Technology has become increasingly common in the healthcare arena. The story isn’t any different in the chronic care management space, as companies like Livongo and Omada Health leverage tech to assist patients.
But a new survey found humans are just as important as trendy IT tools.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
Signallamp Health, a tech-enabled care management provider, commissioned Sage Growth Partners to conduct the survey in early 2019. It included responses from 106 individuals, including CEOs, CMOs, CNOs, practice managers and others. More than 70 percent of respondents were members of the C-suite.
When asked about the best mix of people and technology to drive success in chronic care management, 71 percent of respondents said an even mix of people and technology is ideal. Nineteen percent said more staffing than technology is the right mix, while eight percent said more technology than staffing is the best combination.
On the whole, respondents see chronic care management as crucial. Most participants said they either strongly agree (51 percent) or agree (36 percent) that managing chronic care is a priority at their organization. Ten percent somewhat agreed.
But they have mixed feelings about their ability to tackle such care. Among all respondents, 53 percent said their organization can manage chronic care very well or extremely well. Forty-two percent said their organization can manage it moderately well, while 11 percent said their organization can handle it slightly well or not well at all.
One of the main challenges to ensuring successful chronic care management involves people. Sixty percent of respondents from physician groups and 63 percent of those from hospitals cited insufficient human resources as a key barrier.
Inadequate reimbursement is another difficulty and was cited as such by 56 percent of physician group respondents and 47 percent of hospital respondents. Capital constraints and limited technology also made the list of barriers.
“Chronic care management models that help to address the people, financial and technology barriers that exist today and that help clinicians reach patients in their homes and communities will enable providers and patients to reap the benefits,” concludes a report on the survey.
Photo: CherriesJD, Getty Images
