By Jan Oldenburg, FHIMSS
Participatory Health Consulting, LLC
Richmond, VA
Principal Editor: Participatory Healthcare: A Person-Centered Approach to Healthcare Transformation and Engage! Transforming Healthcare Through Digital Patient Engagement
In a session entitled, “Responding to Shifting Patient Expectations in an Era of Digital Interaction and Convenience,” Jan Oldenburg discussed how changes in the ways consumers interact with other institutions impact their expectations for healthcare. Some of those changes include the expectation that care should always be available, that care should be convenient and hassle-free, that information is democratized, and that they should be able to collaborate in their own care and have their wishes respected. She explored the current statistics on patients’ priorities for digital services and how it compares to current implementations, both in standard medical practice and in psychiatry.
In the second part of her presentation, Ms. Oldenburg explored the many startups being funded in the mental health space. This included looking at those that offer technology to support therapy as well as those that are potential competitors. She challenged the audience to explore tools that can support the work of therapy between visits and in the conjunction with traditional practices.
In summary, she suggested that the audience:
- Figure out ways to add more convenience to current patient experiences.
- Carefully select technology that can support clinical goals and patient success.
- Don’t expect technology to replace face-to-face relationships, but to augment them.
- Engage with vendors, tools, and startups to make sure next generation technologies incorporate clinical expertise in their design.
