

Resource Constraints

• Segmentation initiatives may require significant investments in technology, infrastructure, resources, and training. Those HCOs with limited resources may struggle to allocate sufficient resources to segmentation efforts or prioritize them over competing priorities.

Forging a Clear Path Forward

Healthcare segmentation holds immense value within the industry. By tailoring interventions to specific groups, healthcare providers can deliver more effective and efficient care, ultimately reducing costs and improving overall health management. However, challenges such as data privacy concerns, the need for sophisticated analytics, and potential inequalities in care must be addressed to fully realize these benefits.

As health care continues to evolve, the next frontier for segmentation lies in leveraging advanced technologies like AI and big data analytics to refine and expand segmentation strategies, ensuring that all patient groups receive the most precise and equitable care possible.

Have questions? We help the largest HCOs navigate intense technological and regulatory requirements, control costs, and delight patients and members. Perficient has been trusted by the 10 largest health systems and 10 largest health insurers to deliver transformative results. Contact us today, and let’s discuss your specific needs and goals.

In our previous article, we illuminated the significance of business transformation for life sciences and healthcare organizations (LS/HCOs). We delved into the anticipated value and pivotal roles these initiatives play in shaping a modern healthcare environment. 

Today, we unpack the steps LS/HCOs can take to actualize business transformation and the inherent challenges they might grapple with during the journey. 

Mapping the Path to Transformation 

Embarking on a business transformation journey requires strategic planning, fostering a blend of vision, technology, and agility. 

• Align Organizational Strategy and Leadership: Set the course by crystallizing the organization’s transformation vision and objectives. Leadership is instrumental here. By actively championing transformation, providing resources, and disseminating the vision, leaders pave the way for holistic change. 
• Assess Overall Readiness Take stock of the organization’s current transformation maturity, pinpointing areas of growth and needed enhancements. Prioritize change management, offering training and robust communication to mitigate resistance. 
• Break Down Silos: Foster transparency, flatten organizational structures, and ensure that valuable information is readily available across all units. This promotes collaboration and fuels innovation. 
• Focus On The Consumer: Root all actions in the needs of the consumer. Understand their expectations and tailor processes to enhance their experiences. 

• Implement an MVP Approach: Seek quick wins that align with business goals. Embracing an Agile methodology infuses the process with adaptability and vision. 
• Build Technical Foundation: Technology should serve business objectives. Integrate platforms and nurture a collaborative ethos between business and tech teams. 
• Organize Technology Around Data + KPIs: Deploy cutting-edge technologies like AI to leverage integrated data, measure progress, and adapt dynamically. 

At its core, successful business transformation harmonizes people, processes, technology, and organizational culture. As the linchpins of transformation come together, it’s essential to recognize and address the inevitable barriers that arise. 

Facing Transformation Head-On: The Challenges 

Transformation isn’t without its hurdles. Here are some predominant challenges: 

• Resistance to Change: Fear of change can manifest as reluctance to adopt new systems or procedures. Countering this demands clear communication and robust change management strategies. 
• Complex Regulatory Environment: The intricate web of regulations can complicate transformation. Complying with protocols such as HIPAA, GDPR, FDA, CFR 21 Part 11, and other privacy mandates necessitates meticulous planning. 

• Data Management and Interoperability: Given the vast data streams in LS/HCOs, ensuring data interoperability, quality, and security is paramount. Embracing data analytics tools and governance structures aids in converting this data into actionable insights. 
• Financial Constraints: The financial commitment for transformation can be steep. It’s vital to prioritize initiatives based on potential ROI and to seek out funding avenues. 
• Legacy Systems and Infrastructure: Incorporating modern digital solutions with outdated infrastructure can be a tedious endeavor. It’s essential to address these challenges for seamless data sharing and system operability. 
• Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Alignment among diverse stakeholders, from clinicians to IT experts, is crucial. A shared vision, open communication, and interdepartmental cooperation are pivotal to the success of transformation efforts. 

LS/HCOs can no longer sit on the sidelines and play the “wait and see” game. Business transformation is not a fleeting trend—it’s an essential strategy for organizations to remain competitive in a constantly evolving healthcare and life sciences industry. By embracing transformation, organize can thrive, offering superior care and member services, improved outcomes, and sustainable solutions in an increasing complex landscape. 

Your thoughts are valuable. Is business transformation in healthcare a fleeting trend or an imperative necessity? Contact us today to learn more about how we cater to your specific goals. 

Understanding: What is Agile? 

Agile is a set of principles and practices for project management and product development that emphasizes flexibility, collaboration, customer-centricity, and adaptability to change. The key principles of Agile include valuing individuals and interactions over processes and tools, working software (or deliverables) over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, and responding to change over following a plan. 

Agile methodologies, such as Scrum, Kanban, and Lean, provide specific frameworks and practices for implementing these principles, allowing teams to work iteratively and incrementally to deliver value more effectively and efficiently. 

Steps to Adopt an Agile Stance in Healthcare 

Transitioning an organization to Agile demands shifts in culture, processes, and mindset. For healthcare entities, this change is intensified by stringent regulations, intricate procedures, and the vital importance of patient care and member services. 

