Tag Archives: patient access

The Front Door Test

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A virtual care experience that shows both the progress – and the gaps – in digital access

We talk a lot in healthcare about access. The shortage of primary care physicians continues to grow, while patients increasingly expect convenient, timely, and digital-first access to care. As a health IT leader, I know that technology can help close this gap. Recently, I found myself experiencing this challenge not as a CIO, but as a patient.

And like many patients, I started where people often do today: with an online search.

After about five days of persistent shoulder pain radiating down my right arm, I decided it was time to seek medical advice. An AI-driven search experience asked structured questions like a clinical intake. The information was thorough and well organized, but also a bit overwhelming. The recommendation was logical: given that I had rotator cuff surgery many years ago, I should contact my PCP or an orthopedic specialist.

That’s when I ran into a reality many patients are facing today. After having the same PCP for 25 years (with a brief interruption when I relocated for several years), my physician recently left the practice. That left me classified as a new patient, on a waiting list. No immediate access. No established relationship to lean on. Just the same access challenges we read about every day.

So, I decided to try my health system’s relatively new Virtual Care program. Continue reading →

On the other side of the digital front door – part 3

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Two different procedures. Two different specialties. Two different patient communication approaches. Yet both practices use the same EHR and patient portal.

Prep for surgery instructions. Paper. Branded folder to put the paper in. More paper on next visit. A call from practice confirming specific surgery time and then get transferred to recorded message with specific pre-surgery instructions. Day of surgery sent home with post-op instructions – more paper.

Prep for procedure instructions. Available on the patient portal under letters. Texts and emails sent with specific prep information. Timed texts and emails for each major step along a defined prep timeline. Post procedure summary and instructions given to me on paper and available on the portal.

Practice variation is real. At times, it’s required and makes sense given different specialties. But not always.

So how were these two different experiences from a patient communication perspective? For me, there is a comfort having paper – can easily refer to it when needed. That is, if you know where you put it – hence the branded folder they give you. In the other situation, there was a very prescribed set of timed pre-procedure steps so the texts/emails at specified times telling me what to do was helpful.

What wasn’t such a good patient experience? Continue reading →

Knocking on the digital front door

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Health systems are learning many lessons during this pandemic that they will need to carry forward into the recovery and “new normal” phases. One of them may be the need for an integrated digital health strategy, and more specifically a patient focused “digital front door”. The almost overnight shift from in-person ambulatory visits to virtual visits during this pandemic highlighted the need for a more integrated approach for many health systems.

An integrated strategy for a patient centered digital front door has many components including the core website, the patient portal linked to the electronic health record, improved access and scheduling capabilities, call centers, and care delivery through virtual visits. The goal is to meet patients where they are and guide them along the right care pathway with efficient, consistent, and easy processes in the background.

However, these multiple components and functions are often led and directed in an uncoordinated manner by different senior leaders within the organization. The core website is typically owned and directed by Marketing and Communications with technical support from IT. The patient portal is often managed by the ambulatory team in IT partnering with the Chief Medical Information Officer, Ambulatory Services, and Marketing. Improved patient access and scheduling initiatives are often directed by Ambulatory Services or in an academic medical center by the Physician Practice Group leadership. The call center may be managed by Marketing or Ambulatory Services leadership. And telehealth may be provided by a specialized team either connected to or part of IT but be directed by physician leadership.

A successful patient centered digital health strategy needs to involve all these components in a coordinated, comprehensive manner. In some respects, who leads this strategic initiative does not matter. What does matter is that there is buy-in and collaboration from all leaders involved with a common overarching goal to meet patients where they are at and provide an easy, consistent experience to access services. Continue reading →