Connected Health

DECEMBER 2019 | FUTUREOFPERSONALHEALTH.COM

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CONNECTED HEALTH Dr. Mike Varshavski The visionary doctor is using social media to reduce the spread of misinformation online

Learn the mistake providers are making when it comes to technological innovation Here’s why valuebased arrangements are revolutionizing the healthcare industry

Understanding Alzheimer’s Begins With All of Us

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Innovation That Outpaces Implementation Puts Patients at a Disadvantage Kerry Amato CAE, Executive Director, Health Innovation, HIMSS

The implementation of innovation needs to happen quickly to deliver better, faster care for the patient.

Until very recently, healthcare was behind the curve on technology adoption and innovation.

Other industries — from banking to retail to transportation — have seen the tech-enabled disruption of products, services, and entire business models, while healthcare has been notoriously slow to embrace the digital era.

That is beginning to change.

Rapid advancements in health technology in recent years are ushering in a new golden age for the industry, re-inventing everything from the way we track public health threats to the way doctors communicate with patients.

Treatments that once seemed impossible are quickly becoming standard, thanks to the inter-

section of data and technology.

From artificial intelligence solutions that can predict who is at risk for certain diseases, to the use of virtual reality to treat pain, innovation abounds. We are seemingly only limited by our imaginations.

Out with the old?

However, the relentless focus on innovation overlooks a key issue: that many healthcare organizations are struggling with implementation of technologies that already exist. Health systems everywhere see the value in the latest digital health solutions, but they face challenges adopting these solutions and integrating them into their existing systems and workflows. We have amazing capabilities in areas like remote monitoring, digital therapeutics, and data analysis; but the real-

ity is that many organizations are still working to fully digitize their health records, a process that began in earnest in the 1990s and continues to this day.

Innovation has outpaced implementation. Before we can realize the full promise of data and technology in healthcare, we need to acknowledge the implementation gap. Right now, healthcare is investing more heavily in discovery than introduction. It’s certainly understandable, given the exciting emerging technologies coming to market every day. However, ultimately healthcare is about the patient, and whether clinicians have what they need to provide the best possible care. In that sense, we would be better served to invest in helping providers and health systems make smart, pragmatic choices about their technology investments, and support them in addressing their implementation challenges.

Intentions are important This isn’t to suggest that innovation should stop. We can and should continue pushing

the boundaries of what’s next in health — but we should be thoughtful about how we do it.

Prudent discovery that puts the patient and clinician first can ease implementation challenges down the road. Would-be innovators need to ask themselves: “Why are we doing this? Why does the patient or clinician need this solution? How will the patient access their care?

Where will the patient access their records?” By getting back to the fundamentals and asking these questions first, we can help ensure we are developing technology for patient-focused results.

It’s an incredibly exciting time to be working in healthcare. The ever-expanding potential of digital health tools enables all of us to live healthier, happier lives.

As healthcare organizations continue seeking ways to integrate emerging technologies into their existing systems, technology providers have an opportunity to harness the power of data and technology for our shared goal — connecting patients to better health. n

Publisher Lee Hayes Business Developer Abraham Freedberg Managing Director Luciana Olson Lead Designer Tiffany Pryor Designer Keziah Makoundou Lead Editor Mina Fanous Copy Editor Seth Garben Director of Sales Shannon Ruggiero Director of Business Development Jourdan Snyder Director of Product Faye Godfrey Content Strategist Vanessa Rodriguez Cover Photo American Osteopathic Association All photos are credited to Getty Images unless otherwise specified. This section was created by Mediaplanet and did not involve USA Today.

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Industry Leaders Share Their Visions of the Future of Healthcare Though coming from different backgrounds, all four experts agree: the future of healthcare will be radically different from its present.

Louis Gagnon CEO, Total Brain

What does the future of healthcare look like to you?

Louis Gagnon: The future of healthcare will hopefully be universal, integrated, and highly personalized. More than ever before in history, health data is available for us to deeply understand that, because everyone is truly unique, everyone reacts differently to treatments and medications.

Mike Braham: The future of healthcare is vibrant and exciting, with both the frequency and rate of change accelerating into the foreseeable future. I feel as though we are at a crucial tipping point of healthcare, shifting from predominantly sick care to “healthy care,” which is truly focused on the wellness of individuals throughout their life.

Doug Beaudoin: Driven by consumerism, data availability and use, and scientific innovation, we’ll see a focus on maintaining well-being, rather than treating illness — a shift from healthcare to health. In the future, consumers will be more willing to share their health data, and the architecture and analysis 4 • FUTUREOFPERSONALHEALTH.COM

Mike Braham CEO, Trapollo

capabilities for that data will provide a real-time and holistic view of the consumer and their environment.

Mylea Charvat: The future of healthcare will include digital technologies that offer some solutions for early detection and disease management for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Digital tools and wearables will make it more accessible for individuals to monitor their own health, and actively contribute to their care or help prevent diseases in the first place.

What does connected healthcare mean to you?

LG: Hopefully, connected healthcare also means a connected patient who is empowered by information and tools so that he or she can actively participate in his or her own healing process.

