A relevant example: engaging patients to schedule appointments and pay their copays and deductibles online.
Telehealth is still top of mind … but need to win over physicians
If anyone is aware of the provider shortage, it’s the providers themselves who are managing staggering caseloads. And they are the first to acknowledge that telemedicine seems a promising answer to opening up healthcare to the many populations that struggle to access it.
But as we heard from different senior healthcare IT leaders at CHIME, providers want to see a telehealth model with clearly defined workflows that align well with how they care for patients. As CIOs know all too well, this is easier said than done. Translating physician workflow to a virtual model would be difficult even if workflows didn’t vary by individual providers — which they do.
However, there are standard workflows that can be transferred to a virtual model, while, of course, some workflows aren’t needed at all for telehealth. We’ve seen a number of provider organizations successfully add telehealth to their services, and it’s making a difference for patients.
These were among the most interesting topics we heard discussed in the focus group and throughout the event. There were many others, but the unifying takeaway is this: the CHIME Fall Forum is where some of the best thinking takes place around how to make technology work for patients and providers.
About the author: Rob Barras is a veteran healthcare technology leader at IT solutions consultancy CTG (NASDAQ: CTG).Back to HCB News
