Introduction
The advent of generative AI (GenAI) marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of healthcare, particularly in the context of acute care settings. As hospitals and health systems grapple with the challenges of increasing complexity, rising costs, and the ever-present need to improve patient outcomes, GenAI emerges as a transformative force, offering unparalleled opportunities to revolutionize healthcare delivery. This blog post delves into the myriad ways in which GenAI can reshape acute care, from enhancing clinical decision-making and optimizing operations to elevating the patient experience and driving innovation.

The Landscape of GenAI in Acute Care
GenAI, a subset of artificial intelligence capable of dynamically generating novel content, insights, and solutions, has the potential to permeate every aspect of acute care delivery. From clinical decision support and real-time intelligence to operational excellence and resource optimization, GenAI can unlock previously unattainable levels of efficiency, accuracy, and personalization. By leveraging vast amounts of data, advanced algorithms, and continuous learning, GenAI systems can augment human expertise, streamline processes, and drive evidence-based practices.

Clinical Decision Support & Real-time Intelligence
One of the most promising applications of GenAI in acute care lies in its ability to revolutionize clinical decision-making. By integrating multimodal data streams, including electronic health records, medical imaging, lab results, and real-time patient monitoring, GenAI systems can provide clinicians with adaptive clinical pathways tailored to individual patient needs. These intelligent systems can dynamically adjust treatment protocols based on a patient’s unique characteristics, comorbidities, and response to interventions, ensuring optimal care delivery.

Moreover, GenAI can serve as a powerful tool for predictive crisis management, leveraging advanced analytics to identify early warning signs of patient deterioration. By continuously monitoring vital signs, lab results, and other critical indicators, GenAI systems can alert clinicians to potential adverse events before they occur, enabling proactive interventions and improved patient safety. Additionally, GenAI can generate intelligent order sets, taking into account patient-specific factors, hospital formularies, and evidence-based guidelines to streamline the ordering process and reduce variability in care.

Operational Excellence & Resource Optimization
Beyond clinical decision support, GenAI holds immense potential for optimizing hospital operations and resource allocation. Through dynamic staff scheduling, GenAI models can predict patient acuity levels and optimize staffing across departments, ensuring that the right personnel are in the right place at the right time. This not only enhances operational efficiency but also reduces burnout and improves staff satisfaction.

GenAI can also revolutionize supply chain management in acute care settings. By leveraging predictive analytics and historical usage patterns, GenAI systems can anticipate supply needs, optimize inventory levels, and prevent stockouts. This intelligent approach to supply chain management can lead to significant cost savings, reduced waste, and improved resource utilization.

Furthermore, GenAI can transform capacity planning and patient flow management. Through real-time bed management and patient flow optimization, GenAI systems can minimize wait times, reduce bottlenecks, and ensure the efficient allocation of resources. By leveraging natural language processing techniques, GenAI can extract insights from unstructured data, such as clinical notes and patient feedback, to identify opportunities for process improvement and enhance the overall patient experience.

Revenue Cycle Optimization & Payer Integration
The complexities of revenue cycle management and payer relations often pose significant challenges for acute care providers. GenAI can streamline these processes, driving efficiency and maximizing reimbursement. Through automated prior authorization, GenAI systems can predict authorization requirements and generate supporting documentation, reducing administrative burden and expediting the approval process.

Moreover, GenAI can revolutionize claims processing by identifying potential denials before submission and suggesting corrective actions. By analyzing historical claims data, GenAI models can detect patterns and anomalies, enabling proactive revenue leakage prevention. Additionally, GenAI can synthesize data from disparate sources to identify missed charges and documentation gaps, ensuring accurate and complete billing.

Enhancing the Patient Experience
At the heart of acute care delivery lies the patient experience. GenAI can play a pivotal role in elevating the patient journey, from personalized care navigation to multilingual communication and smart room technology. By leveraging GenAI-powered assistants, hospitals can guide patients through their stay, providing real-time information, answering questions, and offering support. These intelligent systems can adapt to individual patient preferences, cultural backgrounds, and language requirements, fostering a more inclusive and patient-centric environment.

GenAI can also transform the way patients interact with their physical surroundings. Through voice-enabled environmental controls and smart room technology, patients can effortlessly adjust lighting, temperature, and entertainment options, enhancing comfort and autonomy. Moreover, GenAI-powered patient assistance systems can anticipate patient needs, such as pain management or mobility support, and alert healthcare providers accordingly, ensuring timely and personalized care delivery.

Quality & Safety Enhancement
Ensuring the highest standards of quality and safety is a paramount concern in acute care settings. GenAI can serve as a powerful ally in this pursuit, offering advanced capabilities for adverse event prevention, clinical variation analysis, and infection control. By continuously monitoring patient data and identifying patterns indicative of potential safety risks, GenAI systems can alert clinicians to intervene proactively, mitigating harm and improving patient outcomes.

GenAI can also play a critical role in reducing unwarranted clinical variation, a significant contributor to suboptimal outcomes and increased costs. By analyzing vast amounts of clinical data, GenAI models can identify best practices, detect deviations from evidence-based guidelines, and provide real-time recommendations to standardize care delivery. This data-driven approach to quality improvement can lead to more consistent, high-quality care across the organization.

Furthermore, GenAI can revolutionize infection prevention and control efforts in acute care settings. By leveraging real-time surveillance data, GenAI systems can detect patterns indicative of potential outbreaks, identify high-risk patients, and recommend targeted interventions. This proactive approach to infection control can significantly reduce the incidence of hospital-acquired infections, improve patient safety, and optimize resource utilization.

Knowledge Management & Clinical Research
The exponential growth of medical knowledge presents both challenges and opportunities for acute care providers. GenAI can serve as a powerful tool for knowledge management and clinical research, enabling healthcare organizations to stay at the forefront of evidence-based practices. Through continuous literature synthesis, GenAI systems can analyze vast amounts of research data, identify emerging trends, and update clinical protocols accordingly. This real-time integration of new evidence into clinical decision-making can accelerate the adoption of best practices and improve patient outcomes.

