Over the past year, more and more barriers have gotten in between patients and their providers. For the first time since 2009, the uninsured rate in the country has gone up. Desperate to find ways to manage rising healthcare costs, patients are turning to DIY technology, medical tourism, and online crowdsourcing to get the care they need. In response, healthcare venture funding broke new records with billions of dollars financing new technology, new solutions, and new stakeholders from retail to tech seeking to improve how care is delivered and received in this country. As we wrap up 2019, there are few takeaways to take stock of before we enter the new year — a presidential election year, no less, which undoubtedly will be marked by increased scrutiny and attention. Let’s take a look.
Retail clinics taught traditional healthcare providers a lesson Providers can no longer take for granted that patients will find them, be willing to wait three-plus weeks for an appointment, and keep on returning. They have to be proactive about their outreach, offer close-to-immediate availability, and make sure patients can reach them easily whether it’s via a text message, online platforms such as Google or Yelp, or via a virtual visit. With the growth of thousands of retail clinics — redefining patients’ perception of what immediate access to care can and should look like — executives in more traditional settings this year learned the lesson that they need to be responsive to patient demand in order to retain and grow their market share.
2019 Introduced the Chief Patient Experience Officer
As patients continued to demand quicker access to care, easier communication with their providers, and higher quality outcomes, 2019 saw a shift among stakeholders, from providers to health plans and self-insured employers, to put the patient at the center of their efforts. As a result, we saw the emergence of new titles like Chief Patient Experience Officers, Chief Data Analytics Officers, or Chief Population Health Officers — all meant to effectively guide patients along their healthcare journey with the goal of driving strong health outcomes. This year, we also saw an increase in roles being filled by executives from outside of traditional healthcare, which is a positive step towards designing care that is nimble and responsive to new patient demand.
CMS made the biggest move toward data interoperability
Standardization efforts like Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources, FHIR, are hugely important to the ongoing industry effort of breaking down data silos and democratizing access to health data across providers and patients. In 2019, FHIR implementations made significant headway, but the CMS made the biggest move toward increased interoperability when it opened up its API for access to patient billing data via https://dpc.cms.gov/. The open API allows doctors to see patients’ billing information, giving them key access and insight into an individual’s medical background for a better understanding of the patient’s healthcare experience and ways to provide better clinical outcomes.
It was the comeback of the EHR system that never left
EHR systems have long been known as the treasure trove of data that holds the key to improving patient care if only it was easy enough to tap into the insight. This year, the new breed of two-way EHR integrated technologies that had been making their way into market became solidified solutions as providers and clinics continued to implement health IT software that helps them connect with patients and oversee the entire patient care journey – be it within the four walls of the doctor’s office or as remote options, including intelligent telehealth and real-time patient engagement tools.
In aggregate, 2019 happenings all have the potential to drive better care, generate smarter data insight and improve patient engagement. We all have a responsibility to support the kind of shift and modernization that helps get patients to care faster. With major industries like Retail and Big Tech continuing to make moves in healthcare, today’s innovation in digital health solutions has never been stronger and I’m excited to see where the continued momentum will take us in 2020.
Photo: Oakozhan, Getty Images
