In The Know - MEDSEEK News and Expert Opinion on the eHealth Industry

The Doctor is Online and Will See You Now

Virtual doctor visits continue to gain popularity, according to a recent article that appeared in U.S. News and World Report. Finally, healthcare is beginning to deliver on the Web savvy ePatient’s expectations. ePatients continue to tell the healthcare industry that they want  convenience and access to their healthcare providers and information via the Internet. According to this article, the healthcare industry is beginning to react – rapidly.

Recently, the “Consumers Access Survey” by Price Waterhouse Cooper revealed that nearly 80% of all individuals surveyed want access to Internet consultations. The questions surrounding the success of eVisits or eConsultations have always been about adoption and payment. This article provides insight into both of these issues - with results from health systems that have already been successful implementing virtual doctor visits.  What was once considered “bleeding edge technology” will soon become a standard practice within healthcare.

To learn more, read the full article.

My knee hurts, what does the Internet advise?

More and more people are turning to the Internet to get medical information. In fact eight in 10 Internet users look online for information about health topics, according to Pew Internet & American Life Project, which tracks the social impact of the Internet. In a recent Pittsburg Tribune-Review article, Craig Smith interviewed an “ePatient” who reported that when the pain in her knee continued even after surgery for an old running injury, Sarah McCluan turned to the Internet for help. "I don't use it to diagnose myself, but I do go to the Internet for basic information," said McCluan, who downloaded some knee strengthening exercises that she is following.

The ePatient has arrived.

The "e" stands for more than electronic; it means "equipped, enabled, empowered and engaged," said Susannah Fox, the associate director of digital strategy at Pew. The ePatient has been traditionally viewed as The Acute, a patient currently undergoing treatment, but this only represents about 6% of the ePatient population. The Well, which makes up 60% of ePatients, are like Sarah, they are looking for health content online but rarely end up on a hospital’s Web site. This is not because health content on hospital sites does not exist; rather it’s because when Sarah searches for information on her question, symptom or condition, the hospital Web site does not appear in her search engine results. The remaining 34% of the ePatient population, The Chronic, will be growing quickly with the aging of the boomer generation, and will also looking to the Internet for information on their health condition and treatment options.

Healthcare reform is currently in front of the Senate for debate, but for the ePatient change in healthcare is already here - the power of the search on their browser. Hospitals should begin now to include in their strategies to incorporate the needs of the ePatient beyond The Acute and pursue the remaining 94% of the ePatient population that has been consistently ignored.

Click here to read the entire ePatient interview conducted by Craig Smith.

How does William Osler Health Centre increase physician satisfaction, strengthen hospital/physician communication and save physicians time?

Physician dissatisfaction can be linked back to dissatisfied patients, lower levels of compliance with clinical protocols, disengaged nurses who are at-risk for defection, negative word of mouth and declining admissions, as reported according to Press Ganey in their report “Predicting Physician Loyalty: The New Science of Physician Relationships.”

But what if physicians were satisfied? And what would it take to increase their satisfaction?
Dr. Asim Masood, the deputy chief of staff at William Osler Health Centre in Ontario, Canada, took an innovative approach to bridging the communication and productivity gap in the hospital - starting with the physician’s viewpoint. He then communicated the needs of the physicians to IT, and worked closely with IT to develop and deliver an innovative solution to an age old problem. Together, the team at Osler implemented a strategy using eHealth technology that saved physicians time, increased productivity and ultimately increased physician satisfaction.

Want to know how they did it? Click here to read the full article that appears in this month’s issue of ADVANCE for Healthcare Information Executives.

The Impact of ePatients on Service Line Revenues

Just this week, I came across a presentation given by Lee Rainie at the Medical Library Association’s annual conference at the beginning of October. In his presentation, titled “The rise of the e-Patient,” Rainie describes myriad ways in which ePatients research health topics using the Internet. He also highlighted the upsurge in ePatients’ utilization of Web 2.0 tools including the sharing of healthcare information by writing and commenting on blogs, joining social networking sites and interacting with various other forms of social media. In 2009, using the Internet:

• 47% of adults have now retrieved information about doctors or other health professionals
• 38% sought information about hospitals or other medical facilities
• 33% researched how to lose or control their weight
• 27% got answers to questions about health insurance
• 12% learned how to stay healthy on an overseas trip

Unfortunately, it appears that the growing impact of the ePatient still tends to be mostly ignored when hospitals formulate their strategies to grow service line revenues. To maximize growth potential and return on service line revenue, hospital executives need to be keenly aware of the usage patterns of the growing ePatient population and incorporate appropriately aligned eHealth strategies into their service line tactics. Hospitals should look to their consumer Web site and patient portals as ways to assist in gaining market share. To gain a competitive advantage, service line marketing strategies must reflect the behaviors of the ePatient. In this digital age of DVRs and satellite radio, executives must be cognizant that ePatients are spending far more time on the Internet than they are watching television or listening to the radio. Where are the marketing dollars going?

To view Lee Rainie’s presentation go to: www.pewinternet.org/Presentations/2009/40-The-rise-of-the-e-patient.aspx.

A new virtual door opens

We live in an internet world where we visit Web sites that range from painful to look at and navigate – to easy to use and beautiful to see. In the September issue of eHealthcare Strategy & Trends, Mark Goldberg reviewed a new site, www.devoschildrens.org.