Moreover, GenAI can facilitate real-world evidence generation by automating the analysis of treatment outcomes and identifying patterns across large patient populations. This data-driven approach to clinical research can uncover novel insights, inform quality improvement initiatives, and drive innovation in acute care delivery. Additionally, GenAI can streamline clinical trial matching by identifying eligible patients and predicting trial success, accelerating the development of new therapies and interventions.

Regulatory Compliance & Risk Management
Navigating the complex landscape of regulatory compliance and risk management is a critical challenge for acute care providers. GenAI can serve as a valuable tool in this regard, offering automated compliance monitoring, privacy protection, and audit preparation capabilities. By continuously tracking regulatory requirements and identifying potential violations, GenAI systems can help healthcare organizations maintain compliance and mitigate legal and financial risks.

Moreover, GenAI can play a crucial role in protecting patient privacy and ensuring secure data sharing. Through advanced anonymization techniques and synthetic data generation, GenAI systems can enable the safe and compliant use of patient data for research and quality improvement purposes. Additionally, GenAI can streamline audit preparation by continuously monitoring and documenting compliance activities, reducing the administrative burden on healthcare staff.

Interoperability & Data Integration
The success of GenAI in acute care settings hinges on the ability to seamlessly integrate data from disparate sources and systems. Interoperability and data integration are critical enablers of GenAI adoption, allowing for the free flow of information across the healthcare ecosystem. Through smart data harmonization, GenAI systems can standardize and integrate data from electronic health records, medical devices, and other sources, creating a comprehensive view of the patient journey.

Moreover, GenAI can facilitate the development of intelligent APIs that optimize data exchange between systems, enabling real-time access to critical information at the point of care. These context-aware interfaces can adapt to the specific needs of healthcare providers, presenting relevant data and insights in a user-friendly manner. Additionally, GenAI can play a vital role in modernizing legacy systems, bridging the gap between existing infrastructure and cutting-edge technologies.

Future-ready Infrastructure
As GenAI continues to evolve and mature, it is essential for acute care providers to invest in future-ready infrastructure that can support the growing demands of this transformative technology. This includes the adoption of edge computing, which enables real-time data processing and decision-making at the point of care. By distributing GenAI capabilities across the healthcare network, edge computing can reduce latency, improve responsiveness, and enhance the overall user experience.

Moreover, as quantum computing advances, it is crucial for healthcare organizations to explore quantum-ready algorithms that can leverage the immense computational power of these emerging technologies. By preparing for the next generation of computing capabilities, acute care providers can position themselves at the forefront of innovation and unlock new possibilities for GenAI-driven healthcare delivery.

Sustainable & Responsible Innovation
As the adoption of GenAI in acute care settings accelerates, it is imperative to prioritize sustainable and responsible innovation. This involves considering the environmental impact of GenAI implementations and embracing energy-efficient approaches to minimize the carbon footprint of healthcare delivery. Moreover, responsible innovation requires a strong commitment to ethical principles, ensuring that GenAI systems are transparent, accountable, and free from bias.

To achieve this, healthcare organizations must engage in multidisciplinary collaboration, bringing together clinicians, data scientists, ethicists, and patient advocates to guide the development and deployment of GenAI solutions. By fostering a culture of responsible innovation, acute care providers can harness the power of GenAI while upholding the highest standards of patient care and societal well-being.

Conclusion
The advent of generative AI marks a transformative moment in the evolution of acute care delivery. From enhancing clinical decision-making and optimizing operations to elevating the patient experience and driving innovation, GenAI holds immense potential to revolutionize healthcare. However, realizing this potential requires a strategic and collaborative approach, one that prioritizes data governance, workflow integration, ethical considerations, and continuous evaluation.

As healthcare leaders navigate this exciting new frontier, it is essential to engage proactively with GenAI technologies, shape their development, and harness their power to improve patient outcomes, reduce costs, and drive sustainable innovation. By embracing the transformative potential of GenAI, acute care providers can position themselves at the forefront of a new era in healthcare delivery, one that promises to transform the lives of patients, empower healthcare professionals, and redefine the boundaries of what is possible.

The journey towards unleashing the full potential of GenAI in acute care is just beginning, and the road ahead is filled with both challenges and opportunities. However, with a clear vision, unwavering commitment, and collaborative spirit, healthcare organizations can navigate this uncharted territory and emerge as leaders in the age of generative AI. The future of acute care is here, and it is time to embrace it with open arms, bold vision, and a steadfast dedication to improving the lives of those we serve.

References

1. Francis, N. J., Jones, S., & Smith, D. P. (2025). Generative AI in higher education: Balancing innovation and integrity. British Journal of Biomedical Science, 81, 14048. https://doi.org/10.3389/bjbs.2024.14048
2. Jindal, J. A., Lungren, M. P., & Shah, N. H. (2024). Ensuring useful adoption of generative artificial intelligence in healthcare. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 31(6), 1441-1444. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocae043
3. Lan, G., Xiao, S., Yang, J., Wen, J., & Xi, M. (2023). Generative AI-based data completeness augmentation algorithm for data-driven smart healthcare. IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1109/JBHI.2023.3327485
4. Lee, C. C., & Low, M. Y. H. (2024). Using genAI in education: The case for critical thinking. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 7, 1452131. https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2024.1452131
5. Malhotra, K., Wiesenfeld, B., Major, V. J., Grover, H., Aphinyanaphongs, Y., Testa, P., & Austrian, J. S. (2025). Health system-wide access to generative artificial intelligence: The New York University Langone Health experience. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 32(2), 268-274. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocae285
6. Prescott, M. R., Yeager, S., Ham, L., Rivera Saldana, C. D., Serrano, V., Narez, J., Paltin, D., Delgado, J., Moore, D. J., & Montoya, J. (2024). Comparing the efficacy and efficiency of human and generative AI: Qualitative thematic analyses. JMIR AI, 3, e54482. https://doi.org/10.2196/54482
7. Solaiman, B. (2024). Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and decision-making: Legal & ethical hurdles for implementation in mental health. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 97, 102028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2024.102028
8. Wachter, R. M., & Brynjolfsson, E. (2024). Will generative artificial intelligence deliver on its promise in health care? JAMA, 331(1), 65-69. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2023.25054
9. Yim, D., Khuntia, J., Parameswaran, V., & Meyers, A. (2024a). Preliminary evidence of the use of generative AI in health care clinical services: Systematic narrative review. JMIR Medical Informatics, 12, e52073. https://doi.org/10.2196/52073
10. Yim, D., Khuntia, J., Parameswaran, V., & Meyers, A. (2024b). Preliminary evidence of the use of generative AI in health care clinical services: Systematic narrative review. JMIR Medical Informatics, 12, e52073. https://doi.org/10.2196/52073