Nonetheless, Agile can enhance efficiency, patient outcomes, and both member and employee satisfaction in these sectors. Here are steps to transition into an Agile healthcare or life sciences organization: 

Build a People-Centered Foundation 

• Champion Leadership: Leadership commitment is crucial. Leaders must articulate the vision and allocate resources for Agile initiatives.
• Formulate Agile Teams: Assemble interdisciplinary teams, emphasizing collaboration for maximum value delivery.
• Educate & Train: Prioritize Agile education to align teams with its principles. 

Enact Your Agile Framework 

• Pilot Agile Projects: Commence with specific departments to assess Agile’s impact and advantages. 
• Incorporate Agile Practices: Introduce regular Agile methodologies like daily stand-ups and sprint planning, tailored to healthcare specifics. 
• Adhere to Regulations: Ensure Agile processes align with healthcare regulations like HIPAA. Compliance and data security are paramount. 

Iterate and Evolve 

• Center on the Consumer: Enhance care and services by actively involving patients and members in feedback loops. 

• Promote Continuous Improvement: Nurture an environment where teams consistently evaluate and refine processes. 
• Leverage Data for Decisions: Harness analytics for actionable insights and resource optimization. 

Build and Sustain Progress 

• Boost Collaboration: Foster a culture of consistent collaboration and transparency across functions. 
• Invest in Agile-Compatible IT: Streamline IT systems, such as EHR, to support Agile workflows. 
• Expand & Share Success Stories: Build momentum by showcasing Agile’s success. 
• Gather Feedback: Regularly assess the impact of Agile on patient satisfaction and operational quality. 
• Adapt Agility: Stay prepared to refine Agile practices considering evolving industry needs. 

The Agile Advantage in Healthcare 

As healthcare and life sciences face evolving demands in patient and member needs, regulation, and technology, the merits of Agile become more evident. 

Agile’s core strength lies in its emphasis on consumer-focused offerings. By actively involving patients in decisions, tailoring care to individual needs, and promoting transparent communication, Agile not only enhances efficiency but deeply resonates with the member/patients’ unique needs. This approach elevates patient satisfaction and fosters healthier communities.

In an Agile environment, interdisciplinary teams unite, shattering operational silos. Such synergy is pivotal for tackling healthcare’s multifaceted challenges, enhancing care coordination, and amplifying efficiency.

Agile’s adaptability is crucial, allowing organizations to stay on top of shifting trends and regulations in the dynamic healthcare landscape. 

Benefits also encompass operational efficiency, cost management, and nimbleness in regulatory compliance. Agile’s iterative nature aids in early risk identification, ensuring care and services uphold rigorous standards, even within tight regulatory confines. 

Given the industry’s ongoing transformation, adopting Agile principles is not just beneficial, but vital for upholding superior care, services, quality, and outcomes. 

Need Guidance?

We specialize in crafting strategies and solutions for healthcare organizations that prioritize outcomes and enhance care team experiences. Contact us today, and let’s talk about getting you a tailored plan to suit your specific needs. 

In the fast-paced world of healthcare, operations teams juggle various roles to ensure everything runs smoothly. While their efforts are indispensable, these teams often face hurdles that can affect patient care and services and overall efficiency.

Forrester highlights that strategic operational improvements can enhance revenue, control costs, and reinforce resilience. With the industry’s ever-shifting dynamics, healthcare operations leadership now must recalibrate their approach, focusing on investments that not only deliver undeniable results but also streamline organizational workflows and processes.

Central to these operational intricacies is the challenge of navigating a multifaceted workforce landscape.

Opportunity: Managing Diverse Workforces

With a mix of full-time staff and traveling employees, keeping track of everyone and ensuring they have the resources they need is a considerable challenge. Balancing the demands of different work modes requires a unique strategy.

Quick Tip: Standardize procedures that take the varying work modes of your care teams into account. Comprehensively (and intuitively!) document these processes so employees are empowered to expedite the best care.

Opportunity: The Domino Effect of Employee Attrition

Your strongest resources can’t (and shouldn’t) do everything, yet the ongoing staffing crisis is palpable for stressed front-line workers. High turnover rates can disrupt workflows and lead to inefficiencies. Beyond that, predicting staffing needs and identifying early signs of burnout can be the difference between retaining a valuable team member and seeking a replacement.

Quick Tip: As you consider tools, equipment, and resources to help your teams perform their jobs more efficiently, be sure your clinicians are included in the conversation. Their perspectives and buy-in are vital.

Opportunity: The Challenge of Coordinated Care

When care isn’t synchronized, the result can be duplicated services, leading to unnecessary expenses and potential patient confusion. Ensuring every department is on the same page is vital for patient satisfaction and operational efficiency.

Quick Tip: Optimize care coordination by prioritizing integration and interoperability of your digital infrastructure. Interoperability supports smooth data exchange between different systems, providers, care teams, and patients.

Opportunity: Navigating the Tech Maze

An influx of technologies can often lead to more complexity instead of simplifying tasks. Identifying which tools genuinely add value and streamlining technology stacks is crucial for operational agility.

Quick Tip: Identify the specific challenges you aim to address through technology – for instance improving patient engagement, reducing costs, or increasing staff productivity. Then, clearly outline your objectives and goals, considering how technology would ideally impact your teams’ day-to-day work.

Operational Excellence in Healthcare

The goal is clear: Ease and enrich patient interactions and the day-to-day work of your teams. Our guide offers a deep dive into these challenges, offering insights and strategies tailored to operational leaders in the healthcare space.

