The UbiBlog | Patient Engagement and Value-Based Care Analysis

Debra Zalvan

Debra Zalvan is UbiCare's Executive VP of Marketing. She focuses on expanding our business scope, bringing UbiCare to new markets and honing our messaging. She provides project governance for UbiCare’s new projects, as well as our work with the Department of Defense.

Re-thinking the Challenge of Maternal & Infant Mortality

Posted by Debra Zalvan on Nov 12, 2019 7:30:00 AM

Maternal and infant mortality rates in the U.S. are too high for a country that claims to have the best healthcare in the world. Recent data shows that even as the numbers slowly improve, the pace of improvement continues to lag behind that of comparable countries. And in at least 10 states, where this mortality is significantly higher than the national average, this is a crisis. Most troubling for all of us is that some of these deaths are preventable. Is your hospital or practice grappling with this issue? Are you frustrated with the results of your efforts to address the problem?

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Topics: UbiCare, SmarteXp, early childhood, patient education, pregnancy, infant mortality, maternal mortality, MIMI

Healthcare Internet Conference (#HCIC19) Presenters Discuss Patient Engagement: Improved Outcomes, Reduced Costs and Personal Connections

Posted by Debra Zalvan on Oct 23, 2019 7:30:00 AM

On Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019, I have the pleasure of joining Melanie Iannace, Musculoskeletal Service Coordinator at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, to deliver a presentation at #HCIC19, the 23^rd Annual Healthcare Internet Conference. To prepare, we had an interesting discussion about our motivations for this presentation, the messages we’re most passionate about and the 1 or 2 takeaways we really want to communicate.

The conversation was so interesting, I wanted to share some of our thoughts directly in this blog post.

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Topics: Patient Experience, patient activation, UbiCare, SmarteXp, patient education, #HCIC19, reduce costs, personal connections

Choosing the Right Patient Engagement Platform

Posted by Debra Zalvan on Oct 10, 2019 7:45:00 AM

Hospitals and healthcare professionals are increasingly realizing that digital patient engagement and patient activation can influence patient behavior and improve outcomes. Different platforms have been introduced to the market, each bringing a different menu of features and capabilities. As you consider your objectives for patient engagement, and your options for platforms that support those objectives, there are a couple of critical considerations to keep in mind.

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Topics: Population Health, Patient Experience, patient activation, UbiCare, SmarteXp, early childhood, sports medicine, COPD, concussion, heart failure, stroke, bariatric, obesity, patient education, pregnancy, joint replacement, spine surgery, autism

It's Impacting Your 5-star Rating — Are You Tracking This Metric?

Posted by Debra Zalvan on Sep 26, 2019 7:30:00 AM

In a recent post, we suggested that you Forget the CMS Star Ratings Debate and Focus on Quality Care. But that's not to suggest you should forget about the star ratings themselves. Today's consumers seek out — and attach great importance to comparative ratings that are reported by their peers (think Yelp®, TripAdvisor®, or even Amazon®). A 2018 report from Deloitte, Inside the patient journey: Three key touch points for consumer engagement strategies, reported that more consumers are using quality ratings than in previous years. We must assume the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) star ratings will be an increasingly important resource for healthcare consumers in the future.

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Topics: Patient Experience, patient activation, CMS, star ratings, patient satisfaction, NPS, deloitte, net promoter score, Betsy Weaver, UbiCare, SmarteXp