Parkview Health System, based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, has incorporated its telemedicine programs into a larger digital health strategy that aims to accommodate patients wherever they are. care needs.
PROBLEM
Before the pandemic, Parkview Health had deployed many of these technologies, but only in small pilot areas, as their ability to be widely adopted by providers and patients was hampered by many insurance limitations.
The pandemic has helped make telemedicine a priority in almost any health system, initially out of necessity and then out of the realization that many patients can be cared for remotely. This.
“With adoption barriers now overcome and payers now accepting care, telemedicine is now available,” said Maximilian Maile, senior vice president of digital health at being here is both a standard of care and a sustaining tool in a competitive patient market.” Parkview Health System.
He continued: “To deliver our digital health solutions, we have several key vendors and partners with whom we work. “But perhaps nothing is more important than our electronic health record, as it serves as the backbone of our communication between providers and patients.”
Parkview Health took strategic steps in 2012 to roll out and integrate Epic as its EHR for all hospitals and providers. This move has allowed the organization to be unified in performance and capabilities.
“That unity cannot be emphasized enough, as it allows us to deploy providers that can be leveraged across the entire health system, rather than buying multiple providers for the same,” explains Maile. an ultimate goal”.
“In addition, we have used other key partners to drive some of the patient experiences,” he continued. “While Epic is our primary platform for providing video visits or patient portals, we also have Veta Health to do a number of remote patient monitoring initiatives and Veta Health has been a great partner with our organization and developed some of the tools we need for patient engagement and devices.”
Best Buy has played an important role in selling home appliances, he added. If a patient wants to purchase a scale, blood pressure cuff, or other household item, Parkview Health has a website curated with Best Buy that allows patients to purchase devices that have been approved by Parkview doctors and medical staff. review number.
“This leverages the core strengths of both organizations, as Best Buy can deliver robust e-commerce solutions and Parkview can focus on delivering healthcare,” Maile said. Strong”. “Technology will continue to help the healthcare industry evolve models of patient care at home.
“There are so many ways that we can connect with patients and provide care in a convenient way,” he continued. “Digital health can not only provide ways to keep patients engaged in care, but it can also provide transparency about care through shared notes, it can enable care at home. better rural areas and can provide solutions for people who have difficulty with transportation or other social activities. decisive factors will often pose barriers.”
PROPOSE
Given the rise of digital health and the widespread use of video visits, there have been significant challenges to intensive care in rural hospitals. Parkview Health has two major metropolitan locations and several community hospitals. Many specialties and sub-specialties are only available at metro locations.
“This poses a challenge both from a patient experience point of view, driving into the city, which increases stress and time burden for patients, but also from a health system perspective, that the Beds that are filled by patients who are referred simply for not being consulted can be provided at a community site,” Maile explains.
He continued: “In 2016, we introduced video visits to a number of community hospitals, for consultations by cardiology and psychology. “Additional specialties followed, as the concept of being able to provide equally high-quality care was proven and the savings in provider time and transfers recognized.
Payers also allow video visits if the patient arrives at a specific location, but this proves cumbersome and unwelcome to the patient. As the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and payers allowed patients to stay in their homes, the use of video visits became much more common.
Maile recalls: “For a few months, this became one of the few ways to get care as the whole country was encouraged to stay at home. “Parkview Health has been able to maintain close to 70% of our standard care visits with patients using video services in our EHR and patient portal, even when the office actually closed.
“Once again, this is a testing opportunity to demonstrate that digital health can deliver meaningful interactions and high-quality results without the need to meet face-to-face,” he said. .
MARKET
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MEET CHALLENGES ONLY
One of the key pieces of technology that Parkview Health leverages to meet the challenges is the MyChart patient portal.
“Our digital health team has been developing the patient portal for several years, but the product needs continuous improvement and improvement to continue to make sense,” Maile said. “Continuously adding features is vitally important to ensure that it meets the needs of patients and engages them in their own healthcare decision-making.
“As we have had MyChart for many years and have been experimenting with video and communication technologies in that portal, we strongly encourage all of our patients to use the tool,” he continued. This is the primary communication tool for their health records and information.” “This focused approach has allowed us to more than double our adoption rate over the past three years, growing from about 28% to almost 70% of our patients actively using the portal in the past year. “
Again, going back to the interaction aspect, Parkview Health now sees patients logging into their accounts an average of seven times per month. Employees love to see this development because it strengthens their overall ability to communicate effectively.
“With a robust patient portal, we can leverage the other benefits digital health can offer, with scalability and cost savings,” Maile notes. “For example, we recently had all the paperwork and registration work ready before the visit.
He continued: “This allows patients to complete an eCheck-in within a few days of arrival at the convenience of their own home. “By the time they get to the office, all of that paperwork has been completed and our office staff save an average of three minutes per patient when checking in for them.”
This is a significant amount of time in the process of doing thousands of transactions across multiple offices.
“Another example of savings with a patient portal is the ability to drive healthcare reminders to patients and allow them to schedule appointments without having to talk to someone,” says Maile. “. “This not only saves the health system from expanding call services, but it also allows patients to seamlessly create an appointment at a time that works for them.”
RESULT
Maile talked about the adoption of the patient portal, which he thinks is an important result achieved. There is growth potential that allows for strong adoption of other initiatives, such as Online Check-in, Open Notes, online scheduling options, and features like remote queuing.
“Nearly 7 out of 10 of our patients use a portal that delivers economies of scale to deploy other features and quickly gain traction or savings,” explains Maile. “We also have a large pool of patients who are interested in their care and can get back to us, either in the form of surveys or other feedback mechanisms. This is very helpful for us to fine-tune. and improve initiatives.
“Parkview launched the Home Hospitals initiative last fall and it couldn’t have been possible without amazing teams using incredible technologies,” he added. “This program allows patients to be admitted as an inpatient, into their own home, while still receiving inpatient services such as oxygen, IVs, and rounding nurses.”
Patients can be connected via video to the doctor, as the nurse is in the house and their vitals are monitored remotely. It took several teams to get this technology building together, and it’s a considerable amount of effort.
However, the result is that patients are able to relax and recover in their own homes, which has been shown to provide better recovery time and outcomes, says Maile. “Our home health team leads this effort.”
TIPS FOR OTHER PEOPLE
Maile has two recommendations for her colleagues who must navigate digital health or telemedicine initiatives.
“The first is to continuously evaluate your solutions – even those that already exist and work well – over a two- to three-year period,” he advises. “At the speed of technology, there are so many new options every two years so you have to be vigilant to make sure you’re putting together the right solutions to meet the right needs.
“We try to see this through the lens of a ‘1,000-day journey’,” he continued. “Do we have the right solution in the next 1,000 days? Do we anticipate another solution or a lower-cost solution in 1,000 days? A difficult part of this process is sometimes transitioning from one solution to another. what worked to get you here to a new product that gets you where you need to be.”
Maile’s second recommendation is to continually review the size of a project.
“A significant benefit of digital health and technology in general is the overall scale at which it can grow,” he said. “Once a technology is deployed, there are very few limitations to scaling it. There are a lot of things to consider in that approach, such as the right care environment, the level of patient interaction. appropriate personnel and consistent quality results.
“But if those things can be linked and you can leverage your initial investment to a wider audience, that will help maximize the overall ROI,” he continued. “Right now, all health systems need to take full advantage of these tools and make sure they’re investing in the right solutions over the next two to three years.”
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