In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, staying ahead demands more than just cutting-edge tools; it requires a vision, strategy, and a commitment to excellence. In an exclusive interview for We Are Perficient, Matt Shields, Managing Director of Perficient’s Adobe practice, shared his expert insights on sales and delivery excellence, the transformative potential of Adobe technologies, and the collaborative power of Perficient’s global reach. 

With over 15 years of experience in the Adobe ecosystem, Matt has helped some of the world’s leading brands leverage digital transformations to gain a competitive edge. Here’s what he had to say about the future of sales and technology and how Perficient drives impact across industries. 

The Growing Influence of Adobe in a Content-Driven World 

As the demand for personalized content grows exponentially, Adobe is leading the charge in helping organizations connect with their customers in meaningful ways. According to Matt, the future lies in how companies deliver experiences tailored to each individual’s unique needs, preferences, and cultural contexts. 

“Understanding customers directly—whatever culture, geography, or language—is the key to creating meaningful engagement that drives business objectives,” he explained. 

Adobe’s innovative tools, such as generative AI capabilities within Adobe Experience Cloud, are empowering companies to produce dynamic, high-quality content at scale. This technology is not just about efficiency; it’s about fostering genuine, memorable connections between brands and their audiences. 

Perficient’s Role in Driving Digital Transformation 

Perficient’s partnership with Adobe amplifies the ability to meet the demands of a global market. With a focus on customer experience, Perficient delivers personalized solutions that go beyond traditional content management. 

“It’s no longer just about managing content. It’s about creating it at speed and scale while ensuring it reaches the right audience through the right channels,” Matt emphasized. 

What sets Perficient apart is its global presence and deep industry expertise. By leveraging teams from diverse regions, Perficient offers clients a wealth of knowledge, perspective, and technical capabilities that ensure every project is executed with precision and cultural relevance. 

The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Transforming Experiences 

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the way businesses engage with customers, and Adobe is at the forefront of this transformation. Matt highlighted how Adobe’s AI tools, such as GenStudio for Performance Marketing, enable companies to generate relevant, impactful content faster and more effectively. 

“AI is a conversation we’re having with every customer,” he noted. “Whether it’s streamlining internal processes or enhancing customer interactions, AI is central to every industry’s digital transformation journey.”

Perficient’s ability to integrate AI within Adobe’s ecosystems ensures clients can harness these innovations to achieve their strategic goals. From content generation to customer engagement, AI is paving the way for smarter, more efficient processes. 

Industry Trends and Perficient’s Global Advantage 

When asked about emerging trends, Matt underscored the importance of creating memorable customer experiences. It’s not just about conversions; it’s about how well a brand resonates with its audience. 

“The question is: How do we connect effectively? Is it the right time, the right content, the right message?”

Perficient’s global footprint plays a crucial role in delivering these impactful experiences. By combining local insights with global expertise, Perficient ensures its clients stay ahead in an increasingly connected world. 

Transforming the Healthcare Sector with Adobe 

In healthcare, customer experience is synonymous with patient experience. Matt shared how Adobe solutions are enabling healthcare organizations to create patient-centric journeys that improve outcomes. 

“From follow-ups to treatment accessibility, driving a better patient experience can literally be a matter of life and death,” Matt explained. 

Perficient’s industry-specific expertise, combined with Adobe’s platform capabilities, is helping healthcare providers deliver care that is not only efficient but also empathetic and personalized. 

The Power of Partnership: Adobe and Perficient 

As a highly specialized Adobe Platinum Partner, Perficient works hand-in-hand with Adobe to deliver the latest technologies and innovations across industries. This partnership is rooted in shared expertise and a commitment to the client. 

“We collaborate daily with Adobe teams across healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, and more to ensure our clients get the best of both worlds—industry expertise and cutting-edge technology,” Matt said. 

Discover More 

Curious about how our partnership with Adobe is transforming industries? Learn how we leverage Adobe’s cutting-edge technologies to deliver personalized, impactful solutions for our clients here.

 Empowering Inclusive Growth

In healthcare, accessibility and usability are essential to ensuring that all patients, including those with physical disabilities, receive equal care. For individuals with physical disabilities, navigating healthcare facilities and interacting with medical devices can pose significant challenges.

This is where Universal Design and Usability principles come into play, offering practical solutions to make health systems more accessible and effective for everyone.

The Journey So Far , We’ve explored universal design principles across various healthcare domains, ensuring that everyone—regardless of their physical, sensory, or cognitive abilities—can access and benefit from high-quality care. From hospitals and clinics to pharmacies and beyond, we’ve highlighted key elements such as:

–Physical Accessibility: Ensuring wide corridors, accessible restrooms, and adjustable examination tables.
– Visual and Auditory Accessibility: Implementing braille signage, large print materials, assistive listening devices, and clear visual aids.
– Cognitive Accessibility: Simplifying communication, using symbols, and providing clear instructions and support.

