Patients, providers, and practice leaders all have different reasons for pushing personalized medicine, but they all agree health IT is the path to get there.
More use of digital technologies and better patient data access would lead to more personalized medicine. That could be a boost for the provider, administrator, and patient experience, according to a new report from Beyond Intervention commissioned by Abbott.
The report, which summoned survey responses from 1,400 patients, providers, and hospital administrators, looked specifically at how digital technologies hold promise for cardiovascular disease (CVD). CVD is currently the leading cause of death in the United States, and yet 80 percent of those deaths could be prevented with improved care quality, the report authors said.
The good news is, reframing how medical providers approach patient experience is likely to also improve clinical quality. And that’s something that could fulfill provider, patient, and administrator needs, as well.
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“Healthcare systems tend to overemphasize ‘intervention’ and ‘fixing things,’ rather than harnessing the power of data to optimize care across the entire patient journey – before, during and after intervention,” the report authors said. “These factors lead to diminished patient experiences and potentially poorer outcomes – driving even greater costs for health systems and society.”
Patient respondents said they have become frustrated with fragmented care that is not personalized to their individual clinical needs, the survey showed. Overall, 72 percent of patients said they want more personalized care that is tailored to their unique disease states.
Providers reported similar frustrations. Clinician respondents said they do not get to spend enough time with their patients, which hampers their ability to deliver that holistic patient care journey most experts believe can improve quality.
Specifically, 55 percent of providers said time constraints keep them from delivering a personalized patient experience. Forty-two percent said they have little insight into after care or patient adherence to medical care plans, which can contribute to gaps in outcomes. Sixty-three percent of clinicians said they can better identify patient needs through greater connectivity through technology.
Hospital administrators, meanwhile, face an imperative to improve the patient experience and clinical outcomes, both of which impact the financial bottom line.
Using digital technologies and patient data to improve diagnostics and treatment plans could alleviate many of these problems, the survey suggested. This kind of technology can foremost improve the patient experience of care by boosting personalized medicine.
“By focusing on the whole patient, and by placing him or her at the center of the healthcare world, providers can see beyond the intervention alone,” the report authors explained. “As a result, rather than appealing to medical devices/tools or individual treatments, the industry can create an ecosystem that will benefit all stakeholders: better care for individuals, better efficiency for healthcare systems and more appropriate deployment of resources for governmental agencies.”
Patient responses indicated they would be open to this type of technology use. Although 79 percent said they have full confidence in their clinicians’ abilities, patients agree that diagnostic technologies will improve care quality. More than half said these types of technologies will help providers deliver the best treatment plans.
For example, 55 percent of respondents said technology could help providers identify the best treatment plan for the patient, and 49 percent agreed technology could help providers understand a patient’s unique disease state.
Sixty-one percent said technologies that update providers on how well they are doing would be helpful. Fifty-four percent of patients said their clinicians should use technology that helps them identify needed clinical intervention.
Forty percent said technology could generally supplement a provider’s expertise.
And in order to yield those outcomes, patients recognize that provider access to patient data will be key.
Ninety-two percent of patients said it is important for them to share their own data to improve care for future generations, and 90 percent think all patients can benefit from patient data sharing as science evolves. Only 23 percent of patients would rather not share their health data even if there are privacy controls.
Meeting these patient preferences could deliver on provider needs, as well, the researchers said. More use of digital technology and access to patient data can give the insights clinicians need to more effectively manage care. Over 80 percent of clinicians said health IT and diagnostic technologies can improve patient care.
“Doctors’ actions are guided by the data they have available to them at any given time; in contrast, the patient experience ultimately is defined by how providers gather, integrate and interpret those data,” the report authors noted.
Specifically, 63 percent of clinicians said technology can improve diagnosis, and 48 percent said technology can help treat the patient accurately from the start.
Forty-one percent of providers said patient data would help them detect risk for comorbidities, and 39 percent said patient data can help them understand patient risk factors. One-third of provider respondents said access to patient data, especially data from a wearable or remote monitoring device, would help better personalize patient care.
Notably, providers need this kind of patient data from the get-go. Throughout the care continuum, clinicians repeatedly indicated that having more patient data would be of benefit prior to diagnosis, at the time of diagnosis, and when determining treatment. After that, patient data access becomes less valuable, provider respondents said.
And finally, all of these innovations can help hospital administrators meet their bottom lines. Again, administrators are largely concerned with patient experience of care, clinical care outcomes, and operational efficiency, all of which have financial impacts.
“Patients’ desire for personalized, highly tailored care could challenge healthcare administrators to rethink the one-size-fits-all programs they’ve designed to help control costs,” the report authors asserted. “The ultimate goal for all stakeholders should be improved patient experiences and outcomes throughout the care continuum.”
Tapping more digital health technologies, utilizing patient data, and helping clinicians deliver the personalized care experience that both patients and providers want will help administrators move toward their own goals. Patient experience could improve, while clinical quality and efficiency could also tick upward.
“Imagine the possibilities that could be unlocked through improved data insights across a patient’s care journey,” the report authors concluded. “Data-driven decision-making has the potential to enable providers to consider and treat the patient more effectively – from understanding risk factors and co-morbidities, to providing precise diagnoses, to making the right treatment decisions, to ensuring post-treatment plan adherence.”
Source: Patient Engagementhit
