Healthcare's True Frontier

"Space: the final frontier." Trekkies know this from the opening of the original Star Trek series.

We the Patients are clearly targeted as the value-based patient care frontier - the focus of all efforts and represented in the battle cry "it's all about the patient."

It's not about AI. It's not about HealthTech. It's not about Pharma nor biotech.

Each of these serve the patient; they are not an entity itself.

Galileo and We The Patients

It took about 70 years for the heliocentric theory proposed by Copernicus - the planets revolve around the sun - to be documented or validated by Galileo in the early 1600s.

Seven decades is a long time for progress.

Even worse, Galileo saw his findings were controversial and led to him being tried for heresy by the Roman Inquisition and placed under house arrest for the rest of his life.

Fear not, though, his house arrest started at the age of 69 and took place in a Tuscany villa where he was served and lived quite well up to his death.

A rather nice retirement.

With my own retirement still in the distance, over the last 40+ years I witnessed major leaps in health care whenever the patient is the 'center' of the effort.

• Working at HBO & Company (HBOC) in late 1980s showed me how improving patient order management (MedPro and MedStar) became the epicenter of what we know today as the electronic health record. It was an early phase of paperless.
• Rejoining McKesson/HBOC in early 2000s I witnessed Epic Systems inaugural commercial 'win' at Evanston Hospital when it began the replacement of a twenty-five year old mainframe system (MediPac) starting with patient scheduling features followed by developing an integrated platform out from that patient-center. I recall the Evanston Hospital CIO, Tom Smith, tell me how the doctors on the selection committee recognized the 'brilliance' of Epic's focus to keep the patient at the center of hospital workflows.
• On May 1, 2020, a final rule titled 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program (ONC Cures Act Final Rule) appeared in the Federal Register (85 FR 25642) and legislated the elimination of patient data blocking (EHI - electronic health information).

Over my four decades these are just three - out of thousands - of historical health industry examples like HIPAA, mobile technology, pharmaceuticals, and biotech of keeping our focus on the patient.

At the human level, a friend and colleague recently celebrated 16 years of service at a nephrology group that my company serves. It's not often I congratulate work anniversaries on LinkedIN but this was an exception. The provider group assigned her the title Chief Relationship Officer, Chief Transformation Officer, and HIPAA Security Officer. That's a title that screams patient focus. When discussing issues we often circle back to our mantra "it's all about the patient."

In about half the time it took for Galileo to document that the planets revolve around our sun, I have witnessed and enabled keeping the patient in the center with tools and workflows.

The Right Tool For the Right Job

What is the tool providing the biggest leaps in advancing patient care?

App technology. That's the answer.

App technology, or app-based technology, is the development, use, and deployment of mobile applications.

Earlier we said it's not AI. It's not HealthTech. It's not Pharma nor biotech.

Each are admittedly big and impactful but each also rely on app technology, or will at some time.

Apps are used by the patient and provider and other members of the care team, connecting them together to improve care. Apps help the patient be an active member of the care team.

Today we are experiencing app delivery expand from mobile technologies to computers.

Four Points About Health Apps

1. Recall the prior newsletter where Steve Jobs, in 1990, reflected on the Bicycle of the Mind and its impact on his vision. Jobs is the father of the modern smart phone.
2. Consider the CMS Blue Button 2.0 project with nearly 100 mobile health patient apps that build off access to Medicare claims information. Take a look at the apps available to all Medicare recipients. My company is preparing to release a patient app in Blue Button 2.0.
3. Read Brendon Keeler's LinkedIn post on the opportunity for a health system using Epic software to offer access to a sandbox (i.e. test area) for digital health apps. This resembles the Blue Button 2.0 model. Apps utilized at the health system level is an incredible opportunity to sculpt the delivery of patient care for the populations they serve.
4. The health app environment is encouraged and legislated by The Cures Act which eliminates (and penalizes) data blocking of patient information by Actors (a provider, health exchange, or health IT company) for use by any entity providing patient care covered by HIPAA.

How Anyone Can Get Started

No matter your perspective - patient, provider or health industry participant - it is [super] easy to get started with health apps.

Here's a patient example: during an internal team discussion about how The Cures Act enables our company services, a co-worker mentioned a family member was moving into a post acute facility that requested the patient's recent medical records. The family called the provider's office and was advised to contact a 3rd party service that would likely charge a fee for the service.

Wrong answer. Poor advice. Somebody call the ONC!

During the team meeting I did a web search on the patient's provider and noted they are a member of a health system using Epic Systems. Epic, like all ONC-certified EHRs (electronic health record), provides a portal for the patient to access their medical record.

The patient app to access Epic is called MyChart and available on both the App Store and Google Play. Give it a try. I use it.

Using a mobile health app the patient may even be able provide electronic access to a delegate or other provider.

Your Role in the Evolving Healthcare Landscape

Have you discovered a ? ? ? ? ? health app? Leave it in the comments.

Whether you’re personally invested (at some point we are each a patient), a caregiver, or professionally engaged (health care is 17.3% of the GDP), staying informed about emerging patient technologies and practices is crucial, and interesting.

Subscribe to stay updated on the latest in patient-related healthcare technology and engagement.

After all, it’s all about We The Patients, right?