Does Healthcare Really Need to Be a Blue-Light Special?

Health systems and hospitals are facing competition from retail companies and other so-called disruptors. Executives at a recent HealthLeaders virtual summit explained how they’re addressing that challenge with new programs that meet patient needs and preferences.

How are health systems and hospitals reacting to increased competition? They’re pointing out that no one does healthcare better than your own doctor and nurse.

And while companies like Amazon, Walmart, and Walgreens are seeing mixed success in penetrating the market, they are highlighting inefficiencies in traditional care and pushing healthcare’s decision-makers to embrace concepts like on-demand virtual care and online scheduling.

“We’re competing on convenience, access, experience, cost—all the things that traditional health systems typically struggle with,” said Diedra Kramer, vice president of consumer strategy for Sutter Health. “So I think we’re going to have continue to adapt and change to keep up.”

Kramer and Haddas Lev, associate chief operating officer for ambulatory care services and COO of community health services for Denver Health, took part in the HealthLeaders Disruptors & Retail NOW online summit this past week. Both said their health systems are facing pressure to improve care delivery through patient-centered care, but that pressure is coming more from patients than disruptors.

The conversation targeted a key innovation strategy for healthcare organizations across the country. Consumers are dissatisfied with their healthcare experience to the point that they’re abandoning the traditional primary care provider and seeking on-demand care from non-traditional sources, be it a retail-based virtual care program, a telehealth vendor or a stand-alone clinic.

To keep their patients and stabilize the bottom line, healthcare leaders are embracing consumer-facing care and borrowing certain tactics from other industries, such as retail, banking and travel.

“There are many options for non-traditional healthcare,” said Lev, whose health system serves roughly one quarter of Denver’s population and handles one of every three births. “Many of them are offering really low-cost care with the added benefit of convenience.”

“Healthcare is different,” added Kramer. “But the reality is that our consumers’ expectations are being shaped outside of healthcare, and they’re bringing these expectations to us.”

“Consumers (will) consider, select and stay loyal to something that’s the easiest to navigate, interact and transact with,” she said.

Taking the Friction Out of Healthcare

Both Lev and Kramer said their health systems are embracing strategies aimed at creating frictionless care, using digital health and telehealth technologies that reduce time spent scheduling and waiting for care.

At Denver Health, Lev says the school-based telehealth program, with 19 health centers in public schools across the city offering medical, dental and behavioral health services, is meeting a critical need for healthcare services among school-aged children. And the virtual urgent care program launched a few years back is seeing 10% to 15% growth each year.

And at Sutter Health, Kramer says an online patient scheduling platform has made it easier for patients to make appointments with their care providers, reducing no-shows and cancellations.

These strategies, Kramer said, requires alignment across many departments, including marketing, call center operations, digital health, patient experience and of course clinical care delivery. Likewise, Lev said, a direct-to-consumer (DTC) telehealth strategy requires its own infrastructure, with input on marketing, education, staffing, education and ongoing maintenance.

Lev said health systems must balance the need to be forward-thinking with the concern that these new ideas and technologies cost money, might not be reimbursed and won’t really catch the attention of picky consumers.

“You want to [be] at the forefront and innovative in those spaces, but you don’t necessarily want to be the Guinea pig every time,” she said.

 For example, she said, some physicians are using asynchronous (also known as store-and-forward) telemedicine tools to support virtual visits, but Colorado’s Medicaid program isn’t reimbursing for those services. That puts pressure on the health system to decide whether it’s worth the extra money.

“We have to figure out what the ROI is as a whole,” she said. “If we’re able to see that ROI regardless of the reimbursement model, that might be sufficient. But if this becomes a bigger part of our business rather than a supplemental service, … reimbursement for care may be necessary.”

Helping Patients and Providers

And while consumer-centric or patient-facing is all the rage, every health system is dealing with workforce shortages and staff stress and burnout. Few clinicians want to hear that a new tool requires “just one more click,” or that these advances will give them time to see more patients.

“If you’re bringing forward a consumer-first offering or approach, you can’t add burden to your care providers,” Kramer said.

To that end, she said, new programs have to benefit the provider as much as the patient. A virtual care program has to balance patient needs with provider workflows—a challenge that retail companies and other non-traditional entries into the healthcare space might not consider.

New programs like online patient scheduling and AI tools to clean up in-basket messaging should be designed not only to improve convenience and access to care, but take pressure off of providers to handle administrative tasks. In that way they’ll not only improve patient engagement and satisfaction, but also give clinicians more reasons to embrace them.

“That’s something that we’re challenging ourselves to continue to do, to look for those win-wins and make sure that we’re supporting both our patients as consumers and our care teams,” Kramer said.

As the healthcare industry evolves toward value-based care, both Kramer and Lev said they’ll be looking at a care platform that includes collaboration and addresses not only current care needs but health and wellness. That might include partnerships and programs that address housing, nutrition, exercise, even family services.

“Maybe [we’re} partnering with organizations that we wouldn’t necessarily have thought to partner with previously,” Lev said. “We want to address not only their healthcare but their barriers to healthcare.”

At the end of the day, both Lev and Kramer said healthcare leadership has to remember that they’re the experts in delivering care.  They have a trusted relationship with patients and the knowledge of how to deliver care, rather than marketing care as a retail product, alongside dryer vents and shower curtains.

“The advantage of the incumbent or actual systems is that we are best positioned to change and transform and actually disrupt healthcare because … we’re connected to our patients,” Kramer said. “They want the connected experience that’s integrated into the system, and we can deliver on that.”