How UbiCare Challenges Its Employees to Do Better for Our Company, Our Clients and the Community

There are many great benefits to working in a small, high-performing business. One is that each of us has the opportunity to have a big impact. 

UbiCare's annual "UbiInnovation Challenge" is an opportunity for employees to bring fresh ideas to the company. Open to all staff here, the competition invites employees to present their ideas for improving the company's products, processes, sales and marketing.

UbiCare's mission—"Making Us All Better"—is to improve the healthcare experience through targeted, educational health content and software technology that connects hospitals and their patients before, during and after a hospital stay or a significant health event. We work to improve our client hospitals’ staff experiences as much as we help patients take better care of themselves and have better outcomes.

As we prepare to host some of Boston’s digital health innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs at our office April 27, during the Boston NewCo Festival, we’re reflecting on the mission that drives us and the other companies selected to participate in this event. We are here, quite simply, to change the world.

The long-awaited Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement initiative (CJR) became reality on April 1, 2016. Under CJR, hospitals must find ways to rein in costs, reduce complications and improve patient outcomes for hip and knee replacements—the most common joint-replacement procedures—in order to receive maximum reimbursements from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

By now it seems that every hospital has a patient portal. But is everyone—hospitals and patients alike—using them to their full potential? According to one survey, many patients still don’t know their providers offer portals. As providers, we also depend on getting patients to visit their portals to initiate patient-provider communication. When used well, portals help hospitals engage patients and meet Meaningful Use requirements. The challenge is in how to make good use of your patient portal.

HealthEast Care System was determined to use our portal to improve health outcomes through proactive, consistent health information that patients could access anywhere. Here’s how we did it.