Knowledge is power, and advances in healthcare technology are giving back power to the patient as they navigate health systems, help manage their own care and benefit more from appointments with their caregivers.
A patient portal, says Meditech associate vice-president Rachel Wilkes, is ultimately a key that unlocks the health service for a patient. Meditech, a global electronic health record vendor, offers many patient-focused solutions and tools in its software, including a patient portal. By accessing the portal, individuals can schedule appointments online at any time and obtain information to understand how best to prepare for that appointment.
“We know that patients really do want to be in control of their own care, and the technology is absolutely enabling that,” Wilkes says.
Patients can also view their own test results via their individual portal, allowing for more meaningful conversations with their healthcare provider following their appointment.
READ MORE
“And another big benefit that we see is all the members of the care team are seeing the same data. We’re not asking this patient when they’re seeing a nurse or when they’re seeing a GP to repeat this information. It’s there and it’s visible for everyone to interact with, so the patient doesn’t feel like they have answered the same question multiple times. So that can lead to less duplication of not just the questions, but tests and further investigations.”
Another way healthcare organisations have been leveraging technology to engage with patients is with SMS communication to send tailored appointment reminders, pre-appointment instructions and questionnaires.
“The patient can go through and fill out the questionnaires that are really specific to their care, to their personal needs, and take time over them, rather than doing them in the waiting room when they feel rushed.”
Crucially, it also allows for bidirectional communication. “If a patient has a question about their appointment or about their care, they can send that back via SMS, or email, or phone call – whichever modality best suits the patient.”
Many healthcare organisations are taking this another step forward by using SMS for proactive outreach to contact a cohort of patients who need a particular routine test – such as a colonoscopy or mammogram. This has been hugely successful, Wilkes explains.
“We have a site that said they get a 78 per cent closure rate on getting that phone call back, and once they are on the phone they can book the appointment with the patient at a time that suits them.”
The benefits of this, Wilkes stresses, are manifold. “For the same customer that had that 78 per cent closure rate or callbacks, they decreased their no-shows from 7 per cent down to 4 per cent. So that’s very significant, and we have seen similar results in other organisations.”
The reduction of no-shows and increase in the number of patients participating in routine screening is significant for several reasons, including better patient population health and a reduction in unplanned expenses for the organisation.
Wilkes is excited about how this technology can help improve patient health through its population health management capabilities. Historically, health services have been slow to analyse and interpret the vast swathes of data they collect. Now, Wilkes says, they can act on it for the benefit of the broader population.
“Having this data means we can start taking a look at patterns within this patient population. What is the density of disease burden? How old are these patients? Where are they coming from geographically?”
One example outlined by Wilkes involved data analysis highlighting a problem with access to mammography in a particular geographical area.
“So we now have multiple organisations that have leveraged data to identify disparities and now use a mobile mammography unit that will go out to that area and provide access directly in the community.”
This kind of patient-centric technology is quickly becoming the norm in the United States, but also in centres that Meditech is working with in Canada and the UK. “Most healthcare organisations have moved past doubting its value and are now focused on the practicalities: how to integrate it into workflows and identify which practices benefit from it most.
“As we look at the digital record becoming more widespread in Ireland, this would be something for Ireland to think about too, such as when and where does it make sense to integrate those technologies, and we can apply learnings that have happened elsewhere to Ireland.”
