Easily accessible technology tools are being used by both doctors and patients, but there's a notable gap between them, and plenty of grumbling—not unlike what's been seen in other industries roiled by massive change.
Mention the phrase "healthcare technology," and many images may come to mind: headache-inducing EHRs, Fitbits, or e-visits. Those are included in the broad scope of technology tools a recent study on consumers' and physicians' assessment of healthcare as well as social media channels, such as Twitter, Facebook, and blogs that offer ways for physicians and patients to communicate.
The problem is the digital divide between the two groups using them.
"Providers are using technology in their clinics and practices," says Grant McLaughlin, vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton, the McLean, Virginia-based consulting firm that co-authored the study with a division of Ipsos Group. "And consumers have a smartphone and are using it, but not necessarily for health."
Some of that may have to do with the FDA approval process for health monitoring devices that give meaningful information to physicians. The results of the survey that Booz Allen and Ipsos commissioned reinforce other, similar studies also showing a gap in understanding how to use technology in a meaningful way that will improve care, quality, and cost of healthcare.
Technology was not the focus of the survey, but the finding that doctors and patients are using technologies separately surprised McLaughlin the most. He estimates the reason is primarily due to privacy concerns, which he believes will dissipate quickly.
"In this study, 82% of consumers rank privacy and security as extremely important, yet, in every other aspect of our lives—the most notable being finance and taking pictures of checks for bank deposits—we are using privacy at the sake of convenience," he says.
To narrow the gap, there are significant hurdles to overcome. For example, virtual visits to physicians via smartphones and tablets are taking hold—telemedicine has been shown to lower costs and increase access—but state licensing requirements and payer coverage differ from state to state.
Common Ground
Physicians and patients have more commonalities than differences when asked about how they view healthcare, but it is remarkable to see that as powerful as technology can be, it is not yet a bigger part of the physician-patient relationship.
The study, which surveyed 1,000 consumers, and 400 primary care physicians, administrators, and specialists, found patients and providers differed in their levels of optimism for the future of healthcare, though they were both generally pessimistic.
Not one group surveyed thought that the reforms of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would lead to improved cost or functioning of the healthcare system.
This is the week where I'd normally preview a list of issues that physicians are facing in 2015.
But after reading this study and its pessimistic results, it occurred to me that the transformation the healthcare industry is going through is similar to what other industries have endured.
The one I am most familiar with (and also recently went through a seismic changes) is media. We used to call it journalism, and you specialized in either print or broadcast, but the plethora of channels pushing information now means we're all digital journalists.
I doubt that physicians and specialists will ever be lumped together like this, but doctors' roles are changing and navigating a path that is both stuck in the past and moving forward is difficult to reconcile.
New and younger physicians are working in a healthcare system that is foreign to older doctors, who question whether the industry is on the right track. For example, Robert Brenner, MD, a gastroenterologist with a 26-year career in private practice, is leaving California for Texas this month to begin working as an employed physician.
"It's not only becoming more restricted as far as access, but patients are going to a setting that is one-size-fits all," he says.
That "one size fits all" mentality is exactly what I thought a few years ago when study after study on media habits showed me that readers are no longer buying newspapers and instead getting their news online. It felt like the news industry was dying. I didn't feel prepared to make the transition to a digital platform, yet I had no choice but to do it, and now here we are—years later with fewer major news sources, but every one of them with an online presence.
Focus on the Stakeholder
I wouldn't argue that the system is better, but it has produced unexpected and, I think, some positive effects for readers. I don't want to turn this column into a critical look at media (there's plenty of criticism to make), but what I've come to realize over the last few years is that to survive in an environment that is transforming into something you might not recognize, you have keep the primary stakeholder in mind.
For me, it was news consumers, for doctors, and the healthcare system as a whole, it is patients. Basic stakeholder needs don't change. Consumers still read the news; the basic tenets of reporting are the same.
It raises the question of whether patients aren't like that, too. They still want and value the relationship with their physician (the Booz Allen Hamilton study bears that out), but they also have anxiety about being able to keep that connection because of cost pressures and shifting provider networks.
I am not a physician, and the transformation I lived through is not exactly the same as healthcare's, but I don't think every factor has to be the same to impart a lesson learned, which is that the primary target—patients—of the work you do needs your expertise, but you have to deliver the care where they are, which is, ironically, online.
See you there.
Jacqueline Fellows is a contributing writer at HealthLeaders Media.