Let Perficient’s expertise guide you in transforming these operational challenges into powerful opportunities. Embrace a more streamlined and patient-centric approach by diving into our detailed guide. Download and embark on your journey to operational excellence today.

The term “business transformation” in healthcare and life sciences signifies more than just an industry trend. It represents a comprehensive shift. Beyond the mere adoption of new technologies, it’s about strategically reimagining healthcare delivery, with an emphasis on enhancing outcomes and ensuring the sustainable success of life sciences and healthcare organizations. 

What Really Lies Behind Business Transformation? 

Business transformation can be seen as a strategic realignment of an organization’s fundamental structures and processes. It involves rethinking everything, from established business models to daily operations, while keeping a beat on of technological advancements. Such a transformative approach ushers in significant enhancements across the entire organizational landscape. 

In the context of healthcare and life sciences, changes are driven by a combination of evolving patient and member needs, increased market competition, technological advancements, and shifting regulatory landscapes. This environment underscores the importance of visionary leadership, comprehensive stakeholder engagement, and a commitment to continuous evolution. 

The Imperative for Transformation in Healthcare & Life Sciences 

Given the ever-shifting sands of healthcare and life sciences, transformation isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity. Here’s why: 

• Improving Outcomes: By integrating advanced processes with modern technological models, there’s an opportunity to deliver superior care. The potential results? Improved health, more meaningful engagement, reduced readmissions, and heightened satisfaction. 
• Enhancing Operational: By eliminating redundant processes and strategically leveraging technology, organizations can better focus their resources on delivering top-quality care and services. 
• Containing Costs: With the rise in healthcare costs, transformation is key. Adopting efficient delivery models and streamlined processes can lead to savings for businesses and their consumers. 

• Becoming More Agile and Adaptable: In a constantly changing environment, being agile and adaptable is paramount. This means the ability to adjust strategies, adopt new technologies, and meet market demands swiftly. 
• Driving Decisions with Data: The current era provides a deluge of data. Extracting actionable insights from this wealth of information can lead to better patient/member outcomes, optimized resource allocation, and more. 
• Improving Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration: Promoting collaboration across all stakeholders, from caregivers to patients, fosters improved communication and a unified approach to the health journey. 

By embracing transformational initiatives, healthcare and life sciences organizations can stay at the forefront of the industry challenges and deliver high-quality care and services in a sustainable, meaningful, and effective manner. 

Read Part 2, where we’ll delve deeper into the methods and challenges of implementing business transformation in healthcare.  Contact us today to learn more about how we cater to your specific goals.

Between the global COVID-19 pandemic and the political environment, the past two years have been full of challenges. Nevertheless, every challenge brings an opportunity. In the case of the healthcare industry, that opportunity is leveraging our understanding of SDOH and finally pairing it with DE&I efforts to reduce health disparities.

What Do All These Letters Mean?

Unless you have been living under a rock, you have probably heard the terms “SDOH” and “DE&I”. But in case you have been living under a rock (and for the record, I don’t blame you, it’s been a crazy few years!), let’s quickly make sense of all these letters.

Social determinants of health, or SDOH, are conditions in which people are born, age, learn, worship, live, work, and play. These also include the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of people’s daily lives. We typically categorize SDOH into five key areas:

• Education access and quality
• Economic stability
• Social and community context
• Neighborhood and built environment
• Healthcare access and quality

Though these are non-medical conditions, they have a tremendous impact on health outcomes.

DE&I stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Diversity is the presence of differences within a given setting. Equity is the process of ensuring that processes and programs are impartial, fair and provide equal possible outcomes for every individual. Inclusion is the practice of ensuring that people feel a sense of belonging¹. In the case of healthcare, addressing DE&I not only helps improve patient satisfaction and engagement and drive quality of care, it gets us closer to achieving the quintuple aim.

SDOH and DE&I can no longer be thought of independently if we are to reduce healthcare disparities.

READ MORE: Health Equity Trends: The Quintuple Aim

Health Disparities

Health disparities – inequities in the quality of health, healthcare, and health outcomes, are closely related to social or economic disadvantages. This topic has been getting a lot of attention from clinicians, policy makers, and the federal government in recent years. And rightfully so. Health disparities are expensive! They could cost the U.S. healthcare system approximately $320 billion. If not addressed, the cost of health disparities could reach $1 trillion or more by 2040².

Health disparities adversely affect groups of people who have systematically experienced greater obstacles to health based on racial background, ethnic background, or other characteristics linked to discrimination or exclusion³. Verywell Health provides some impactful examples⁴:

• Infant mortality: Babies born to Black women in the United States die at more than double the rate of babies born to white women.
• Dementia: Black people also have the highest risk for dementia, and are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than white people in the United States.
• Cancer: People with lower incomes and education levels are more likely to get cancer and to die from it compared to their more affluent peers, and that gap appears to be widening.
• Obesity: Even after controlling for family income, rates of obesity in Black women and Mexican-American men are substantially higher than in other races or ethnic groups.
• Smoking: Native American/Alaska Native men and women have disproportionately higher rates of smoking, as do individuals who are unemployed or living below the federal poverty level.

