How to respond to consumer-centric trends in health care delivery

This week, I’ll be speaking at the Hospital and Health System Summit at the 14th Annual World Health Care Congress in Washington, D.C. on consumer-centric trends in health care delivery and the role health networks play in delivery transformation. This transformation is crucial as our health care system moves away from a volume-based model to a model based on the value of care provided. Here are three key takeaways to keep in mind ahead of the World Health Care Congress.

Health networks will continue to play a key role in responding to consumers’ wishes while managing costs. As we make this shift in our delivery model, different types of health networks emerged, specifically ACOs and patient centered medical homes. While patients may not see a noticeable difference in their interactions with their physicians, there is a lot going on that patients don’t see. Greater care coordination among a variety of providers gives patients more touchpoints with the health system; this helps patients understand their condition and treatment plan during and after their hospitalization, which helps to reduce the likelihood of being readmitted to the hospital. Expanded health networks have led to expanded hours as well as off-hours appointments for patients to increase their access to care. With greater information sharing comes less duplication of services, tests, and forms that must be completed and an increased focus on maximizing efficiencies to improve the quality of care physicians deliver to their patients. And, ultimately, improving the quality of care at lower costs is the main goal.

The return on investment in technology vastly outweighs the upfront costs. Because of a $600 million investment in our own EHR system, over 700,000 patients use our patient portal, MyChart, to track their prescription, see their test results, make their next appointment, and communicate with their doctors. MyChart allows our patients to communicate with their doctors and interact with the health care system when they want to—not when the system forces them to do so. Today, over 16,000 e-visits had been submitted through MyChart, and we had saved over $16 million by releasing patients’ results through their MyChart portal, and we reinvest these savings back into the system to continue to adapt our delivery model to our patients’ needs. In tandem, we have expanded our office hours and are open longer and during off-hours to accommodate various schedules.

Big Data presents a Big Opportunity. Every patient is unique, in terms of their condition, medical history, their expectations and experiences as a patient, their support team, and their understanding of their condition. They expect care that is tailored to their individual needs. To help us achieve this, we have done extensive patient segmentation research, which is integrated into our health IT system to improve care coordination, the patient experience, and ultimately, bend the cost curve and improve the quality of care we provide to our patients. Our segmentation program allows our physicians to better respond to the individual needs of our patients. This data provides key insights into how patients want to receive information, their care preferences, and the most effective methods physicians should use to communicate with patients to improve their outcomes and reduce readmissions.

This is an exciting time for us at Novant Health as it is at other health systems nationwide, and I look forward to hearing how others at the World Health Care Congress on how they are modifying their delivery models to account for consumer-centric trends. But in the meantime, I want to hear from you. How are your systems changing to fit into your patients’ lives? What difficulties have you faced in your transformation? How does your system use Big Data to improve care delivery?