Home Health Care At MedCity ENGAGE, see how patient engagement is becoming a critical component...

At MedCity ENGAGE, see how patient engagement is becoming a critical component of healthcare

148
0
SHARE

The content at MedCity’s upcoming ENGAGE conference on patient engagement has evolved quite a bit since its launch 5 years ago.  Whole cliques within medicine didn’t get engagement.  The C-suite needed convincing. Patients were still seen as patients – and less the healthcare consumers they are today.

Contrast that with the agenda for the November 6-7 conference in San Diego. The speakers and topics at the event this year reflect a more nuanced approach to patient engagement. There is a great deal of interest in how digital health technology can be harnessed to fit into people’s lives easier from remote monitoring for recently discharged patients to delivering mental healthcare on the patient’s terms. Contrast this with an opening keynote from Robin Caruso of CareMore, who will highlight how the health system has used community-based interventions and close engagement to reduce loneliness and social isolation. It will also highlight the emerging roles in a healthcare landscape that continues to shift.

Adoption and integration of wearables

Although some say that it’s too early to assess whether wearables such as Apple’s smartwatch can be effective in clinical trials, that has not stopped pharma companies from studying how it can be integrated into clinical trials. Healthcare organizations are also interested in leveraging wearables for other applications such as tracking a patient’s recovery from a procedure and monitoring patients with degenerative diseases affecting mobility, such as Parkinson’s disease.

The panel discussion, “Leveraging Wearables for Increased Engagement” will include Spry Health co-founder Pierre-Jean Cobut, Withings Healthcare VP Alexis Normand and HonorHealth Chief Academic Officer Priya Radhakrishnan.  Josh Baxt, principal of Baxt Communication and a freelancer for MedCity News, will moderate.

In a recent interview, Aman Thukral, an associate director for data and statistical sciences with AbbVie, talked about how the drug developer is using wearables.

While he declined to share vendor names, Thukral said AbbVie has used wearable devices in its trials for accelerometry, actigraphy and Parkinson’s disease, including consumer- and medical-grade, mostly worn on the wrist, as well as some ankle-worn. All were provided by AbbVie rather than patients being required to “BYOD,” or “bring your own device,” he added.

Emerging roles in healthcare

The need to at least try to be seen as aligning their interests with patients has led to the rise of Chief Patient Officers and variations of that job title at pharma and medical device companies. Roslyn Schneider, Head of Global Patient Affairs at Pfizer, will take part in a panel discussion on the topic with Medtronic Diabetes Chief Patient Officer Louis Dias with Clear Voice Consulting President Lygeia Ricciardi serving as moderator. In recent interviews, Schneider and Ricciardi shared their perspectives on this position.

From company to company, the line items of the role often differ, but the goals are the same, Schneider said. That also means the patient-engagement executives of various companies are often more cooperative than competitive, meeting regularly to exchange ideas.

“The idea is that across the board in healthcare, we’re seeing a new position that didn’t exist five to 10 years ago, often in the C-suite and thus embedded in the leadership of organizations, helping bring the voice of patients in,” Ricciardi said.

Closer collaboration between patients and business

The panel “What Empowered Patients Want” will tackle the question of how to create better strategies to improve the patient experience, engagement and forming relationships built on mutual respect and collaboration.

Panelists will include software developer and diabetes patient advocate Thacher Hussain, Agnes Berzsenyi, the president and CEO of Women’s Health at GE Healthcare, breast cancer patient advocate and Hulabelle Swimwear CEO Dana Dinerman and Taylor Carol, the chief strategy officer for patient experience company ZOTT, with moderation by ConvergeHEALTH Managing Director Dan Houseman. Hussain shared his insights on what’s needed to improve collaboration in a recent interview.

What’s necessary, according to Hussain, is better coalition building between open-minded business figures and passionate patients so that the patient perspective is not just heard, but heeded, in an effort to distribute the most effective treatments to the largest number of patients

How to improve behavioral health delivery

When it comes to mental health, digital health technology offers ways for people to receive counseling from therapists within the privacy of their own home or on their own terms from video interaction to text messaging. But healthcare organizations are increasingly interested in how help can be offered even when it isn’t sought, setting up a complex balancing act between patient privacy and the interest in improving patients’ health. A panel discussing the issue includes Optum Behavioral Health president and CEO Martha Temple; , Founder & CEO, Vida Health. Temple highlighted the work Optum is doing in this area in a recent interview.

Optum is utilizing advanced analytics to pinpoint members who could benefit from mental health support. The organization then offers such patients a virtual visit option so they can connect with a behavioral health provider via video or phone. Additionally, Optum leverages technology to ensure all care is coordinated between case managers and clinicians.

Space is limited, so register today!

Source link

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

2 × five =