Encouraging Inclusive Growth

Our collective efforts serve as a beacon for organizations striving to prioritize accessibility and inclusivity. Here are some key takeaways:

• Awareness: Understanding that inclusivity is not just a compliance requirement but a moral and ethical responsibility.
• Innovation: Leveraging technology and creative solutions to break down barriers and enhance accessibility.
• Collaboration: Fostering partnerships between designers, healthcare professionals, and disability advocates to continuously improve accessibility standards.
• Commitment: Demonstrating unwavering dedication to creating environments where everyone feels respected, valued, and supported.

The Ripple Effect

By embracing universal design, organizations can lead the way in promoting inclusivity, setting an example for others to follow. The positive impact extends beyond the immediate beneficiaries to society as a whole, fostering a culture of empathy, respect, and understanding.

Moving Forward

As we celebrate our achievements, let’s remain committed to advancing accessibility and inclusivity in healthcare and beyond. This is not an endpoint but a significant milestone on our ongoing journey.

Thank you for being part of this transformative movement towards a more inclusive world. Together, we can make a meaningful difference, one step at a time.

Moving Forward to Pharmacy Accessibility in Universal Design for our next blog post. Pharmacy accessibility is an ongoing effort that requires continuous improvement and adaptation. As technology advances and our understanding of accessibility deepens, there are numerous opportunities to further enhance the inclusivity of pharmacies. By embracing universal design, pharmacies can provide high-quality care to all individuals, ensuring that everyone has equal access to the medications and services they need to maintain their health.

Stay in touch and let’s continue to work together to create a more inclusive and accessible Pharmacy system for all.

In healthcare, accessibility and usability are essential to ensuring that all patients, including those with physical disabilities, receive equal care. For individuals with physical disabilities, navigating healthcare facilities and interacting with medical devices can pose significant challenges. This is where Universal Design and Usability principles come into play, offering practical solutions to make health systems more accessible and effective for everyone.

Let’s summarize our journey through universal design in healthcare:

Why It Matters

Health facilities should be designed to be easily navigable for individuals using mobility aids, such as wheelchairs, crutches, or walkers. These patients may face barriers like narrow hallways, inaccessible restrooms, and examination rooms that are not equipped for those with mobility challenges.

Introduction to Universal Design

• Covered the principles of universal design and its importance in creating inclusive, accessible environments in healthcare settings.
  
  Visual Disabilities:
• Highlighted the role of braille and large print in enhancing accessibility for visually impaired individuals, ensuring they can navigate healthcare environments and manage their health independently.
  
  Hearing Disabilities:
• Discussed the integration of assistive listening devices, clear visual aids, and written communication methods to support individuals with hearing impairments.

A female doctor sits with a little girl as they talk together during a medical check-up. The girl is dressed casually and smiling at the doctor as she hugs her teddy bear tightly.

Mobility Disabilities:
– Emphasized the need for wide corridors, accessible restrooms, adjustable examination tables, and other features that accommodate individuals with mobility impairments.

Cognitive Disabilities:
– Explored strategies for simplifying communication, using symbols, and providing clear instructions to support individuals with cognitive disabilities.

Inclusive Pharmacies:
– Delved into universal design in pharmacy settings, ensuring accessible aisles, counters, signage, assistive technologies, and medication packaging.

Overall Importance:
– Reinforced the significance of universal design in promoting health equity, enhancing patient independence, improving safety, fostering inclusivity, and ensuring legal compliance.

By embracing universal design principles, we’ve laid the foundation for creating healthcare environments that respect and accommodate the diverse needs of all individuals. This commitment to accessibility and inclusivity not only improves the patient experience but also sets a positive example for others to follow.

As we celebrate our achievements, let’s remain committed to advancing accessibility and inclusivity in healthcare and beyond. This is not an endpoint but a significant milestone on our ongoing journey.

Thank you for being part of this transformative movement towards a more inclusive world. Together, we can make a meaningful difference, one step at a time.

As noted by Bridget Van Kralingen, a senior vice president at IBM, “The last best experience that anyone has anywhere becomes the minimum expectation for the experience they want everywhere.” Our team often calls this “the Amazon effect,” because today’s consumers expect the easy, intuitive experience they have shopping on Amazon everywhere they go on the internet — including with their health insurance provider. And you know what? They’re not wrong to do so.

Your health insurance organization has the capability to implement a consumer-centric, omni-channel strategy that anticipates members’ needs.

Imagine becoming a true advocate for your members’ health and wallet, especially for members who struggle with both. 

“Sure, Marybeth,” you may be saying to yourself as you roll your eyes. “And I want a pony too.” Well, it’s true! (Maybe not the part about the pony.) Your health insurance organization absolutely can lay the foundations for better, more positive and more meaningful interactions with your members. And it all rests on your ability to predict their needs and address them through proactive messaging, especially on their mobile devices.

I promise, this is not a pie-in-the-sky dream. This is achievable right now using data you’re already collecting from your members. Our industry experts know what it takes to get this done for our healthcare clients. And we’re the right choice to help your organization implement it within your enterprise. Let’s explore the details, or feel free to contact us for more information.

Your health insurance organization has a trust and understanding problem

By and large, healthcare consumers don’t trust health insurance companies. We know this, and the data backs us up.

But where does this lack of trust come from? In part, it comes from the fact that, despite health insurance companies wanting to serve as stewards of their members’ healthcare, many of them simply react to it instead of acting. Pay a claim, process a prior authorization, etc. — the interactions depend on the member doing something and the payer organization then reacting to it. The onus is all on the member to navigate the system alone until there’s something to be done.

This is not what members want. As KFF’s studies show, consumers want to better understand their options and coverages. Those who have problems with their insurance providers tend to have problems understanding their options under their plans.

There’s no way busy people who aren’t health insurance experts should have to figure this all out for themselves. As they used to say on the TV infomercials, “There’s gotta be a better way!” And, as it happens, there is.

Proactive nudges and interactions can help you build trust and increase understanding

Being an advocate means being relevant in their time of need and of course, doing your best to anticipate their needs.

