3 ways technology will transform healthcare
U.S. healthcare spending now accounts for more than 17% of the US GDP and continues to attract political and private sector attention as an industry in transition. The passing of the Affordable Care Act and a variety of payment reform initiatives are providing the stimulus for the next version of U.S. healthcare. Entrenched payment models reimbursing for volume over value have long been tagged as contributing to skyrocketing costs of healthcare. However, recent CMS policy changes are aimed at transitioning traditional fee-for-service models for value-based care. The Bundled Payment Care Initiative (BPCI) and the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) program (mandating the use of bundled payments for total hip and total knee replacement surgery that go into effect this month) represent a renewed effort to address the Triple Aim goals of improved access and quality, while seeking reduced costs of healthcare. Rather than destabilizing the healthcare system with a radical overhaul, CMS seems to have started wringing out the “excess spending sponge”, one twist at a time.
While these new payment models begin to transfer outcome responsibility from payers to providers, there will be a significant push for technology to assist healthcare systems with this transition. Here are 3 areas where technology will likely be leveraged:
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Connected Health
Although this term may mean different things to different people, the general idea of connecting the flow of health data surrounding a patient and their episode of care will gain importance when redundancies, duplicative services and misunderstandings results in decreased reimbursement for providers. Pressures to increase this data flow in the light of HIPAA security and patient rights will continue to drive innovation and cooperation among vendors, making everyone involved in the coordination of care dependent upon technology integration.
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Personalization and Standardization
Although it sounds counterintuitive to consider a coordinated care plan being both personalized and standardized, this will be the challenge of the healthcare provider in the world of fee for value. Systems will seek a standardized approach to optimize outcomes through data-driven metrics. This will require a “measure everything” approach to care, meaning more data will be collected throughout the entire care cycle. No one will be spared from the data collecting efforts. Patients, clinicians and administrators will all be required to contribute with various levels of interest and participation. Using this data, health systems will try to strike the balance of knowing when to veer off of the care pathway to optimize an outcome with personalization, and when to play the numbers for staying on course.
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The Move Home
A new frontier of personalized patient health data available through activity trackers and other Quantified Self tools will begin to see connections into the plan of care. As technology makes data more prevalent and connected to daily function, healthcare will begin to move towards case management in the home versus crisis management in the hospital system. Chronic disease management, where daily habits, patterns and activities play a critical role in reducing expense, has the most to gain from connecting with patients in the home.
The bridge to healthcare 2.0 will be paved with technology platforms that improve care coordination, assist in standardization and personalization, and help clinicians case manage in the home.
As a digital health company that partners with Microsoft, RespondWell seeks to enable healthcare providers and empower patients with cloud-based telerehabilitation solutions that support these concepts.
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