Healthcare organizations can address 4 specific failures with affordable patient engagement technology

The Commonwealth Fund recently reported that healthcare in the U.S. ranks last among 11 high-income countries, based on five domains: access to care, care process, administrative efficiency, equity and health outcomes.

Among the many failures and challenges highlighted, four have great potential for improvement, using available, affordable technologies to educate and engage healthcare consumers to be full partners in their care.

In just 68 seconds, our new video demonstrates how digital healthcare technology improves health literacy and healthcare outcomes by guiding a patient's daily actions through text messaging, email and app.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) Association recently released a report showing a dramatic leap in costs for planned orthopedic surgeries.

During his January 2019 State of the City address, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a new initiative that guarantees affordable healthcare for every resident of the city. The new program will provide care for those who lack insurance because they can’t afford it, feel that they don’t need it, or have no access to it due to their immigration status.

One of the hopes for the program is that it will stem the tide of overwhelming overuse of the city’s hospital emergency rooms. Having insurance won’t accomplish this alone. People need the access to preventative care that insurance provides, as well as ongoing education to help them make good health decisions and take better care of themselves and their families.

Here, digital messaging can come to the rescue. A recent study that we conducted in conjunction with a U.S.-based four-hospital system showed just how powerful an impact digital education has on patient outcomes and cost metrics. Providing relevant, evidence-based information throughout the care episode resulted not only in a statistically significant decrease in length of stay and emergency room visits, it positively impacted readmissions, discharge destination and day-of-surgery cancellations.