• Find in-network specialists if diagnosed with a certain condition; use the phone’s geolocation to inform the distance to a provider
• Compare specialists based on cost/distance/facility
• Get a cost estimate for appointment based on coverage and plan spend to date and a reminder the day of the appointment
• See cost-saving alternative medications from the plan formulary based on current prescriptions
• Show prescription phone notifications connected to the provider’s care plan
• Connect with the member’s wearable(s) health trackers to add funds to an HSA or FSA
• Connect the member to available support resources and affiliated/third-party options

You may be telling yourself, “We have that in the portal.” or “We email that vendor solution to our members.” Yes, the abyss of email and portals is all irrelevant noise when it’s not shared in the moment that matters!

None of these should wait for the member to start communication with your organization. Your team should be leading the charge with proactive nudges — push notifications, texts or emails, depending on the member’s chosen communication preferences — with robust campaigns geared toward helping guide the member toward relevant resources and plan benefits they may not know they can access.

Where does the data come from?

All these communications and strategies rely on a massive amount of member data. But this is all data you’re almost certainly collecting now through HIPAA-compliant means through everyday member interactions, such as:

• Behavioral data
• Data from provider organizations (one-off claims; pre-authorizations for a series of care that indicates the management of a chronic condition; etc.)
• Passive and ambient smartphone data
• Systems integrations, including connected health apps
• User-provided data

Active nudges and messaging strategies simply depend on you putting the power of this data to work to benefit the member and their unique healthcare needs. And this is a goal today’s healthcare consumers want to achieve from their technology and online interactions — everything from wearables and nutrition trackers to condition-specific apps and augmented reality. Integrating this data in a holistic way and translating that into discrete advice for members can be a value-added service your team provides.

Take the next step with our industry experts

There are things you can do right now to make your members’ experiences better and more meaningful and have better long-term effects on their health and wellness. Through proactive interactions and nudges to members’ mobile devices, making use of data they already provide in HIPAA-compliant ways, you can set yourselves apart from your competitors and stand out in the minds of both members and potential future members.

We offer the strategic and technical experience you need to achieve real-world, measurable results that will have positive impacts for your business. And we’re ready to put that experience to work for your team. Contact us today to discover why the 10 largest U.S. health insurers have counted on us and to learn more or to schedule a consultation with our team.

Welcome to our ongoing series on Universal Design for Healthcare! In this segment, we’ll explore the importance of Visual Disabilities in Healthcare.

In the pursuit of providing equitable healthcare, embracing universal design principles has become increasingly critical. Designing healthcare environments that accommodate individuals with visual disabilities ensures these settings are accessible, safe, and welcoming for everyone. Let’s delve into how universal design can transform physical healthcare environments to better support individuals with visual disabilities.

Key Elements of Universal Design

Tactile Pathways
Tactile pathways are an essential feature for guiding individuals with visual disabilities through a facility. By incorporating textured surfaces on floors and walls, users can navigate spaces more easily. These pathways should be strategically placed to lead from entrances to key areas such as reception desks, elevators, restrooms, and consultation rooms.

Braille Signage
Signage is a cornerstone of accessible design. Including Braille on room numbers, elevator buttons, and directories ensures that visually impaired individuals can independently identify locations and find their way. Pairing Braille with large, high-contrast print enhances readability for those with partial vision.

High-Contrast Color Schemes
Utilizing high-contrast color schemes helps differentiate boundaries and highlight important features in the environment. For example, contrasting wall colors from floor colors can assist in spatial orientation, while brightly colored handrails or door frames can serve as visual cues in navigation.

Lighting
Proper lighting is crucial for individuals with visual disabilities, as it enhances their ability to perceive their surroundings. Ensuring well-lit corridors, stairways, and common areas reduces the risk of accidents. Adjustable lighting options in patient rooms and consultation areas allow for customization based on individual needs.

Clear and Unobstructed Pathways
Clutter-free spaces are vital in preventing accidents. Keeping hallways and pathways clear of obstacles, such as equipment and furniture, ensures smooth navigation. Designated storage areas for medical tools and supplies help maintain a tidy environment.

Auditory Cues and Assistive Technology
Incorporating auditory cues, such as automated announcements for directions or floor levels in elevators, supports individuals with visual disabilities. Additionally, assistive technologies like beacons or smartphone apps that provide verbal instructions can further aid navigation.

Wide and Automatic Doors
Installing wide, automatic doors at entrances and key access points facilitates movement for individuals using mobility aids, such as guide dogs or canes. These doors should also have tactile indicators to help users locate handles and buttons.

Seating and Rest Areas
Strategically placed seating and rest areas throughout a facility provide opportunities for individuals to pause and orient themselves. These areas should be easily identifiable with clear, high-contrast signage and be free of obstacles.

Integrating universal design principles into the physical environments of healthcare facilities is a significant step toward creating inclusive and safe spaces for individuals with visual disabilities. By focusing on tactile pathways, Braille signage, high-contrast colors, proper lighting, clear pathways, auditory cues, and accessible doors and seating, we can ensure that healthcare environments are not only navigable but also welcoming for everyone. These improvements foster independence and confidence in visually impaired individuals, contributing to better healthcare experiences and outcomes.

Welcome to our ongoing series on Universal Design for Healthcare! In this segment, we’ll explore the importance of Visual Disabilities in Healthcare.

In the healthcare sector, implementing universal design principles is crucial for creating environments that are accessible to everyone, including individuals with visual disabilities. Ensuring that these spaces are both safe and usable can significantly enhance the overall healthcare experience. Let’s look at how universal design can increase safety for patients with visual impairments in various healthcare settings.

Safety in Universal Design

Navigable Environments

Creating navigable environments is foundational to ensuring safety. By integrating the following features, healthcare facilities can provide a safer experience:
Tactile Flooring: Using different textures on floors to indicate changes in zones or to direct individuals to important areas, such as exits, restrooms, and consultation rooms, helps patients with visual disabilities navigate the space safely.
Clear Pathways: Keeping hallways and corridors free from obstacles and ensuring clear, wide pathways can prevent trips and falls. Strategic placement of furniture and equipment is key to maintaining these clear paths.
Braille and Raised Signage: Adequate signage in Braille and raised letters for directions, room numbers, and important information ensures that individuals with visual impairments can find their way independently.

