Digital Health Success Takes Center Stage at HIMSS21

This year’s Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference marked the first major health care conference since the onset of this pandemic and received mixed expectations. Many people were happy to see old colleagues, especially with safety protocols, including required vaccinations and masks, while others were equally at peace with staying home and virtually taking in the sessions.?

While final attendance figures were lower than prior years, this show proved to be small but mighty. Those in attendance had a purpose, were highly engaged and hungry to share information about improving our health care ecosystem.?

One of the more prominent themes at HIMSS21 involved ways digital health has enhanced care-centered objectives. The shift from implementing tools and tactics to pushing for more comprehensive and holistic digital strategies is paramount as health systems move forward. The sessions that stood out for us demonstrated how digital health is successfully shaping care delivery in a “new normal.”?

The industry has moved beyond “if” digital health to hospitals showing how it is working. UPMC’s Dr. Glenn Updike and Beth Quinn, MSN, RNC- MNN, shared how UPMC is engaging digital to enhance the patient experience for women’s health. This program is a powerful example of how digital health can strengthen ties between doctors and patients, creating a better overall experience -- reaching 93% of maternity patients and engagement with individual content items increasing by 60%.?

Another session illustrated how Providence’s Institute for Human Caring uses digital strategies to align end-of-life care to match patients’ values and preferences, including completing advance directives. This has been accomplished through patient education, automation, workflow considerations, and analytics showing positive engagement with the materials (65% of patients open the email, and 10x the number of advance directives on file).?

On the topic of behavioral health, Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network shows how digital tools can help expand service lines, including related to increased demand for behavioral health services, which often go underdiagnosed and undertreated. This has resulted in significant improvements to clinical outcomes.?

Sherene Schlegel, RN, BSN, for Providence, offers an example of how the health system quickly engaged remote monitoring tools and telehealth visits to care for people with or suspected of having COVID-19 while they quarantined at home. This avoided added strain on overburdened hospitals while minimizing exposure risk to the virus. Virtual visits exploded to more than 20 times the pre-COVID volume within days, and more than one million messages have been exchanged between patients and care teams.?

Giving voice to the patient perspective, Frank Cutitta, former HIMSS senior director of content analytics, delivered a compelling session around his battle with COVID-19. Being hospitalized for 100 lonely days, he relied on a variety of digital tools, and saw first-hand the dangers of information not being readily available or integrated with current systems. After leaving the hospital, Frank used remote patient monitoring technologies like a palm-sized EKG monitor, video telehealth visits and Apple Health's pedometer.??

Frank reminds us of who ultimately benefits or suffers from our advancements. Information from any source should be integrated, easily accessible and part of everyday clinical workflows. Digital tools should be rolled out as part of an overall strategy and should not be “one offs.”?

Health systems implemented an impressive amount of digital tools in the last year out of necessity. Now, it is time to look at them strategically and see how they can empower both providers and patients to strengthen connections for better managing their health and that of their family. The savvy health system will intuitively consider current workflows and habits. Digital health done right will create rich connections beyond episodic care.

The reality is, if we don't give patients the right care, at the right time and in the right way, they will go somewhere else or delay care altogether. By effectively scaling digital health programs that were in line with care delivery goals, clinicians at UPMC, Froedtert and the MCW health network, and Providence have the successes we are hearing about and tighter connections with their patients.?