Hospitals and health systems are eager to help patients recover from an illness or injury sooner rather than later for numerous reasons, chief among these is cost.
Not only can slower recoveries lead to increased care spending, which may impact reimbursement, but one study1 of workers across 14 job categories found $84 billion in lost productivity due to illness. Collectively, illnesses and injuries cost employers $225.8 billion a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.2
The main challenge in helping patients return more promptly to their normal work and lifestyle activities often begins after discharge. Away from the consistent monitoring and support of a hospital or skilled nursing facility, it is difficult to help patients follow care plans and overcome recovery obstacles as they emerge.
That’s where telehealth can play a huge role. Web conferencing visits with a physician or other providers can help speed recovery while eliminating travel obstacles. Better yet, an integrated approach that incorporates communication and interaction on patients’ mobile devices can more effectively monitor recovery while maximizing patient engagement to ensure patients follow prescribed treatment plans.
Challenges of staying connected after discharge
The normal discharge process that involves handing patients paper educational materials and a schedule of their follow-up appointments while hoping for the best is not always effective. A common reason for lack of care-plan adherence is post-discharge plans can be complex for both the patient and their family caregiver. Often, the patient or caregiver may not realize they do not understand instructions until they get home. When they try to obtain answers through phone calls and voicemails it can be inefficient and frustrating. Meanwhile, educational materials and appointment schedules can be lost or forgotten as the distractions of daily home life begin to takeover.
The costs of unsuccessful transitions back home can be significant. Missed appointments can lead to lost revenue, wasted provider time and lack of productivity, and poorer outcomes. Sending clinicians to the patient’s home, although more convenient for the patient, can be highly expensive for the provider organization and take days to schedule.
Patients delaying their return-to-work due to slower recovery can have a ripple effect that leads back to the healthcare organization. For example, an employer’s frustration with absent, injured or ill employees is expressed to the company’s health insurance company, which then increases performance scrutiny on hospitals and physicians in its Group PPO/HMO networks.
Likewise, faster recoveries from illness or injury can be a significant competitive advantage for hospitals and health systems that want to secure lucrative commercial health plan contracts, especially when the employer is self-funding the health plan.
Mobile communication and video to educate and overcome obstacles
While patients may forget about paper educational materials, treatment plans and appointment schedules, they are unlikely to ignore their smartphone. Smartphone adoption has grown to 77 percent for Americans overall, even 42 percent among Americans age 65 or older.3 This trend is why mobile devices and web conferencing visits can be a major asset to help patients stay adherent in hopes of shortening their recovery times.
Here’s an example of how it could work: A knee surgery patient who was recently discharged from the hospital would have a web conferencing appointment with a provider either on home computer or mobile device to go over the recovery plan and questions, eliminating the need for travel. Care instructions and other materials would also be accessible from the patient’s mobile device or computer.
The following day, if the patient was concerned about how the surgery site was healing, another web conferencing visit could be arranged, keeping the patient engaged and confident in his or her recovery. Even though the patient is at home, contact and interactions with providers can be made more frequent and meaningful through mobile and video.
Personalizing and simplifying recovery
The previous example was about recovery from an injury or procedure, but a similar process would apply to an illness recovery as well. Depending on responses to an automated smartphone-based text survey, a web conferencing visit could be arranged with a nurse to deepen understanding of the new illness symptoms or medication reactions. If the patient were not well enough to respond to interactions on their own, a designated caregiver could support them through the virtual visit.
Regardless of injury or illness, both patient and caregiver could communicate with providers more efficiently because they could both be conveniently present for web conferencing visits or mobile-device based interactions. This consistent home-based contact can help simplify complex clinical protocols and empower them to be actively involved in overcoming care obstacles.
Deepening patient engagement in this way can lead to better outcomes for patients and help lower costs for providers, employers and patients. Most importantly, it means patients can more quickly return to the daily activities that make them feel fulfilled and happy.
About the author:
Tom Toperczer is director of product management for Brother. With more than 20 years of experience in the collaboration software industry, Toperczer supports OmniJoin for Healthcare, the company’s web conferencing service ideal for telehealth interactions and more.
1 Witters, D., & Liu, D. (2013, May 7). In U.S., Poor Health Tied to Big Losses for All Job Types. Retrieved from http://news.gallup.com/poll/162344/poor-health-tied-big-losses-job-types.aspx
2 CDC Foundation. (2015, Jan. 28). Worker Illness And Injury Costs U.S. Employers $225.8 Billion Annually. Retrieved from https://www.cdcfoundation.org/pr/2015/worker-illness-and-injury-costs-us-employers-225-billion-annually
3 Pew Research (2017, Jan. 12.) Record shares of Americans now own smartphones, have home broadband. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/12/evolution-of-technology/