Proper Lighting and Color Contrast

Adequate Lighting: Well-lit areas with minimal glare and adjustable lighting settings in patient rooms can help individuals with low vision navigate more easily. Emergency exits and stairways should always be brightly lit.
Color Contrast: High-contrast color schemes can delineate boundaries and highlight essential features, aiding in orientation and mobility. Using contrasting colors for doors, handrails, and floors against walls can be extremely helpful.

Safety Features

To further enhance safety, healthcare facilities can incorporate specific safety features:
Auditory Alerts: Implementing auditory cues for elevators, emergency alarms, and other critical systems ensures that patients with visual disabilities are aware of important information and can react accordingly.
Automated Systems: Automatic doors, faucets, and dispensers reduce the need for manual handling, lowering the risk of contamination and injury. Voice-activated systems can also provide assistance without physical contact.
Emergency Preparedness: Clear emergency evacuation plans that include tactile maps and designated assistance personnel help ensure that patients with visual disabilities can safely navigate during emergencies.

Training and Awareness

For universal design to be effective, healthcare staff must be adequately trained:
Staff Training: Comprehensive training programs for healthcare providers on how to assist patients with visual impairments are crucial. Staff should be knowledgeable about guiding techniques, effective communication, and use of assistive technology.
Sensitivity and Awareness: Promoting awareness and sensitivity towards the needs of visually impaired individuals within the healthcare team fosters an inclusive and respectful environment.

Implementing Universal Design: A Collaborative Approach

Success in implementing universal design principles comes from collaboration between architects, healthcare providers, patients, and disability advocates. By working together, they can create facilities that are not only compliant with accessibility standards but are also innovative and inclusive in their design.

Universal design in healthcare enhances safety and accessibility for individuals with visual disabilities. By focusing on navigable environments, proper lighting and contrast, safety features, and staff training, healthcare facilities can become more inclusive and safer spaces. These changes not only benefit patients with visual impairments but contribute to overall better healthcare outcomes and experiences for everyone.

As private health insurers weather industry headwinds, strategic transformation priorities remain firmly centered on operations and patient-centric experiences that accelerate efficiencies. Outcomes-driven leaders recognize the value of aligning key business needs with people, technology, and processes. 

Leading Digital Transformation for U.S. Payers 

We are proud to announce the recent recognition of Perficient’s digital services for healthcare payers by an industry-leading advisory firm. This highlights the value that our expert, global teams bring to the largest U.S. health insurers as industry leaders work to improve operations, efficiency, and effectiveness.  

Now more than ever, insurers can accelerate a shift from traditional cost management to proactive health enablement. The most effective payers are integrating technologies to modernize operations, streamline experiences, and not only unlock reliable data, but elevate insights and experiences with AI and advanced, integrated analytics. AI can be harnessed to offer hyper-personalized benefit plans, predictive risk analytics, and real-time insights that not only manage costs but also enhance member experience and engagement. 

You May Enjoy: Current Digital Trends in Healthcare 

We believe our inclusion in a leading study of digital health services showcases our dedication to easing consumer journeys, ensuring integrated data is reliable and secure, and modernizing the enterprise so it can accelerate progress toward key business priorities. We are committed to helping healthcare leaders stay competitive with our award-winning, tailored solutions.  

“This acknowledgment underscores our commitment to helping healthcare leaders optimize workflows, uncover insights, innovate care experiences, and strengthen consumer trust.”– Brent Teiken, General Manager, Healthcare + Life Sciences

Our healthcare experts guide and drive a shared understanding with clients. This insight is especially vital as leaders seek solutions to highly complex business challenges that rely on protected data and span a complex healthcare ecosystem. Our technology experts further ensure that solutions are not only implemented correctly but can scale as consumer expectations and business needs evolve.  

Success In Action: Enabling Better Insight Into Key Patient Data Using GenAI 

Elevate Health and Business Outcomes With Our Expertise 

We help health insurers navigate intense technological and regulatory requirements while controlling costs and improving the user experience to support and delight members. 

• Business Transformation: Transform strategy into action: reduce costs, increase quality, and improve member experiences. 
• Modernization: Maximize technology to drive innovative, digital-first care solutions in automation, AI, and cloud. 
• Data + Analytics: Provide governed, accessible, and trusted data to drive insight and engagement for members, providers, and groups. 
• Consumer Experience: Create personalized, value added, and measurable experiences across multiple channels for all constituents. 

Explore our healthcare expertise and contact us to discover why we have been trusted by the 10 largest U.S. health insurers, including 25 BCBS-affiliated insurers, and are consistently recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the largest healthcare consulting firms. 

Welcome to our ongoing series on Universal Design for Healthcare! In this segment, we’ll explore the importance of Visual Disabilities in Healthcare.

Inclusive healthcare is not just a lofty ideal but a practical necessity. Among the various aspects of universal design is ensuring that individuals with visual disabilities have access to information and services with dignity and independence. Large print materials play a central role in this mission, bridging gaps in communication and fostering a more equitable healthcare experience.

What is Universal Design?

Universal design refers to creating environments, products, and services that are accessible and usable by everyone, regardless of their abilities. In the context of healthcare, universal design ensures that medical facilities, procedures, and information are accessible to all patients, including those with visual impairments. This approach is crucial for eliminating barriers, improving patient outcomes, and promoting an inclusive healthcare system.

The Role of Large Print in Healthcare

Large print refers to text that is printed in a larger font size than standard print. It is particularly beneficial for individuals with low vision or other visual impairments.

Here’s why large print is so important in healthcare:

Accessible Medical Information
Large print ensures that patients with visual disabilities can easily read important medical information, such as appointment details, medication labels, and health education materials. This accessibility allows them to manage their health independently and accurately.