EXPLORE NOW: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Healthcare

Impact of SDOH and DE&I on Health Disparities

There are many factors that contribute to the examples above and to health disparities in general, but none greater than SDOH. Communities of color, populations with a lower socioeconomic status, rural communities, people with cognitive and physical disabilities, and individuals who identify as LGBTQ+ are often disproportionately exposed to conditions and environments that negatively affect health risks and outcomes and lead to higher rates of health disparities⁵.

Social determinants of health determine approximately 80% of a person’s health status. 

Therefore, it’s no surprise that healthcare organizations have been integrating SDOH into practice. More recently. they’re leveraging DE&I strategies to address equity to shift focus on access, affordability, and quality of care. But we cannot allow these efforts to be siloed if we are to move the needle on reducing health disparities.

Combining DE&I strategies with SDOH efforts can have a profound impact on the delivery of care and clinical outcomes. As providers recognize the need for diversity and inclusion within the healthcare system, greater steps to address equity and access within practices are forcing them to look at key healthcare indicators through a SDOH lens. By doing so, providers can meet the patient where they are in the healthcare journey.

Understanding their unique needs and challenges – regarding clinical and nonclinical factors not previously considered – is vital to designing a suitable and sustainable treatment plan. For example, knowing a patient does not have consistent access to transportation would allow the provider to offer up alternative options closer to the patient’s home, virtual health visits, or a free transportation service provided by the health system/clinic or community programs.

To ensure, SDOH and other relevant, non-clinical data is available, healthcare organizations need to increase collaboration with their communities and invest in tools and technologies to allow for this data and information to be readily available.

For instance, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) to scan through clinical notes and data to identify SDOH is not only efficient, but highly valuable. Healthcare does not exist in a vacuum. Identifying the challenges while offering personalized health support will go a long way in closing the gap on health disparities.

LEARN MORE: 5 Commonly Asked Questions About Intrinsic Bias in AI/ML Models in Healthcare

What Else Can We Do?

The growing need to address SDOH and DE&I to reduce health disparities can no longer simply be acknowledged as something that needs to be done. We actually need to do something!

Despite the increased recognition of SDOH and DE&I and its impact on health disparities, minimal agreement on how to address the issue exists. According to KKF, assuring greater equity and accountability of the healthcare system is important to a growing constituency base of health plan purchasers, payers, and providers and speaks to four areas where we can begin to address health disparity concerns⁶:

• Raising public and provider awareness of racial/ethnic disparities in care: Perceptions of a problem often influence the actions taken (or not taken) to change policy and practices. If the public or providers are unaware that a problem exists or misunderstands the nature of the problem, it can be difficult to direct resources to address that problem. We need greater efforts to raise the public’s awareness of racial/ethnic healthcare disparities.
• Expanding health insurance coverage: Health insurance impacts when people get necessary medical care, where they receive care, and how healthy people are. Compared with the insured, the uninsured are less likely to have a regular doctor or to get timely and routine care. They are also more likely to be hospitalized for preventable conditions. Minority Americans are much less likely to be ensured, even after accounting for work status.
• Improving the capacity and number of providers in underserved communities: Since the 1970s, there have been efforts to increase the number of health professionals in medically underserved areas. Despite this, members of racial/ethnic minority groups are still underrepresented in the healthcare workforce and are more likely to live in neighborhoods that lack adequate health resources. This leads to an increased use of emergency care as the primary source of care, rather than a primary care doctor who can provide patient-centered care. This is a result of many factors, including the higher likelihood of being uninsured and the limited availability of primary care physicians in some communities of color.
• Increasing the knowledge base on causes and interventions to reduce disparities: Although evidence of healthcare disparities is substantial, the evidence-base for developing interventions to eliminate these disparities remains limited. There are growing efforts, such as SDOH, to address factors outside the healthcare system. In addition, DE&I efforts to examine how to train healthcare providers to a) offer culturally and linguistically appropriate services, b) increase the use of electronic medical records to decrease medical errors and improve coordination of care, and c) increase the use of financial incentives to promote high quality healthcare may serve as ways to reduce health disparities. Increasing the knowledge base will require investing in routinely collecting and analyzing healthcare data across racial/ethnic groups and funding to support data collection.

If we are truly to make an impact, we need to shift from being reactive to being proactive. We must deliver healthcare that is equitable, inclusive, and reduces health inequities by addressing SDOH and leveraging the efforts around DE&I. Care goes far beyond the four walls of a hospital or clinic, and everyone deserves access to quality care!

References:

1. https://builtin.com/diversity-inclusion/what-does-dei-mean-in-the-workplace
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/debgordon/2022/06/23/health-inequities-could-cost-the-us-health-system-1-trillion-by-2040-new-report-says/?sh=24f689741ba9
3. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000936
4. https://www.verywellhealth.com/health-disparities-4173220
5. https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/health-disparities-overview.aspx
6. https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/eliminating-racialethnic-disparities-in-health-care-what/

The realization that clinical care alone may not be enough to influence health outcomes has led to an increasing need to understand the impact of social and economic factor on one’s health. As healthcare organizations continue to implement technologies and strategies to bring targeted, value based care to their patients and communities, the demand to access and integrate patient information from non-traditional data sources as risen substantially. Information gleamed from “social determinants of health” may be the under-leveraged tool to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.

What are Social Determinants to Health?

