In telecommunications, “the last mile” is the bottleneck in communication networks; its bandwidth limits the volume of data that can be delivered to the final destination – usually a home or business. The final mile links are the most numerous and most complex part of the system, and therefore, are the most difficult to upgrade to new technology.
In healthcare, there is an increasing volume of data, high consumer expectations, complex regulatory requirements, outdated technology, and limited provider bandwidth which lead to our own “last mile problem.”
Healthcare needs to adopt new models and technology that offer greater bandwidth for care teams to ensure patients get the right care at the right time and to achieve the quadruple aim.
Limited provider bandwidth.
Providers are overwhelmed managing patients in their complex networks. A typical primary care physician must coordinate with 229 other physicians across 117 practices. We see the results: 42% of malpractice claims involve underlying communications problems.
Complicating this state even further, current healthcare reform mandates that providers purchase an EMR solution that requires additional time and staff to enter information electronically into the system of record. The prohibitively low bandwidth of providers and the EHR trap limits the volume of data that can be delivered to other providers, patients, and their caregivers. All of this results in communication issues that have the potential to result in very negative outcomes.
In any other industry outside of healthcare, professionals and their teams would not even dare to attempt to manage multifaceted projects (complex projects like complex patients) without the support of information technology like threaded communication tools and project management software. Yet even in the 21st Century, most physicians do not have the project management and communication tools to handle a single patient – much less a panel of 2,500 patients. We must apply best practices from other industries in healthcare – in both process and technology.
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.
Care teams must have access to a team-based care technology platform supported by “care traffic controller” resources to give them the bandwidth needed to provide highly reliable care in the evolving healthcare environment.
Increasing volume of data.
90% of data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone. In healthcare, EMC and IDC predict an overall increase in health data of 48 percent annually. Providers do not have the bandwidth to sort through all of this data; in conversations with physicians I hear them over and over again say “just tell me what to do”.
Data must be timely, actionable, and presented clearly and concisely to all care team stakeholders.
High consumer expectations.
Patient’s and caregivers now expect rapid and personalized communication, to be an active participant in their care, and to be able to manage and access this information and their care team anytime and anywhere. Patients are now consumers, and they have high demands. Providers need to include patients and caregivers as part of the care team and engage with them through communication channels they use in their daily lives. In the long run, everyone will be operating more efficiently and experience better outcomes.
Providers need to provide a way for patients to access and participate in their care plan and communicate with their team asynchronously on a mobile device.
The healthcare Last Mile is getting longer. We must help our care teams.
The communications and collaboration requirements of patient care is turning all of healthcare into one big last mile. The last mile problem of healthcare is the growing inability of teams to communicate efficiently in the face of an expanding set of data.
At the same time, the requirement for rapid, high-volume provider-to-provider and provider-to-patient communications is increasing.
As this demand escalates, all stakeholders in healthcare need to apply new technologies and approaches to meet the expectations of patients, workflow requirements of providers, and the mandates of healthcare reform.
Existing systems and technologies have proven inadequate. However, a team-based care platform offering project management-like capabilities can address the growing gap between the volumes of patient centered data and the available bandwidth of healthcare stakeholders.
Image credit to Dennis Skley.
