| | March 20169UTLOOK Healthcare Tech question being asked so it translates to patient value, we will come to very different conclusions. The focus of value-based healthcare is now driving us to care models that rely on evidence-based guidelines where adherence is tied to financial models. As we incorporate the functionality to enable this care model into our clinical applications and track the analytics to measure compliance, we should all be challenged to consider how to ensure patients can be easily flagged so that physicians can make care plan adjustments as needed.As seasoned healthcare technologists, we can be challenging patients or caregivers. I recently learned this first-hand when my 17-month-old son was hospitalized with a respiratory condition. Following his pediatrician's recommendation to go home and monitor, the condition was not improving so we opted to drive to a local children's hospital for an assessment in the emergency department. Once there, we found that our son's breathing accelerated to a high of 72 breaths per minute (the average is in the 20s) and we had no clear answers. I requested to see a pediatric pulmonary specialist numerous times to no avail. Thirteen hours after being admitted, we eventually saw a hospitalist but still had no diagnosis and his care plan remained the same. Again, I requested to see a specialist despite significant push back. Approximately five hours later, a specialist walked into our room. He sat with us and conducted a full history and assessment. He concluded some adjustments to the care plan were necessary and entered the new orders on the spot. My son started to improve immediately. His breathing returned to a stable level over the next 12 hours and he was running around the room and playing. We thanked the specialist the next day for his intervention and for getting us on the track to recovery. The hospitalist visited us shortly after to process our discharge and acknowledged that this was an example of "where evidence-based care falls down." I share this story to encourage us all to consider patients who do not have the same deep understanding of our healthcare system. How do we ensure we have the systems in place to trigger the need for alternative care plans when appropriate progress is not being made? How do we use technology to provide the tools and information to empower our patients and caregivers to be advocates to guide their interactions to ensure optimal care is being received? Do our systems have the capability to allow our physicians to easily track reasons for altering care from the standard approach to ensure the payer has the necessary information to support reimbursement?We will all approach solutions to these problems differently based on the needs of our organization, clinical teams and the type of healthcare being delivered. Results will be maximized when we keep patient value at the center of all decisions we make. I recommend the following themes be incorporated into your technology development approach:· Leverage technology to drive better health and enhance patient value.·Consider the full continuum of care when designing technology solutions for a patient rather than focusing on needs around a specific condition or an acute or chronic situation.·Enable patients to be informed and strong advocates in their care.Technology will be the way in which we take clinical capabilities to new levels of excellence in healthcare with the patient at the middle of all approaches. HT Technology will be the way in which we take clinical capabilities to new levels of excellence in healthcare with the patient at the middle of all approachesKristin H. Darby
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