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are non-medical factors that affect a person’s health. According to the World Health Organization, SDOHs are conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age¹. Social determinants are often categorized into the following categories²:

Examples of SDOHs to Improve Care

Data has shown that only 20% of patient outcomes are driven directly by the clinical care and services provided to them, while 80% is determined by environment, social determinants and behavioral factors³. Understanding how to leverage data from the various types of SDOH, can help healthcare providers make informed decisions at the point of care to drive improved outcomes while lowering costs. Here are a few examples:

Economic Stability: Being unemployed or having low income can make it difficult to get proper access to care or maintain the care you need. Knowing a patient is experiencing financial hardship or is uninsured may prompt a physician to find an alternative drug or write a prescription for generic drug rather than a name brand drug. Another example – understanding that a patient works multiple jobs or is unable to afford child care to keep medical appointments, physicians can possibly find alternatives in appointment times or inform the patient of child care services at the hospital/clinic to help alleviate some of these barriers.

Neighborhood & Physical Environment: The emotional, physical and social stress and associated limitations with unstable or unsafe housing can directly impact care. If a clinician can access a patient’s geographic location data they can better understand a patient’s access to a hospital/clinic, pharmacy, grocery store or public transportation and provide more personalized care based related to these factors – e.g. sending a patient for follow-up care closer to their home or identifying a grocery store accessible via public transportation and possibly, if a patient lives in a rural community, provide access to care via alternative care methods such as telehealth.

Education: Health literacy allows patients to understand their conditions and the treatments that will improve their overall wellbeing, yet only 12 percent of adults are “proficient” in the art of understanding their health, according to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy⁴. Healthcare professionals who are able to obtain education level data can alter their verbal and written communications to ensure that their patients fully understand their health information – conditions, treatments, insurance, medications etc. They may also be able to provide additional resources or alternative communication options (e.g. interpreter) to help increase their understanding and adherence to care as well as further engaging them to make the right decision for their wellbeing.

Food: 40 million people face hunger in the U.S. today — including more than 12 million children and nearly five million seniors⁵. Inability to afford or have access to nutritious food can lead to increased risk factors and adverse health outcomes. Understanding a patient’s access to safe and healthy food options, can better equip physicians to proactively provide resources to their patients to help mitigate some of these barriers, such as offering information to local community based food banks or programs.

Community & Social Context:  Loneliness is one of the biggest and most underreported public health threats and the stress of social isolation can lead to premature cognitive decline and dementia, increased risk of cardiovascular disease, exasperation of depression and anxiety, and premature death⁴. A strong social support system can provide positive effects on one’s health.  Leveraging knowledge on a patient’s social support network can help care teams provide access and resources to support groups, social services, local health fairs, community fitness centers, and the like to promote preventative and improved care options.

Healthcare Systems: Many people face barriers that prevent or limit access to needed health care services – lack of health insurance, poor access to transportation, and limited health care resources – which may increase the risk of poor health outcomes and health disparities⁶. If patients cannot afford out of pocket costs for care, providers can help patients find alternative, lower cost treatment options (e.g. generic vs brand name drugs). Or, knowing a patient does not have access to transportation can allow care teams to provide information on mobile clinics near their neighborhoods or suggest ridesharing or telehealth options to help keep important medical appointments.

 Challenges to Widespread Use

Though SDOH provide undeniable value there are a few key challenges to its widespread implementation and use:

• Technology: SDOH data is information rich, but often times go uncollected or is dispersed among many systems, making it a challenge to integrate, access, analyze and leverage to its full potential. Current clinical systems are simply not equipped to support this type of data or to be integrated into the clinical workflow, making it challenging to effectively utilize SDOH information before care decisions are made.
• Governance and Consensus: Who will collect the data and how will it be made available to providers is a key question. Shared tools that capture descriptions of social factors and the protocols and interventions that address them do not exist, making it difficult to find a common language to develop a shared body of knowledge that can be leveraged across organziations⁷.   Also, what about patient consent – will patients allow healthcare, social and community organizations to tap into their lives with such a fine microscope?
• Communication & Coordination: Stronger partnerships and ongoing communications between healthcare systems, social services and community based resources is key. Understanding each organizations available resources and tracking what happens after each referral and folding that information back into the workflow is imperative to maintain continuity and mitigate the gaps in delivery of care.

Having the right technologies and strategies to allow clinicians seamless access and integration of this data at the point of care and coordinating care across social and community organizations will be critical to unlocking the true value of SDOH and transforming patient care by treating the whole person and not just the condition.

What do you think – can integrating SDOH truly improve patient outcomes?

Resources for this blog post:

1. https://www.who.int/social_determinants/sdh_definition/en/
2. https://www.kff.org/disparities-policy/issue-brief/beyond-health-care-the-role-of-social-determinants-in-promoting-health-and-health-equity/
3. https://www.promedica.org/socialdeterminants/pages/default.aspx
4. https://healthitanalytics.com/features/what-are-the-social-determinants-of-population-health
5. https://www.feedingamerica.org/
6. https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-health/interventions-resources/access-to-health
7. https://www.gsihealth.com/blog/evidence-based-care-social-determinants/
8. https://hitconsultant.net/2017/06/26/social-determinants-of-health/

When you hear the word “robot” like most, you probably begin thinking of a fictional, sci-fi movie – Star Wars; Short Circuit; I, Robot, etc., rarely would you think healthcare. Given the recent uptick in the use of robotics within the health sector, this could soon change.