Improved Patient Comprehension
By providing materials in large print, healthcare providers can help patients better understand their diagnoses, treatments, and care instructions. This can lead to improved adherence to medical advice and better health outcomes.

Enhanced Communication
Communication between patients and healthcare providers is significantly improved when large print is used. It ensures that visually impaired patients can receive and comprehend important documents, fostering trust and collaboration in their care.

Increased Safety
Large print reduces the risk of errors, such as misreading medication dosages or misunderstanding appointment schedules. This enhanced clarity is essential for ensuring patient safety and avoiding adverse health events.

Promoting Independence
Offering materials in large print empowers visually impaired patients to engage with their healthcare autonomously. This independence is key to their confidence and overall well-being.

Implementing Large Print in Healthcare Settings

To integrate large print effectively in healthcare, consider the following measures:

– Large Print Documents: Ensure that critical documents, such as consent forms, discharge summaries, and patient education materials, are available in large print.
– Large Print Labels: Label medications and medical equipment in large print to enhance safety and accessibility.
– Clear Signage: Ensure that all signs within healthcare facilities are available in large print, making navigation easier for visually impaired individuals.
– Staff Training: Educate healthcare staff on the importance of providing large print materials and how to assist patients with visual disabilities effectively.

Universal design in healthcare is a vital step toward creating an inclusive and equitable system for all patients. Implementing large print materials is a simple yet powerful way to enhance accessibility, improve communication, and ensure the safety of individuals with visual disabilities. By prioritizing large print, healthcare providers can help bridge the gaps in patient care, fostering a more inclusive environment where everyone has the opportunity to receive the care they deserve.

Welcome to our ongoing series on Universal Design for Healthcare! In this segment, we’ll explore the importance of Visual Disabilities in Healthcare.

In recent years, the healthcare industry has made significant strides in adopting universal design principles to create an inclusive environment for everyone, including individuals with visual disabilities. This approach not only enhances accessibility but also promotes equality and independence. Among the various tools and technologies employed, Braille stands out as a crucial element in bridging communication gaps and ensuring that vital health information is accessible to all.

The Importance of Universal Design in Healthcare

Universal design is the practice of creating environments, products, and services that are inherently accessible to all people, regardless of their abilities or disabilities. In healthcare, this means ensuring that facilities, medical devices, and information are accessible to everyone. By implementing universal design principles, healthcare providers can offer more equitable care, reduce barriers, and improve patient outcomes.

The Role of Braille in Healthcare

Braille is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired. It allows individuals to read and write through touch, providing a means of accessing information independently.

Here’s why Braille is essential in healthcare:

Accessible Medical Information
Braille enables patients with visual disabilities to read important medical information, such as medication labels, dosage instructions, and appointment details. This ensures they can manage their health independently and accurately.

Improved Communication
For healthcare providers, offering key documents and instructions in Braille can significantly improve communication with visually impaired patients. This fosters trust and empowers patients to be active participants in their care.

Enhanced Safety
Access to Braille can prevent medication errors and misunderstandings by allowing patients to verify prescriptions and understand their treatment plans. This enhances patient safety and reduces the risk of adverse health outcomes.

Increased Independence
Braille empowers individuals with visual disabilities to navigate healthcare settings independently. Whether it’s reading signage, using accessible medical devices, or filling out forms, Braille provides a sense of autonomy and confidence.

Implementing Braille in Healthcare Settings

To effectively incorporate Braille into healthcare environments, the following measures can be taken:

• Braille Signage: Ensuring that all signs, from room numbers to emergency exits, include Braille descriptions.
• Braille Documents: Providing critical documents such as consent forms, discharge summaries, and educational materials in Braille.
• Braille Labels: Labeling medication containers, medical devices, and important equipment with Braille to enhance safety and accessibility.
• Training Staff: Educating healthcare professionals on the importance of Braille and how to assist visually impaired patients effectively.

Universal design and the integration of Braille in healthcare are essential steps towards creating an inclusive and equitable system for all patients. By prioritizing accessibility, healthcare providers can eliminate barriers, improve patient outcomes, and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to receive the care they deserve. Braille, as a fundamental component of this inclusive approach, plays a vital role in empowering individuals with visual disabilities, promoting independence, and enhancing communication and safety in healthcare settings.

Healthcare content marketing requires time, effort and strong strategy — three resources that are always in demand within healthcare organizations (HCOs). Creating high-quality content that resonates with your audiences means figuring out what those audiences want and showing why your team is the best choice to help them. A messaging matrix can play a key role in that work.

At first glance, a messaging matrix is a simple-looking table that outlines key areas your healthcare messaging should address with your consumers. But look a little deeper, and you’ll see that this unassuming document has layers upon layers of complex utility for your HCO’s marketing team .

Perficient’s healthcare experts know what it takes to create an effective, successful messaging matrix for your outreach efforts. Let’s go over the components of a strong healthcare messaging matrix together, or feel free to contact us for more information.

1. A messaging matrix is the logical next step after healthcare personas and journeys

Our healthcare personas and journey maps offer a deep dive into what consumers are looking for from HCOs like yours. But all too often, we’ve seen clients take these valuable insights and stick them on the digital shelf, rather than taking the lessons they provide and putting them to use. A messaging matrix can help your team translate your consumer personas and their unique healthcare journeys into clear, discrete content touchpoints.

By identifying scenarios that map to milestones in a persona’s journey with your HCO, a messaging matrix can help you understand:

• Key moments of influence in the persona’s journey so you’re speaking to your audiences when they’re receptive to your messages
• What the persona is looking for at that moment in their journey
• How that coincides with your business priorities
• What to say to motivate the next level of action in the consumer

Your messaging matrix is one way your team can continue to create long-term, ongoing and demonstrable value from your strategy efforts.

2. A messaging matrix can help align your marketing team members

Good content strategy depends on the consistency of your messaging. You may have a fantastic content creator on your team. But if that creator is out of line with your strategy, or if the rest of your team isn’t aligned with the messaging of your high performers, then you’ll likely have problems with your consumer touchpoints.

