When does virtual care become simply care again? The art of seamlessly integrating a digital front door in the care continuum

I find there is something quite engaging about the term “digital front door.” Perhaps the appeal lies in the hint of a virtual welcome mat that brings an open, warm and welcoming health care experience. And although “digital front door” might be one of the latest buzz words in the industry, to my mind it truly shines a light on reimagining the patient health care journey as a digital-first experience.

Easy entry and personalization via a digital front door 

A digital front door is not one, but many touchpoints that underpin a consumer’s health care journey whether the person is at home, in the hospital or anywhere in-between. Technology and automation change how health care consumers interact with and experience health and care. By creating an engaging experience that builds trust and confidence with an organization, seamless digital entry points can open the door to highly personalized information and coordinated guidance at every major step of consumers’ health care journey.

The concept of a digital front door is a familiar one from other industries. Using a smartphone, a hotel guest can check in, order room service and view hotel amenities through a virtual concierge. In the banking industry, the COVID-19-driven shift toward a cashless society has accelerated the transition to a predominantly digital model with mobile-first interfaces between the customer and financial institution.

The COVID-19 pandemic also saw a significant shift to virtual health services, and it is not surprising that consumer interest in virtual care is strong. Recent EY research finds that consumers are open to a different type of patient journey, one based upon virtual and tech-supported care. In the next decade, both US consumers (72%) and physicians (84%) expect patient care to be a mix of in-person and virtual care, and around two-thirds (61% of consumers and 66% of physicians) consider that virtual hospitals will deliver basic medical care through a combination of human interaction, digital consultations and remote monitoring.[1] This shift in practice patterns to hospital-at-home, remote monitoring, person-collected data, genomic profiling and so on means that the digital entry points and digital navigation aids need to be seamless, intelligent and highly interconnected.

For health care consumers, a digital front door acts as a cohesive and seamless one-touch entry point rather than multiple apps to identify symptoms, find a service or schedule an appointment. At present, digital overload is a real problem. Too many apps, wearables, devices and portals bring multiple digital touchpoints that can create even more noise in an already complex patient journey. As recently noted by the Wall Street Journal, record venture capital investment is pouring into digital health startups, meaning the sector is becoming increasingly crowded, competitive and not necessarily delivering upon the promise of many apps of more effective and cheaper care.

As dual streams of offline and online services come into play, patient journeys can become even more complex. Orienting around the consumer calls for decoupling care from location and making it feel seamless and unified for all.

This is where the digital front door concept comes into play. This is the point at which a health system initially engages with individuals, assesses their needs and helps them to understand their care choices. Reaching individuals early in the process brings opportunities to build an understanding of the individual’s needs, preferences, longitudinal health history and records, which can be configured into highly customized experiences. Choice and navigation technologies guide the consumers along clear pathways and coordinated resources to help them to make the right decisions regarding their care experience.

A digital front door can take many forms, ranging from virtual services, including e-triage and remote consultations, through intelligent automated technologies, such as chatbots and symptom checkers, that provide information and quickly address solvable concerns that don’t warrant an office visit. These interfaces can automate many routine tasks and enhance the work of health professionals, freeing them to focus on more complex tasks and interpersonal relationships. For high-risk patients with long-term chronic health conditions, transparent and simple navigation is critical to improved communication and coordination between health and social care providers in multiple settings.

Several types of patient engagement platforms are emerging in response to key areas of demand such as convenience care, specific condition management, virtual telehealth, integrated virtual and physical care, and retail health. One-touch digital entry points between a consumer and a health system are a natural fit with platforms orchestrating a network around the person. Digital front doors present a gateway to connect and stay with the patient throughout their journey. They also enable a more flexible clinical model – one that shifts care to the right type of provider at the right time, as organizations use artificial intelligence  to adjust clinical staffing models based upon need and demand surges.

Unlocking the door

A seamless digital experience can make the difference in consumer loyalty and retention, and the future lies in building digital services that add value. The task ahead is to figure out how to shift from the one-size-fits-all health system of today, to where care is decoupled from location and making it feel seamless and unified for the patients. My colleagues, Blair Bellamy and Lauren Palazzolo’s recent publication, “Attracting and retaining patients in today’s digital world” covers how easing patient access to services is a critical factor in a successful health system strategy. They emphasize the importance of a strategy-led approach to focus upon patient and clinician experiences and to find ways of using technology for better front-, middle- and back-office processes and procedures. This means building next-generation operating models applying digital capabilities to clinical, business and operational processes and the design and implementation of digital front doors to support access.

A systematic approach to reimagining the patient journey as a digital-first experience is key. New care models and changes in clinicians’ working practices differentiate the delivery of care at home and other locations outside of the hospital or formal health system. The art of integrating digital front doors into the care continuum is created by the convergence of three things. First, getting the digital architecture right. Second, securing clinician and patient trust and confidence, and third, finding the right technology to simplify routine tasks, improve access and create frictionless experiences across all the digital channels of an individual’s health care journey.

[1] EY. US NextWave Health Survey, 2020.