Robotics is not a foreign concept to the healthcare industry.  In fact, the use of robots was introduced to the world of medicine back in the 1980’s. However, in recent years, the increased pressure from healthcare reform and the rigorous requirements for patient safety, better clinical outcomes, and reduced labor costs are leading to an exponential growth in the demand for robotics, not only for direct clinical care but in many other segments of healthcare such as sanitation, sterilization, lab processing and materials handling¹.

Many people do not fully understand the types of robots within healthcare and this often times leads to misconceptions in their use and value. According to “Healthcare Robotics 2015-2020: Trends, Opportunities & Challenges” report, released by the Robotics Business Review, robots in healthcare can be categorized into three main areas²:

1. Direct patient care robots: surgical robots (used for performing clinical procedures), exoskeletons (for bionic extensions of self), and prosthetics (replacing lost limbs).
2. Indirect patient care robots: pharmacy robots (streamlining automation, autonomous robots for inventory control), delivery robots (providing medical goods throughout a hospital autonomously), and disinfection robots (interacting with people with known infectious diseases such as healthcare-associated infections or HAIs).
3. Home healthcare robots: robotic telepresence solutions (addressing the aging population with robotic assistance).

All three types of these robots have a significant impact in decreasing cost, improving efficiency and improving quality patient care.

Decreasing Cost & Improving Efficiency

It is no surprise, that healthcare organizations are constantly looking for innovative ways to help reduce cost and minimize waste. Automation of redundant, labor intensive tasks is at the top of most cost and waste reduction strategies due to the high labor dollars, employee safety concerns, and medical errors associated with these types of activities.

Used by more than 150 hospitals across the nation, the TUG robot, a courier robot developed by Pittsburgh-based Aethon, has begun to help health systems address all of these issues and more.

Labor Cost & Efficiency- TUG can haul carts, weighing up to 1000 pounds, through the hospital halls delivering medical supplies, medication, blood, meals, linens, and more,  using  ‘laser whiskers’ to avoid obstacles and humans, and wirelessly open doors, and call for elevators³. “One TUG robot working two shifts a day, seven days a week, does the equivalent labor of 2.8 full time employees, but costs less than one full time employee³” and can reduce cost per delivery by 80%.

Safety – The TUG can also alleviate worker’s comp costs and safety issues. Tony Melanson, Vice President of Marketing for Aethon notes that, “compared to industry, hospitals have four times the rate of days lost due to illness and injury. Part of this is due to running around the hospital with these very large carts pulling very large loads, and sometimes pulling two of them at a time. You have back and wrist injuries, and repetitive stress injuries. There are real cost savings related to reducing those types of injuries⁴.” Melanson also notes that these kinds of undesirable service jobs have 30 percent turnover – “If you can reduce the churn of replacing people, those are very real costs that can be avoided.⁴”

Medical Errors – Notoriously known for being one of the highest cost centers within the hospital setting, the pharmacy department can drastically benefit from the use of automated technologies.  The use of TUG at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center has proven highly impactful in regards to reducing prescription errors. They use TUG to fill prescriptions – and it does so with high efficiency and accuracy⁵. The Working Capital noted, “Whereas handwritten prescriptions needed to be scanned and pills counted into bottles by human hand, digital prescriptions can be accessed by the robot and a robotic arm counts the pills”. This has resulted in a 0% error rate, versus 2.8% for humans⁵ resulting in cost savings associated with medical errors.

Improving Quality Patient Care

Delivering quality care is of the utmost importance to healthcare providers, driving the need to push the boundaries of “standard” of care. The use of robotics has been shown to significantly improve the diagnosis and care provided to patients.

Better Outcomes -The use of robotic assisted surgery has grown extensively since the introduction of the da Vinci Surgical System back in 2000. Da Vinci is the most well-known medical robot – having successfully completed over three million assisted surgeries. Teleoperated robots, like the da Vinci, allow surgeons to see and reach areas with greater flexibility, not previously possible, allowing for more precise movements and control through a smaller incision – minimizing the risk of infections, lessening hospital stays, reducing pain and scarring and providing quicker recovery and optimal outcomes.

Targeted Treatment⁶ – Researchers are experimenting with micro-sized robots (mircobots or nanobots) that are meant to freely swim through bodily fluids to diagnose and treat a variety of diseases. They are designed to enter the body and deliver drugs at a specific location, provide other medical relief in a highly-targeted way and perhaps even perform precise operations like clearing clogged arteries. These “bots” have the potential to reduce the number of surgeries currently required for various procedures.

Improved Safety⁷ – Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that in the United States 1 in every 25 patients will contract hospital acquired infections (HAIs) and 1 in 9 will die as a result, costing the healthcare industry than $30 billion dollars a year. The Xenex Robot can help combat these preventable infections.  According to the Medical Futurist, it allows for fast and effective systematic disinfection of any space within a healthcare facility – destroying deadly microorganisms causing HAIs by utilizing special UV disinfection methodologies. It is more effective in causing cellular damage to microorganisms than other devices for disinfection, thereby reducing the number of HAIs. Westchester Medical Center reported a 70% drop in Intensive Care Unit C. diff (Clostridium difficile) with the Xenex Robots.

