DIGITAL STRATEGY

How To Achieve Digital Health Success

In today’s difficult financial environment, amid rising labor costs and staffing shortages, many health care organizations are prioritizing technology investments to improve operations. Now comes the hard part: reassessing the post-implementation value of digital solutions. In examining the provider landscape, Oliver Wyman leaders recently noted that three strategies have consistently delivered high value for hospitals and health systems. 

3 Digital Strategies with Big Potential 

1. Rethink the front door of care – Pursue this strategy if you are aiming to attract new patients, boost retention rates and enhance patient convenience. 
   
   
2. Improve health administration operations – Address this strategy if current operations have become unsustainable financially or if your organization feels handcuffed in its ability to respond to market dynamics. 
   
   
3. Optimize value-based care analytical functions – This approach can help providers that are looking for new processes and tools to effectively manage risk. Provider organizations can take different paths in mapping their strategies in these areas, the report notes. And while resource constraints will limit how many implementations a hospital or health system can take on, each provides a specific benefit that enables providers to prioritize their investments.

Digital Front-Door Drivers 
Improve direct-to-consumer virtual care to provide greater patient convenience via both synchronous and asynchronous solutions. Boost access through self-service scheduling capabilities by giving patients the ability to make virtual or in-person appointments in real time online.  

Takeaway
Drive stickiness through automated and personalized patient engagement. Improved analytics will drive a personalized patient experience. Additionally, patient interactions will be connected across channels to provide prompt support through the patient’s journey and effectively retain patients through enhanced referral processes. 

Automation Keys to Streamline Admin Operations 
Look to automate patient and staffing workflows. Real-time adjustments can be made to schedules due to factors like cancellations or no-shows, thereby increasing staff efficiency and patient convenience. Automating insurance verification also improves patient experience by reducing friction with payers and cutting unnecessary or duplicative labor and operational costs. 

Takeaway 
Lower operating costs can be achieved by implementing smart capacity planning for flex staffing. Predictive analytics can help determine an optimized hiring plan and reduce costs. Appropriate staffing levels also can cut overtime costs, boost staff satisfaction and lead to improved patient care. 

Value-Based Care Analytics Essentials 
Focus on understanding patients’ longitudinal health records. Avoid redundancy and create actionable insights based on a patient’s health records and prior actions. Improve population-risk stratification to identify the right level of care. Ensure that targeted solutions are aimed at the highest-need populations. 

Takeaway
Proactively triage and direct patients to the right care modality. Wearable devices and teletriage can alleviate heavy emergency department traffic. Artificial intelligence and machine learning systems also can evaluate the likelihood of high-risk outcomes and the need for critical care. Physician-curated taxonomy standardizes intake data and facilitates patient treatment. 

3 Keys to Digital Investment Success 

1. Prioritize digital investments that can have an outsized impact on enterprise strategy – Delivering differentiated experiences, especially on commodity services, is paramount. Whether it is a market-leading specialist offering or a primary care network that is consistently accessible, health systems should be focused on how their technology investments bolster their strategies and objectives. 
   
   
2. Deliver an omnichannel experience – Consumer experiences have been shaped by countless online retailers. They expect the convenience of seamless autofill address and credit information across multiple online platforms. Experience is king for nonacute patients and specialized patients who want a seamless experience and expect their data to follow them. This makes it imperative to understand how vendors will integrate with your electronic health record and the role it will play in future tech decisions. 
   
   
3. Use digital investments to accelerate critical operating model changes – You now have the decision space and market conditions to justify changes in your technology and operations. Go beyond asking what technologies you need and evaluate which operations must be rethought.