He provides the following comments on the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital site:

“A pleasure to view”
“Navigational links … greatly aids navigation”
“Nothing childish about the site”
Very well designed for their target audience”

MEDSEEK was pleased to be part of the development process with our client and their agency to launch this site. To read the full article, click here. And be sure to check out the site for yourself. I recommend visiting the Should I call the doctor? section and the Fact Sheet.

The Information Age has passed the healthcare industry by… but not for long

If you read the preamble as described in  “Meaningful Use: A Definition - Recommendations from the Meaningful Use Workgroup to the Health IT Policy Committee” created June 16, 2009, it states,

 

“In 2008, the National Priorities Partnership, convened by the National Quality Forum (NQF), released a report entitled ‘National Priorities and Goals’ which identified a set of national priorities to help focus performance improvement efforts. Among these priorities were patient engagement, reduction of racial disparities, improved safety, increased efficiency, coordination of care, and improved population health. These priorities were used to create the framework for ‘meaningful use’ of an electronic health record. An additional area related to privacy and security has also been included to emphasize the importance of preserving patient protections and ensuring patient trust in the use of electronic health records.”

 

The patient in today’s Internet connected world has become an ePatient. While the health industry struggled with the concept of a virtual consumer, other industries did not. Hospital executives and physicians have grown accustomed to using Web portals, participating in social networking sites, paying bills online, scheduling flights and appointments and registering for events and services. More than likely, they now use a debit card more frequently than cash. Yet, some executives report that they do not use their own hospital Web site for scheduling an appointment online because it is too difficult or isn’t convenient.

Guess what?

Their current and future patients are saying the same thing.

 

‘Meaningful Use’ has changed all of this. Information technology, specifically eHealth online services, will soon become “the norm.” The sooner the industry begins to provide convenience and access to health services utilizing online tools (what almost every other industry has done) - the better we all will be.

 

To illustrate what is happening and willhappen, read the insightful article in this month’s issue of HealthLeaders.

To read the complete article follow the link.

 

http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/238742/page/1/topic/WS_HLM2_MAG/The-Patient-of-the-Future.html

Will your state have an HIE to connect to?

A criteria of Meaningful Use, part of the requirements of the HITECH Act, is to connect to a Health Information Exchange(HIE). The question is, will your state have an HIE ready by 2011? On August 20th Joe Biden, United States Vice President, announced in a press release that additional funding will be provided to states to support in the development of HIEs with the ultimate goal of developing a national network.

MEDSEEK’s Brad Hawkins, Vice President - Clinical Experience, was interviewed regarding the implementations of HIEs in the August edition of the eHealth Strategy and Trends newsletter for their series “Ask An Expert.” In the article, Brad provides an insightful look at building an internal HIE inside the four walls of a  hospital and then what it takes to build a regional HIE, the building blocks to establishing a true exchange of health information within a state and then across the nation.

So how far along is your hospital/region/state in the process?

To read the full article follow this link.

Consumer Reports for Hospitals

When you are looking for reviews on cars, electronics, appliances or other consumer products, what is a source of truth? Consumer Reports, of course. But is this where you would go to check out a hospital? Now you can.

This is a huge shift for the organization. Why would a trusted publication spend the time, effort and finances to launch a new offering? Because the consumer demands it. 

What will they publish? Patient satisfaction ratings, review of hospitals, inside information.

ePatients are here and they want access to health information. They come armed with only a browser and a keyboard. What will they find when they visit your website? What will they say about their experience in hospital?

To find out more, visit www.ConsumerReportsHealth.org.

What happens when the government asks for your expert opinion?

This week we have a special guest, Gale Wilson-Steele, MEDSEEK’s founder. Gale has and continues to be active in improving the delivery of healthcare information to all Americans. We are very proud of her accomplishments and honored to have her voice heard at the AHRQ.

So Gale what was it like?

“Have you ever wondered how the government comes up with the proposals and policies that drive our nation’s laws, spending and practices?  It does not happen in a vacuum behind the beltway, as I learned at the Building Bridges Workshop that I attended last week at the invitation of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality(AHRQ).This arm of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, gathered together 20 researchers, policy thinkers and industry leaders to help determine the best ways to engage consumers in their personal health information management (PHIM).  We broke into work groups, offered our experience and expertise, and then argued and collaborated until reams of notes, hours of taped conversations and dozens of slides of distilled thought were offered for further compilation into recommendations to the AHRQ.  How rewarding to bring the voice of MEDSEEK and our customers into the process of defining the future of PHIM!”

Gale Wilson-Steele
Founder/Chief Strategy Officer
MEDSEEK

Digital health: Struggle or a pipedream?

In their series of special reports entitled “Fixing Health Care,” CNNMoney.com asks the question: With the target date for the stimulus plan's electronic health record program just 5 years off, is digital health possible? In the interview, three health care providers' stories reveal that hospitals may have a difficult road ahead.

David Goodman conducted interviews with key contacts at three hospitals that have undergone enormous efforts to make digital health a reality and he finds out what advice they can offer to others working on their HIE initiatives. In the article Gary Bowers describes the Western North Carolina Network (WNC) where MEDSEEK connected 16 hospitals across the region. Gary explains what he believes is in store for other states as they begin to take on the project.

To read the article on CNNMoney follow this link.

To find out more about the WNC project and to learn how 16 independent hospitals jointly save $1.4 million annually, read the case study or watch the video.

And to learn what you can do to get started on your health information exchange in order to meet the government’s new “meaningful use” standards and HITECH initiatives, visit www.medseek.com/hie.