Accessibility – Telemedicine continues to grow and bring value to those unable to access quality care, either due to limitation in where they live (rural areas) or as a result of their medical condition (immobility).  Recently, the use of telepresence robots has further improved remote access to care. According to Michael Savoie, of Robohub^, in rural hospital settings where a medical specialist is physically unavailable, a robot, such as the RP-VITA (Remote Presence Virtual + Independent Telemedicine) – jointly developed by InTouch Health and iRobot Corp. – can be deployed to check in on a patient with a physician from elsewhere and similarly, in the home, a nurse can check in with a patient while they recover in a comfortable setting⁸. RP-VITA is one of the more robust telepresence robots on the market. Savoi states, “It is like few others out there, with special on-board ports to perform diagnostics like ultrasound and stethoscopes to provide critical information in emergency.” He continues, “As the number of humans age 65+ grows throughout the world, many will look to stay at home, rather than in assisted living or nursing homes, and telepresence robots could be an important ingredient in helping them to achieve that independence.”

Many are still skeptical on the use of robotics in healthcare, as they fear that it will take away the “human touch” and reduce the need for a physical doctor.  However, the collaboration and alignment between machine and man is no longer a luxury as it is a necessity if we are to help combat the rising cost of healthcare and allow physicians and medical staff to shift focus back to high value tasks that matter the most – patient care.

What do you think – are robots the future of healthcare?

Resources for this blog post:

1. https://www.therobotreport.com/service-robots-get-multiple-positive-forecasts/
2. https://www.cio.com/article/3043172/innovation/how-medical-robots-will-change-healthcarerhealth-get-familiar-with-it.html
3. https://singularityhub.com/2010/06/06/incredible-tug-robots-automate-delivery-in-hospitals-video/
4. https://www.robotics.org/content-detail.cfm/Industrial-Robotics-Industry-Insights/Robots-and-Healthcare-Saving-Lives-Together/content_id/5819
5. http://workingcapitalreview.com/2018/01/how-robots-help-in-medical-care/
6. https://www.roboticstomorrow.com/article/2017/06/the-most-important-robots-in-medicine/10201/
7. https://medicalfuturist.com/9-exciting-medical-robot-facts
8. https://robohub.org/the-state-of-telepresence-healthcare-and-telemedicine/

They say the only constant is change and for the most part change is a good thing. However, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with change. I embrace the fact that it forces and challenges me to adapt which allows personal and professional growth, but I hate the disruption it causes to my “known,” especially when that “known” took me forever to figure out…such as healthcare quality measures!

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced a new initiative a few months ago, to help providers streamline and reduce the reporting of quality measures and shift the focus on those key metrics closely tied to quality of care and improved patient outcomes – this initiative is known as Meaningful Measures.

Why the Change

Meaningful Measures is in response to the fact that the healthcare industry was being required to report on countless measures, most of which were redundant and provided minimal value to providers or their patients. CMS’s Administrator, Seema Verma acknowledge this by stating, “We need to move from fee-for-service to a system that pays for value and quality – but how we define value and quality today is a problem. We all know it: Clinicians and hospitals have to report an array of measures to different payers. There are many steps involved in submitting them, taking time away from patients. Moreover, it’s not clear whether all of these measures are actually improving patient care.” She reiterated, “It’s better to focus on achieving results, as opposed to having CMS try to micromanage and measure processes.¹”

What’s “Meaningful?”

With the main objective being to achieve high quality care and meaningful outcomes for patients, the focus will be on those measures that²:

1. Address high impact measure that safeguard public health
2. Are patient centered
3. Are outcomes bases where possible
4. Relevant for and meaningful to providers
5. Minimize level of burden for providers
6. Provide significant opportunity for improvement
7. Address measure needs for population based payment through alternative payment models
8. Align across programs and/or with other payers (Medicaid, commercial payers”

More so, CMS’s has aligned their core program goals to specific measure areas²:

What’s the Reaction?

The emphasis on quality care and patient centered outcomes versus process measures, aligns with the healthcare industry’s primary objective, so, for the most part, response to the initiative seems to be fairly positive from both payers and providers.  However there is still some skepticism on the perceived impact of this change and concern on what are considered “meaningful” measures and if CMS’s effort will truly reduce any burden at all, given that the core objectives, “include virtually everything, so they haven’t narrowed anything down,” according to Robert Berenson, a health policy fellow at the Urban Institute³.

In addition, the subjectivity in the industry on which quality measures are considered “meaningful” can lead to lack of consensus and in turn potentially increase the number of measures.  According to Dr. Kedar Mate, chief innovation and education officer at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement^, “What we want to do is measure the things that matter the most, and the only judge and jury of that are the patients we serve” and both providers and payers agree, that patient-reported outcome measures is seen as the true outcome measurement tool³.

Change can present us with great opportunities that can lead to even greater opportunities.  Therefore, even though Meaningful Measures could possible disrupt my known knowledge on quality measures some, I will accept this change, no matter how small some may think it is, because I know that even the smallest change can have a big impact…and fingers crossed that impact is truly improved care and outcomes for all.

What do you think?  Do you think this shift in quality measure reporting will improve the patient-provider relationship?  Do you think that patient-reported outcome measures are the only measures really needed? 

