Ian McCrae
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Orion Health
What if technology could ensure that individuals consistently receive the right care for them, at the right time and in the right place?
At unprecedented speed, COVID-19 is ushering in the long-overdue transformation of the healthcare system and, finally, a move to ‘patient-centric’ health. Putting the patient at the center of the healthcare system has been a goal of many health transformation strategies, often without the tools to meaningfully engage and empower patients and their families.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in rapid adoption of online and virtual care tools, presenting health system planners, payers and service providers with an opportunity to fundamentally transform the way health systems work and seize the opportunity to engage people in their homes. This shift has been a long time coming for an industry that has historically lagged in terms of consumer experience.
Shifting care from hospitals and clinics to assessing, triaging and treating patients at the right time (before an acute care need arises) and in the right location (often their homes and communities) and with the right tools. Ones that help providers to plan the best care based on the patients’ complete medical history, racial and accessibility needs and other key information like social determinants of health, internet of things data and much more. This is simply the ‘consumerization’ of healthcare in the same way as has already occurred with banking, travel, e-commerce, and so on.
I think this is the shift we will see, with healthcare investment directed to where it should have been all along: population health. We will see the rise of software solutions that will encourage patients to become involved in their care. Healthcare technologies such as digital front doors, which help patients navigate increasingly complex health systems, will become the focus for health investment because they deliver the healthcare we all want: the right care, at the right time, and in the right place.
By putting consumers at the center of healthcare delivery and empowering them with the tools to navigate increasingly complex health systems, a digital front door promises to support the shift to healthcare, anywhere.
The shift to healthcare, anywhere – the digital front door
A ‘digital front door’ solution integrates a suite of tools that allows organizations to leverage existing technologies and use systems already in place. It is a comprehensive technology that enables consumers to interact with the health system and their providers at a time and place convenient to them; it provides access to all of the tools needed to manage their own and their family’s health and wellbeing from a secure, central web application.
By putting consumers at the center of healthcare delivery and empowering them with the tools to navigate increasingly complex health systems, a digital front door promises to address the challenges facing today’s healthcare organizations and support the shift to healthcare, anywhere.
Digital health’s next big transformation – the time to act is now
Now is the time to put a digital front door strategy in place. What will be possible for patients when empowered with a complete longitudinal health record topped off with a patient-centric way to navigate a complex, overwhelming health system?
Healthcare technologies such as digital front doors, which support better access to healthcare services and meaningful ways for patients to participate in their own healthcare, will become the focus for health transformation because it delivers the experience we all want: the right care, at the right place, and at the right time.
