Time to Get Digital in Your Practice: Improving and Making Healthcare Easier for Patients, Practices, Providers and Payors

Can you imagine if you were shopping online and placing an order took eight hours? What if your order took 26 days to arrive? Sadly, this is the current state of many Americans’ struggle to schedule a doctor’s appointment. We, as physicians, can do better.

Americans are spending an average of eight hours a month managing their healthcare and are waiting 26 days to see a new doctor in many big cities. In 2020, nearly 44 percent of adults in the United States said they skipped or delayed care — not surprising, considering the many barriers to care. Even more distressing, nearly 100 million Americans don’t even have a primary care doctor. Perhaps it’s just too much hassle for the American health consumer to navigate the path to better health.

Today’s physicians can do better, and lots of new(ish) technology is available to doctor’s offices to improve patient experiences. The main barrier isn’t complexity or even cost – it’s just overcoming the inertia of change. Change is hard for everyone, but it is frequently said that it is particularly hard in healthcare. Yet the pace of treatment innovation in the U.S. is astounding, so why not the pace of using technology to improve accessibility and patient engagement? 

The integration of new digital tools in healthcare can benefit multiple stakeholders, including practices, providers, and payers. Technological upgrades can improve practice efficiency and productivity: Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have already streamlined administrative tasks, reduced paperwork, and minimized errors, leading to more efficient practice management. State-of-the-art physician ambient listening apps on doctors’ smartphones, with AI help, can now edit and accurately enter the physician’s spoken word into an EHR, saving time and reducing physician burnout.

Patient portals and mobile apps are improving patient access, satisfaction and engagement due to better communication between practice and patients. New practice digital tools leverage data analytics to gain insights into patient demographics, treatment outcomes, and operational efficiency. 

Digital tools allow practices to scale more easily, whether through telemedicine services or by expanding patient outreach with automated scheduling and follow-ups. Cost deduction can be achieved by automating routine tasks, which reduces the need for additional staff and lowers operational costs.

For providers, Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) tools provide evidence-based recommendations and can improve diagnostic accuracy and treatment plans. Time management, always a concern for providers, is being addressed by automated prescription renewals and test result notifications. 

Telemedicine virtual consultations let providers increase accessibility for patients and reduce the need for in-person visits, particularly for routine check-ups or follow-up care. All these advances of the new digital healthcare age are resulting in comprehensive patients records and an advanced level of continuity of care. 

Perhaps the most impactful aspect of new technology is the promise of a reduction in physician burnout. Streamlined administrative tasks and improving work-life balance through the flexible tools of telemedicine ambient listening are letting doctors spend more time with their patients and enjoying their chosen profession more. 

The digital tools aren’t just more efficient for practices and providers. Payors are seeing benefits as well in cost savings, improved risk management, enhanced fraud protection, streamlined claims processing, and better patient outcomes. 

The vision is for more Americans to have timely access to quality healthcare. But, in order to achieve that vision, doctors need to get on board the process as patients demand easier access. 

In the interest of patient convenience, physicians should take a few minutes to see what patient experience tools they offer and how they can be improved. Quick evaluations can usually be made just by checking out your practice’s website. 

• Can your patients self-schedule an office visit, pay a bill, or join a virtual visit without logging into an online portal? 
• Is there a digital waitlist where you offer an earlier appointment if there is a cancellation? 
• Is messaging a patient’s care team an option when they have a quick question, or must patients call and wait on hold? 
• Are patients able to read their lab results or complete the dreaded pre-visit paperwork from their phone?

Easier access to healthcare ultimately leads to better health outcomes, a goal we physicians all share.

Digital tools are producing a more efficient patient-centered system. Practices tuned in to the new digital world operate more smoothly, deliver higher-quality care, and allow payers to manage costs and risks more effectively.

As a family medicine physician who has adapted these digital tools into my organization, I suggest you examine ways to institute these technological advances in your practice. Your patients and your family will thank you.

Photo: elenabs, Getty Images

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