Resources for this blog post:

1. http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/meet-meaningful-measures-initiative-cms-says-will-reduce-regulatory-burden
2. https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/QualityMeasures/Downloads/Meaningful-Measures-webinar-slides-11-30-17.pdf
3. http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20180120/NEWS/180129995

What happens in Vegas from March, 5-9, 2018, at the Venetian-Palazzo-Sands Expo Center, hopefully won’t stay in Vegas. The Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Annual Conference has returned to Sin City! Roughly 45,000 health professional, from across the globe are expected to attend this year and given the current state of healthcare, we are all counting on a few industry-changing insights, regarding how to leverage information technology to improve the healthcare, escape Sin City.

I would bet all my Vegas winnings (and please let there be plenty!) that the following three trends will be a part of many formal and informal discussions throughout the conference:

1. Cloud Services: Healthcare organizations are increasingly considering turning to the “cloud” as a means to access, analyze and share information, not only to increase collaboration to improve quality of care, but to do so in a timely and cost efficient manner. Many organizations want to start capitalizing on their investments in Big Data, to run more robust, meaningful analytics, to allow for more informed clinical and business decisions. Cloud computing services allow them to do so by offering a greater capacity to store and access their massive and complex integrated data sets. Despite cloud computing’s many benefits, concerns around security and data privacy often times prevent healthcare providers from moving forward on its implementation. HIMSS18 will surely have numerous sessions and forums discussing these challenges and how healthcare organizations can implement a cloud solution (public, private, or hybrid) that aligns with their business needs to begin reaping the benefits associated with this technology.
2. Patient Experience: The healthcare consumer continues to take center stage and further push the healthcare industry from volume to value. Patients (consumers) are taking far greater interest in their own health and demanding the type of care they want, when they want it and how they want it. This change in behavior, paired with the regulatory initiatives to improve patient satisfaction scores, is forcing healthcare organizations to change their historic ways and begin to adapt technologies that improve how they communicate and deliver patient-centered care. Providers need to ensure they are meeting the patients every need – clinically, financially, emotionally and socially to improve their overall experience. In order to achieve this, providers must look at a patient from a 360-degree view, taking a deeper look into nontraditional data points, such as education, income, culture and values, work and social environments, lifestyle preferences, etc. HIMSS18 will provide attendees many opportunities to understand and explore options on how best to engage patients through technology, such as mobile and wearable tracking devices, Connected Health tools and strategies, and much more, to ensure patients are not only receiving personalized, quality care, but a quality experience.
3. Artificial Intelligence: Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are no longer just buzz words within the healthcare industry. They are technologies proven to improve decision support and deliver optimal care and outcomes. With the ability to ingest, analyze, and utilize large amounts of data to learn, predict and solve complex problems, these technologies enable healthcare organizations to accurately make real-time decisions – improving overall clinical care, operational and financial efficiency, and patient experience – thus achieving the much desired Triple Aim. However, integrating these technologies into every day practice requires insights into what these technologies are and what they are not as well as understanding the necessary organizational and cultural change required to implement these tools, which is daunting for many healthcare provides, who fear they will be replaced by a machine and the art of medicine forever lost. Understanding the benefits and challenges, witnessing the positive advances and outcomes, and learning from and speaking to those organization who have overcome barriers to use these advanced technologies to drive the much needed change within our healthcare system, will well be worth your attendance at HIMSS18.

Apart from these hot trends, the odds are in your favor that you will, without doubt, experience thousands of exhibitors and vendors showcasing innovative healthcare technology, hundreds of educational sessions, formal and informal, on today’s more relevant healthcare topics, and be a part of the most extensive collaboration and networking between healthcare IT professionals, clinicians, and executives from around the world. Are you all in? Hope so, because you are sure to win big at HIMSS18! Stop by and see us at booth #2671 to discuss these trends and more!

What would you bet will be hottest topic at HIMSS18?

In previous posts we have taken a look at healthcare provider trends for 2017. Our first 4 trends, Handing the Patient Portal Reins to the Patient; Connecting Patients to Connected Health; Increased Demand for Mobile Creates Connectivity Challenges; Retail Health Clinics Increase Access to Affordable Care. In our last trend, Integrating Non-Traditional data to Achieve the Triple AIM, we take a lok at the importance of integrating a variety of data sources to deliver a 360-degree view of a patient.

For years, healthcare organizations have been tackling the ongoing challenge of collecting and integrating enterprise-wide patient data from countless disparate data sources. Federal reforms and technological advances have helped progress seamless data integration through things such as electronic health record systems (EHRs), enterprise data warehouses, and data lakes. While integration and access to traditional patient data is important, it is not sufficient to drive toward the triple aim – Improving the patient experience of care (including quality and satisfaction); improving the health of populations; and reducing the cost of health care.

Achieving the triple aim requires integration and analysis of both traditional and non-traditional patient data in order to obtain a comprehensive 360-degree view of a patient. A 360-degree view of a patient has tremendous potential to advance the quality of care while enhancing patient experience and reducing the overall cost of healthcare. Take a deeper dive into this trend, including the benefits of patient-360, by downloading our guide, top 5 healthcare provider trends for 2017.

Attending HIMSS17? Stop by and see us at booth #3831 and lets talk healthcare industry trends. More on Perficient at HIMSS here.