MB: Connected healthcare is a beautiful mosaic, connecting the fragments of data, insights, and observations of someone’s personal health story, framed by the access points and multiple modalities of care delivery. The mosaic is a work in progress, ever evolving with refreshed informa-

Doug Beaudoin US Life Sciences & Health Care Industry Leader, Deloitte LLP tion that continuously reflects the health of the individual.

DB: To me, connected healthcare means a healthcare system driven by greater data connectivity, interoperable, open, and secure platforms, and increasing consumer engagement. Interoperable, always-on data will promote closer collaboration among industry stakeholders.

MC: Connected healthcare is an opportunity to capture real-time data from people in everyday life using wearables, smart devices, and other technology. In partnership with Boston University School of Public Health, we are launching a three-year research study called ASSIST (Alzheimer’s Disease Discovery Study), that will collect data from participants using smart devices such as a tablet or phone to improve the detection, prediction, and understanding of dementia.

In 2020, what kind of healthcare technology should healthcare professionals be implementing?

LG: Bio-feedback wearables, digital apps and sensors for patient monitoring, early interventions, and continuity of care. Sitting

Mylea Charvat CEO, Savonix

above them, health systems should leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence to devise treatment integration and personalization plans.

MB: As health IT continues to rapidly accelerate, management changes and impacts to workflow need to be better addressed through technology. Professional and patient training also need to be enhanced before we further inject change in a dynamically changing industry.

DB: In 2020 we will see the desire for seamless, personalized, integrated care experiences to become more mainstream.

For health plans, hospitals, and health systems, 2020 will likely be the year of the consumer as there will be greater consumer influence in many aspects of the health ecosystem.

MC: Despite the crucial role the brain plays in maintaining our health, our cognitive health is not part of the annual physical. Digital cognitive screening should be a part of the routine physical, as many studies show that early detection of dementia is important in terms of treatment. n

Dr. Mike Varshavski is using social media to combat the spread of medical misinformation online, and he encourages other doctors to do the same.

Dr. Mike Varshavski, the physician whose YouTube channel has over 4.5 million subscribers, did not imagine a career in medicine would lead to online fame. In 2015, after his Instagram caught the attention of virtually every news media outlet, he decided to use his platform to champion quality healthcare.

This Is Why More Doctors Should Be on Social Media

The human touch He initially faced criticism from inside the medical community.

“There is this fear that by being on social media, it somehow lowers the authoritative nature of being a doctor, it makes you seem unprofessional by showing your personal side.”

Varshavski instead saw the potential of a social media presence. “I thought it was more beneficial to show that we are

human” he said. “It fosters a very healthy doctor-patient conversation. When patients come into my office after they’ve seen so much of my content, we can start talking about their conditions as if we’ve known each other for much longer than ten minutes.”

An outlier going mainstream Varshavski is the first to admit that visibility on social media doesn’t suit everyone, but he encourages doctors and physicians to seek out other ways to engage with online discourse.

“I’m consistently trying to hire doctors to help me research stories to review and discuss. Newspapers and major news organizations are looking for physicians for their medical news staff. All of those are ideal ways for doctors to get involved with social media without necessarily putting their faces out there, or putting their lives out there. There’s no onesize-fits-all approach.” n Ross Elliott PHOTO: AMERICAN OSTEOPATHIC ASSOCIATION

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need to do, and what they want to share,” she said.

Healthcare Providers and Insurers Are Working Together to Boost Patient Outcomes When insurance plans and healthcare providers cooperatively share information, the quality of healthcare for patients improves.

The future of American healthcare relies on insurance plans and healthcare providers working together, and America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) is one association facilitating that cooperation.

Elizabeth Goodman, vice president of Government Affairs and Innovation at AHIP, argues

that the sharing of information between providers and insurance plans — what is called a value-based arrangement — allows for the best quality of care for patients. “We firmly believe that the best care is delivered to patients when the plan and the provider’s incentives are aligned,” she said.

The magic number The aims of value-based arrangements are threefold, as Danielle Lloyd, senior vice president of

Private Market Innovations and Quality Initiatives at AHIP, explained. “The intent of value-based arrangements is to improve the quality of care, reduce the cost of care, and improve the patient experience of care,” she said.

“There is frequently something called a joint operating committee, where the plans and providers sit down and talk about what needs to be done, and determine what the plans need to do, what the providers

Behind the scenes “Usually the plan and the provider will get together annually,” Goodman said. “They’ll be able to see how they’re doing against the goals that we’ve jointly set, and what kind of changes they need to make in the way that they deliver care to our members to achieve those goals.”

Typically, insurance plans will share data and analytics with the primary care providers. “The plan, which gets all of the data around prescribing patterns and billing patterns, is sharing that information back with the provider so that they are able to judge their performance relative to quality goals,” Goodman said.

In the real world For plans, providers, and patients alike, entering into these value-based arrangements sooner rather than later will benefit everyone. “We’ve reached a tipping point,” Lloyd said, “where it’s clear that value-based arrangements are here to stay and are to some extent the new normal.” n Ross Elliott

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