Disruptive Innovators: 10 steps to improved provider efficiency

In order for the country’s healthcare system to survive in the next few years with more insured patients under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and less funding and reimbursements, every healthcare provider is going to have no choice but to make innovative changes and involve patients in the care process.

So said longtime health IT advocate C. Peter Waegemann, founder of the now-defunct Medical Records Institute, during a webinar Thursday.

During the webinar, Waegemann described what he believes to be a healthcare “tsunami” headed toward the healthcare system. He suggested 10 steps healthcare providers can take now in order to bring measurable benefits in efficiency and cost to the system.

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“There are several individual storms on their way to converge,” he said. “The national cost crisis, quality comparisons, glaring inefficiencies and the focus on the healthcare IT industry – they are converging toward disruption. It may come in the next six months or next year, but it is going to come.”

Healthcare providers are going to have to depart from outdated technology approaches, focus on the patients themselves and work on the implementation of 21st century technologies, much like many other industries have already, Waegemann said.

“What we’ve been doing the last 30 years has not been working,” he said. “We need to rethink strategies. We can’t go on as usual.”

Waegemann suggested 10 steps he believes will bring healthcare providers better efficiency, quality of care, a step into the business models of the future and cost savings for everyone. Those steps are:

[See also: Disruptive Innovators: CEO Champions]

1. Create a patient community by utilizing clinical social media to link patients to your facility and better manage their healthcare through digital community activities.
2. Create new communication strategies (through text messaging, email and websites) to reduce both telephone and fax communication, and increase digital communication with patients and others.
3. Identify inefficiencies and reduce/eliminate paper forms and repetitive information intake. This can be done by having the organization survey data silos and data traps and research alternative solutions.
4. Create one-click communication systems with key care partners like local pharmacies, specialists, hospitals and payers.
5. Integrate patient-provided data and measurements (such as vitals measurements like blood pressure) into the EMR system. Create charts from the provided data and use interactive digital communication for disease management.
6. Create/improve internal care teams for communication channels among all individuals of an enterprise who are involved in the care of a patient.
7. Create a platform for patient education by analyzing various paper-based, digital and other patient education materials and preparing them for integration into a personal health record (PHR) program.
8. Improve your organization’s PHR by expanding your website, including financials, creating a structure, and supporting or creating a PHR application for your organization’s patients.
9. Address information capture to reduce costs. This can be achieved by improving inefficiencies in documentation, such as linking documentation to coding.
10. Address patient convenience by taking actions for the new frontier in healthcare marketing, such as the ability to make online appointments, have online communication, and support throughout the community.

[See also: EMR conversion, money, have medical practice managers stressing]