Aaron Sklar
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Thoughtful design is the backbone of easy-to-use digital health technologies that support the physician-patient relationship and create a competitive advantage for providers that use them. That’s why Aaron Sklar’s job is so important. He’s the managing director of experience strategy and design at Healthagen, which develops population health tools including the popular iTriage app used by Aetna.
Sklar will be among the innovative payers, providers, policymakers and health IT professionals coming together at MedCity ENGAGE Sept. 30-Oct. 1 in Bethesda, Maryland to talk more about design and other hot topics in patient engagement. Learn more about how ENGAGE will highlight current attempts to innovate in healthcare delivery and reimbursement, or register here.
In the meantime, Sklar shared some of this thoughts on the role of user experience in patient engagement.
What is most broken in the design of healthcare?
Many of us have experienced unfortunate breakdowns in customer experience in engaging with our healthcare providers. As technology has been introduced into the healthcare setting, we have relished the added conveniences, but our expectations for ease of use are frequently disappointed. As a society, we have come to expect seamless (and even pleasant) interactions with technology in other industries and now we are beginning to demand them in healthcare. Designers can play a major role in building relationships between patients and providers and creating the ultimate user experience that we are all striving for.
For patients, the logistics of healthcare are often the hardest part. How is data analysis changing how healthcare is delivered?
The rise of data analytics is a big part of transforming the industry. As providers take on being accountable for the health of their patients they naturally become increasingly proactive in reaching out and making sure patients are getting the care they need. Population health IT and data analysis are the tools that allow providers to move from passively hoping that a patient is appropriately engaged to actively making the connections happen.
Who inspires you?
I have been inspired by many of the care managers I have met across the country. They are literally on the front lines of population health. They are the ones actively making use of the new Health IT infrastructure and directly reaching out to patients to make sure no one falls into the cracks. The vast majority of them are highly experienced healthcare providers who have a great passion for helping people. They get a thrill out of being the ones to make a difference in a patient’s life every day.
What’s the right combination of high-tech and high-touch in healthcare?
Technology does a great job at automating the basics and saving people time. For many patients who don’t need high touch interactions, they will be completely satisfied by the added conveniences like online scheduling and emailing their doctor. For the patients that do need that personal touch, technology will never be a replacement for high touch engagement. Our IT portfolio is just one tool in our tool belt that needs to be part of a larger overall strategy for engagement.
