Taking Charge

There is no denying that health care costs continue to skyrocket. One significant way to help reign in spending is for health care providers and payers to encourage, incentivize and provide patients with the opportunity to take a greater responsibility for their own health and wellness. For example, mobile health apps and wearables help patients feel more empowered to participate in healthy behaviors, particularly since they have the tools at their fingertips (literally) to help guide them.

In addition to technology, health care providers like Jupiter Medical Center offer health and wellness programs, gym facilities, nutrition counseling as well as smoking and addiction treatment programs—resources that encourage and empower individuals to engage in the trajectory of their own health. This ultimately leads to better outcomes and cost savings.

As David Cordani, President and CEO of Cigna, explained in a recent report  and citing a 2013 study, when patients feel more engaged, “they are more prone to participate in their health care decisions, get appropriate and recommended treatments (including preventative care) and engage in healthy behavior and seek out and use health care information. They are also less likely to be hospitalized or use emergency room for treatment.”

This is a win for the patients and the health care industry. Don’t you think?

#healthcare

The integration of technology into health care is nothing new. Despite significant advances in health care-based technology over the last decade, up until fairly recently, patients still received most of the information on their health and wellness directly from their physician. Today, the proliferation of mobile health care apps and wearable devices is reformulating the ways in which individuals monitor their own health and drive their health care choices.

Patients can now track their heart rate, count steps and calories, monitor their stress levels and sugar intake, as well as receive advice and health care tips all through a bracelet they wear on their wrist or by tapping an app on their smart phone. This has caused some in our sector to become increasingly concerned that by relying on these apps to drive their health and wellness, individuals will rely less on the advice and services of medical professionals.

The reality is that these apps are fostering patients to become more engaged in their own health and wellness and to take greater responsibility for staying healthy — eating better, exercising more and finding additional ways to reduce stress. This can lead to nothing but better outcomes.

So the question becomes: how then do we truly integrate this technology into today’s health care system? First, I think we have to view the increased engagement of patient’s in their own health care as an opportunity for doctors and patients to enter into more meaningful and “bigger picture” conversations about long-term health and wellness.

As providers, we also have to work with technology partners to create systems to collect and share mobile health care data with other providers as well as with our patients. This makes it possible to have treatment and disease management based on a 360-degree health picture visible by both patient and doctor. One organization that is doing this quite effectively is Ochsner Health System out of Louisiana. Through their Digital Medicine Program they monitor patients through their mobile devices or wearables and proactively engage with them to modify behaviors, adjust medications, etc. They even set up an O Bar, like an Apple genius bar, to assist patients who wish to use today’s emerging health technology. I believe that it is pioneers like the Ochsner Health System who are paving the way toward greater digital adoption among consumers and providers alike.

Consumerism

I often get asked: “what is the latest trend in health care?” For me, the next big thing in our industry—consumer driven care—has already arrived.

When I say consumer driven care, by that I mean, as patients become increasingly responsible for the cost and choice(s) of their care, they are becoming much more invested in what is available to them and are taking a more active role as consumers of their own health care.

But in this day and age, not all patients are the same. In order to continue to deliver affordable quality care and remain competitive in the health care industry, we have to understand the complexities, needs and desires of each specific segment of the patient population and be flexible enough to cater to them.

Today, we have three distinct types of patient consumers—the chronically ill, the elective patient and the healthy adult/young family/healthy older person. The chronically ill are the easiest to define in terms of care and services. We know how to treat them, offering highly acute care when needed and providing lower cost long-term care management when possible. These patients will have a lasting one-on-one interaction with a health care professional, ideally a physician or chronic disease specialist.

Then there is the elective patient. These are patients who have relatively well managed chronic conditions or who need specific care for a prescribed amount of time.  Their health care interactions will center around enhanced primary care offices or specialized facilities. These patients have more choice in terms of care and are looking for a more integrated system of care model for their health care delivery. As providers, we should strive to provide high quality care, avoid excessive spending and do our best to keep them from moving into the chronically ill category.

The final and largest segment of our population are the healthy adults or young families and/or older healthy adults. This population is healthy and focused on ease and affordability. They seek more options and multiple access points at which to experience the health care services they need most. They will have limited in-person interaction with the health system—and their entry point will most likely be through a patient portal. As such, they instinctually connect their health care journey with technology. Whether through apps or health tracking devices, they have much of their own health care data at their fingertips.

Because these patients have less one-on-one interaction with their providers, we must build loyalty with them in other ways. We must provide highly accessible points of service for care and offer them mechanisms for tracking health care information. This data will allow us to target their needs as well as have the data necessary to better treat them when they are sick. Finally, we must find ways to keep these well patients engaged. This means marketing things like our wellness services, the affordability of our services and quality of our customer service.

In today’s health care marketplace, understanding who our patients are will go a long way towards providing the best care. Don’t you agree?