Your content likely comes from many sources: your own team, strategic partners like us, other marketing teams within your organization, other vendors, freelancers and so on. But — and this is key — your consumers shouldn’t be able to tell these disparate players apart. Consistent messaging means you speak in one clear, distinct, on-brand voice, no matter who’s conceptualizing the message.

In addition to resources like your voice, tone and style guide and healthcare writing training for your team members, a messaging matrix can help keep your various internal and external teams aligned as they present a consistent, high-quality message at every step, no matter where they may sit or whom they’re talking to.

3. A messaging matrix can jumpstart your content creation process

I’ve written thousands of pieces of content over my career, and I can comfortably say from experience that I still get intimidated sometimes when I’m starting from a blank document on my screen. Even when given a thoughtful creative brief, the idea of reaching healthcare consumers and helping guide them to a conversion and beyond can be a lot to contend with when I don’t have much to go on.

But with a messaging matrix, you can tailor the message to meet the needs of the audience members you’re trying to reach. You can use language that will resonate with them. You can make sure to include key points that they’re searching for. By having key message points detailed, you can help ensure that campaigns carry those messages through for a consistent voice and experience, from the first outreach campaign through long-term nurture campaigns.

Plus, if you find yourself constantly creating content for a key scenario for one or more of your personas, you can update the messaging matrix to account for that scenario. Not only can that make your individual job easier, but it can also help ensure your team members handle the need the same way down the road.

4. A messaging matrix supports messaging throughout the consumer journey

Many of our clients are laser-focused on pulling healthcare consumers down the funnel to conversion — whether that’s finding care, choosing a healthcare plan or purchasing a medical device. That’s natural. Conversion is a key metric and one that’s crucial for measuring the success of marketing efforts.

But conversion isn’t the point at which your content marketing efforts should stop. In fact, it’s only about halfway through the content marketing cycle, because it’s only about halfway through the healthcare decision-making process. The remaining parts of the process consumers use to make and support healthcare decisions require continued check-ins and support at key milestones even after conversion.

Our healthcare strategy team uses the Transtheoretical Model often to inform our recommendations. As you can imagine, many HCOs focus their efforts on efforts up to the Preparation stage — the point at which the consumer is ready to do something and the organization’s marketing efforts can influence the consumer’s decision.

As we often note, however, a complete content marketing strategy often involves nurture campaigns, targeted content and other marketing materials geared toward supporting the consumer through the Action and Maintenance stages. These often aren’t rigid, and your HCO can lose consumers if they feel like they must navigate them on their own. But your messaging matrix can and should include scenarios that help the consumer feel understood and supported as they continue their journey.

A messaging matrix that considers the healthcare consumer’s entire decision-making cycle can:

• Build awareness of your organization and its services/products
• Ensure your messages include the value propositions that are most important to your audiences
• Build trust over time (whatever time it takes the consumer to be ready to convert)
• Pull consumers down the funnel toward conversion
• Build loyalty after conversion
• Foster an ongoing positive relationship with your consumers

The messaging matrix is real – and it’s essential

Our healthcare and life sciences strategy team members understand how to reach consumers with messages that resonate at every stage. And we know how to craft a messaging matrix that will fuel your team’s content marketing efforts with real results.

Contact us to learn more about the role a healthcare messaging matrix can play in your strategy and outreach.

Welcome to our ongoing series on Universal Design for Healthcare! In this segment, we’ll explore the importance of Visual Disabilities in Healthcare.

The healthcare sector is witnessing an evolutionary shift towards inclusivity and accessibility. At the heart of this transformation lies universal design—a principle that advocates for the creation of environments and products to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. For individuals with visual disabilities, two critical components of this approach are braille and large print.

What is Universal Design?

Universal design (UD) in healthcare ensures that facilities, services, and information are accessible to everyone, regardless of their physical abilities. The objective is to create an inclusive experience where no one feels excluded due to their disabilities. This approach encompasses architectural designs, patient communication methods, and even the format of health information.

Braille and Large Print: The Pillars of Accessibility

Braille
Braille is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired. It consists of raised dots arranged in patterns that correspond to letters and numbers. Braille enables visually impaired individuals to read and write independently, thus fostering literacy and enhancing their ability to access crucial information. In healthcare, braille is particularly important for labeling medications, signage, and patient information leaflets.

Large Print
Large print refers to text that is enlarged to a size that is readable for individuals with low vision. While the standard font size is typically between 10-12 points, large print text usually begins at 18 points or larger. This format is crucial for enhancing readability and ensuring that important health-related information is accessible to people with visual impairments.

The Importance of Braille and Large Print in Healthcare

Enhancing Patient Autonomy
Braille and large print materials empower visually impaired patients by enabling them to read and understand their health information independently. This autonomy is essential for making informed decisions about their health and treatment plans.

Improving Safety
Accurate medication management is a cornerstone of patient safety. Braille labels on medication bottles and large print instructions help prevent medication errors by ensuring that patients can correctly identify and understand their prescriptions.

Fostering Inclusivity
Implementing braille and large print in healthcare settings promotes a culture of inclusivity. It sends a strong message that the healthcare facility values and respects the needs of all patients, irrespective of their disabilities.

Legal Compliance
Many countries have regulations and laws that mandate accessibility in public services, including healthcare. Adopting braille and large print is not just a matter of best practice but also legal compliance, ensuring that healthcare providers meet the required standards for accessibility.

The Future of Universal Design in Healthcare

The integration of braille and large print in healthcare is just the beginning. As technology advances, there are numerous opportunities to further enhance accessibility. For instance, digital health platforms can incorporate screen readers, and augmented reality can offer new ways for visually impaired individuals to interact with their environment.

Universal design principles like the use of braille and large print in healthcare are essential for creating an inclusive, safe, and patient-centered environment. By embracing these practices, healthcare providers can significantly improve the quality of care and the overall experience for visually impaired patients.