By Brad Tritle, Chair, HIMSS Social Media Task Force
With all of the excitement and discussion around Meaningful Use Stage 2 happening, it is perhaps good to remind the industry of something physicians and other providers already know: Patients don’t care about Meaningful Use.
What DO they care about?
Well, we know they care about family, work, friends, recreation, faith and health. They care about time for – and away from – each of those. More and more people are connected via phones, smartphones, and other mobile devices. They are spending more time online via social media, texting or emails, with their family, for work, friends, recreation, faith and – health??
We know from the surveys and information relayed to us by Susannah Fox (Pew Internet) and Jane Sarasohn-Kahn that people are going online looking for health information (“NOW”). Because they need it? Let’s take that slowly: People are online…looking for health information/education…looking for answers to concerns…any time of day or night…and…where/when can they engage with their physician/provider? Is it the next day, in two days, a week or more?
When I’m dealing with a health issue, but have to work anyway, I often (try to) put it out of my mind so that I can continue being productive. I might not think again about it until that night, possibly right before bed. The same goes for when a family member brings me a health issue or a need for a renewed prescription – it seems to be in the evening when we have time to talk with each other and reflect. I’ve been fortunate that my physician has set me up with secure messaging, and I seem to always send her messages about 10 pm (“NOW”). Then I can rest, knowing that I will have an answer from a knowledgeable source often within one day (during the week).
I will confess I have also asked health questions of physicians who don’t know me via an iPhone app, just due to wanting to ask the question when it was on my mind (“NOW”). The answer was somewhat useful, and did reflect a lack of knowledge of my health history, but hey, it was free and almost immediate, so what do I have to complain about? Still, if I had ready access to my health history to share….This reminds me of the recent ONC video:
Not surprisingly, employers are recognizing it makes sense to allow employees to interface virtually from their desk or home with healthcare providers, saving time away from work, though certainly the outcome needs to be good (if not, it means lower productivity and time away from work). There are more telehealth consult (including behavioral health) companies becoming part of employee benefits, and incredible innovations are occurring in this area. Most of them relate to allowing me, the patient, to see the doctor NOW, with the caveat that this is for urgent or emergent care – health issues that I can’t put out of my mind perhaps, and not to take the place of my regular physician. Some even offer to coordinate with my physician, providing me and my physician with a summary. Some physicians are even looking at offering such teleconsults as an extension of their patient portal, and a way to fill up certain parts of their schedule.
So, access to my records, secure messaging and patient education – these things seem to matter to patients. Hmmm…sound like Meaningful Use to you?
Brad Tritle (@btritle) is Chair, HIMSS Social Media Task Force; Principal, Health-e Republic; Director of Healthcare Business Development, IGC; and CEO, eHealth Nexus.
Brad, Great points. When we think about what we want in health care, it aligns meaningfully. Getting more people to engage in these ways will make our health care system really work. When policies and people intersect and connect, greater momentum can be achieved. Terminology can get in the way at times, but doing what seems practical and useful will help adoption of new policies without thinking about it too much. Thanks! Jon
Thank you, Jon. Well said! Interestingly, my physician’s office said 1/3 of their secure messaging from patients occurs after hours. “Time is the new currency” as Fast Company described in 2006. I’m excited that we have new technologies coming forth in healthcare, policies to match and incent, that will begin this alignment!
Great blog & video that demonstrates the significance of having access to patient information. Connecting different departments/technologies within the enterprise and allowing the referring physician to access the appropriate pt. information with new innovation for better patient care is what society needs! Nice job
Hi Wayne, Great point! Yes – provider to provider connectivity is an issue. The “3 wishes” of consumers documented by the ONC Pledge group include 1) Desire that providers can share info about me; 2) Desire to get access to my own information; and 3) Desire to be able to share my information with others. There are 3 types of HIE – query-based, Directed (secure email) and consumer mediated. Maintaining the Hippocratic Oath (more important than HIPAA IMHO) while sharing is possible. Direct/Consumer-mediated will rise in use for those and other reasons, I believe.
I think it’s an interesting point you bring up about patients not caring about meaningful use. What they DO care about is access to affordable health insurance, and access to quality care. Hopefully, what “Health IT is …” (or will become) is increasing awareness of the health resources IT – particularly social media – can bring to light. Where’s the closest urgent care clinic? Google it. Does the new physician at my child’s prediatrics practice have good bedside manner? Check out Healthgrades. You are certainly right in that more and more people are online, and looking for health information. Hopefully healthcare IT can help point them in the right direction to affordable, quality care.
Great points, Jennifer. I agree. We are only at the beginning of social media use in healthcare. Jeremy Stoppleman co-founded Yelp out of his frustration at not having a tool to find a doctor in a new town. I love seeing the hints/tips on Foursquare about providers/physicians – but only a few providers have “claimed” their location and know what people are saying about them. This kind of transparency will set a new standard of consumer expectations and healthcare will need to learn what customer service really is. I heard about a doc office that got rid of several staff and hired folks with retail experience – and having great results due to new customer service focus.
I have been working on an e-health strategy for the health system I work for. We have identified two strategies (as we have defined it, but that is another post) where we believe e-health can have the most impact on the patient experience. One of those is “convenient access to health care services”.
The laundry list of things that the health care industry could do to improve customer service would make a very nice two volume set – talk about big data! Hiring people with retail experience is a brilliant move. That industry has learned that when consumers have access to shopping when and how it is convenient for them (2AM, on the train, etc.), people buy more. I suspect that if accessing health services was convenient and user-friendly (neither of which is true now) people would be more likely to use these services. One benefit of which is likely to be improved health.
Hi Deborah,
That is great that you have that as one of the strategies! As I think about increased “accessibility,” in addition to engagement, I also tend to think of costs – primarily because access has been done traditionally as “all shaped pegs go into the round hole.” Meaning, no matter what the malady, people will schedule a “transaction” at their provider’s office, or urgent care/ED if more emergent. Wouldn’t it be something if, and I think you are perhaps thinking this way, the interaction/transaction was appropriate to the need – as the provider side can escalate if determined the need requires? Initial access via a social media app, online chat, text, secure messaging, online video e-consult or phone consultation at all hours? If the $350 ED visit is now changed to a $35 video consult that ends up being completely appropriate to the condition, taking fewer health provider resources, and giving more convenience to the patient – it seems we all win. I would love to hear any ideas others have on this menu of access options, and how they might work.