While electronic health records (EHRs) date as far back as the 1960s, they have only been mandatory for slightly over a decade. Even in that brief time, though, the American healthcare system has become widely reliant on them. While providers will be the first to say that EHRs aren't perfect, they have also become an essential part of the healthcare workflow. But rarely do practitioners think of EHR optimization.
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No matter how great the diagnosis, treatment, and management provided at a site of care, at-home care coordination is still an absolute must. After all, a full 20% of patients experience an adverse event within three weeks of leaving the hospital — three-quarters of which can be prevented with appropriate care.
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Eliminating barriers to access has long been a top concern of the healthcare industry. However, many don't think to look at the digital front door: the point at which users enter the journey. This is especially true compared to industries like tech and retail. But today, healthcare access and digital experience are impossible to disentangle. Patients are using their smartphones, computers, and tablets to do everything from finding providers to reading their reviews to booking appointments and more.
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While no-show appointments certainly aren’t a new challenge for healthcare organizations, they are one of the most persistent. Missed appointments lead to about $150-$200 in lost revenue for primary care physicians, and even $500 for surgeons — not to mention any costs that come along with associated testing, lab services, or other procedures.
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When health systems are struggling with low volume, leaders are often quick to suggest ad campaigns. But when your website doesn’t serve as a welcoming digital front door for patients, any budget spent on digital ads, local commercials, billboards, and other forms of advertising is largely wasted.
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Nursing is an intrinsically demanding field: the hours, pressure, and expectations that come with the job have always lent themselves to burnout. But in recent years, burnout has reached crisis- level proportions. A survey of 2,500 nurses released in July 2022 found that three-quarters of respondents had experienced burnout since the pandemic began, and 64% were considering leaving healthcare altogether. In the midst of already-widespread nursing shortages, identifying the causes of burnout and addressing them is critical.
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It’s no secret that it’s hard to be a physician in the US. A 2018 survey put the “Physician Misery Index” — a measurement of national physician dissatisfaction — at a 3.94 out of 5. Meanwhile, a 2022 survey by the American Medical Association found that 52% of respondents were experiencing a great deal of stress.
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Between the long hours, red tape, and often emotionally-taxing work, physicians have long struggled with burnout. But in the wake of the pandemic, it’s only increased in intensity. As you gear up for another winter season and the COVID wave that will likely come, it’s critical that physicians feel rested, relaxed, and up to the task.
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CAHPS may have been an adequate patient engagement solution when it came out in 1995, but today, it comes up far too short. For one, the survey itself is narrow in scope, failing to provide meaningful feedback at key points in the patient journey. But beyond that, the fact that it can only be administered via phone or mail leads to low response rates and unrepresentative data — after all, many patient populations hardly or rarely use those methods of communication.
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Social determinants of health (SdoH) are finally getting their focus in the healthcare industry. While some healthcare providers have had SDoH at the core of their strategies, others are just beginning to focus on it, considering the post-pandemic ecosystem. It may seem like another buzzword, but there are concerted national investments made to shift our healthcare ecosystem towards integrating SDoH. Health equity barriers are being examined, as well as how they impact care delivery from hospitals, value-based care (VBC), payers, and even life science and pharmaceuticals.
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With the current landscape of healthcare, the concept of “digital health” continues to captivate. The pandemic has served as a catalyst for the rapid growth, with the demand for telehealth leading the charge. Healthcare organizations needed to remotely monitor patients, as well as tend to their needs while simultaneously controlling the spread.
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In the wake of a pandemic, there has been a great deal of focus on physician burnout solutions. Is it possible that we aren’t looking at the problem or solutions in a way that creates change? Quality Reviews co-founder and CEO Edward Shin, MD gets to the heart of the issue with Dr. Wendy Dean, a physician and the co-founder of The Moral Injury of Healthcare,
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