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One Patient’s Perspective

Working for DocsInk

As marketing director for DocsInk, I’m excited to work in an atmosphere of innovation and collaboration, but my focus is usually on the product and business itself. However, I’m sometimes reminded that what we do goes beyond the product, impacting the lives of real people. COVID-19 has pushed our healthcare system to its limits, and because of this caregivers need integrated, efficient technology solutions more than ever. I recently spoke to a patient who expressed his frustration connecting with his doctor:

2020 has been a hard year for me, health wise. I’ve had nagging respiratory issues that have cost lost wages and sparked COVID fears. I’ve been tested three times, all negative, but had to miss several weeks of work in order to meet quarantine requirements. In the last few months, persistent symptoms have prompted frequent telehealth visits. These visits have often resulted in frustration due to the technology being used.

In my daily life, I’m constantly connected to coworkers, friends, and businesses through my phone and laptop. Social media and e-commerce are slick and seamless; why is my telehealth app so dated and clunky? This is a large organization with hundreds of doctors, they should have access to the latest tools! Every visit is plagued by technical glitches—sometimes resulting in abandoning video chat for phone calls—and the doctors are consulting other devices or paper notes for my records. I have electronic notes on my laptop; why is my doctor wasting time fumbling for them? While I understand caregivers are under tremendous strain this year, my health issues are putting real pressure on me and my family. It just seems to me that updating their systems would help them help me AND relieve some of the pressure they’re feeling.

What it means to me

Hearing stories like this reminds me that “improving patient outcomes” is not just an abstraction. Sure, streamlining the process of telehealth improves efficiency, but that efficiency has a real impact on real people. And, at this point in the game, not using the technology best suited to respond to the needs this pandemic has demanded has an even bigger impact on patients’ lives.

2020 has provided doctors and patients alike with ample challenges; DocsInk ensures that your telehealth solution doesn’t have to be one of them.

If you would like to learn more about DocsInk, please visit us at www.DocsInk.com.

Increase patient engagement. Reduce costs. Maximize Efficiency. Improve health outcomes.

Healthcare and its Consumers: 3 Reasons Patients Take Charge in 2021

Featured, Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)

Healthcare Consumerism.
It’s a term representing a time that has finally come.

Thanks in large part to the impacts of the pandemic, the world of patient care has been upended. While COVID-19 has caused big changes in all industries, healthcare is certainly near the top of the list.

As a result, patients are more empowered.

According to Patient Engagement HIT, almost 2/3 (64%) of patients are expected to change healthcare providers if their current provider fails to meet their expectations. That is a big number, and it will have a big impact on the business side of your practice. How so?

Firstly, physician shopping has become pervasive. As medical practices market more, patients become savvier themselves and learn that it is easy to find a new provider.

Secondly, there’s a trend toward ease of navigation. Users expect onboarding to be simple, and the tools to be adaptable. Patients that can’t easily connect with their provider are likely to look for a new one.

And finally, today’s tech-savvy patients are aware that the healthcare industry is capable of facilitating a better, more user-friendly experience. Subsequently, they expect more from practitioners.

What Patients Want

Distancing and unnecessary contact is not something unique to 2020 but will follow us into 2021. Patients have learned to depend more on technology and less on wheels for just about everything. They’ve become familiar with remote care and prefer telehealth whenever it is a reasonable option.

To address patient retention, here are three things healthcare consumers are looking for:

1. Control Over Their Time

For decades, patients have expressed frustration over the difficultly of obtaining a medical appointment. Once made, patients on average show up on time – due to numerous possibilities, the physician often doesn’t, and the waiting game begins.

Man in waiting room with a clock on wall with head in hands

Their demand? No more anxiety and frustration over waiting an hour or more in a doctor’s office just to be seen. Not anymore.

In fact, many are wishing away the waiting room entirely. The idea of sitting in a room full of sick people for an extended stretch of time is outdated in part thanks to virtual waiting rooms.

They make the process significantly more efficient and comfortable for patients. This particular feature of the DocsInk platform has been met with applause from both patient and practitioner. Automated check-ins can be customized for better doctor-patient process alignment resulting in better time management, and higher scores on patient satisfaction surveys.

Female doctor waving and talking with colleagues through a video call with a laptop in the consultation.

2. Virtual Expectations

Between January and June of 2020, telemedicine visits rose by 2000%.
You read that right. Not 200%, but 2000%. The doctor-patient experience has been revolutionized.

According to Harvard Business Review, telemedicine is highly effective for younger, digitally savvy patients. However, seniors and the frail often struggle to use the technology.

It is incumbent upon the healthcare provider to determine the level of success each patient can have with different types of remote patient monitoring and telehealth solutions.

While Google Meet and Zoom are second nature to many, some physicians’ groups found that a secure telehealth platform built for the healthcare industry, such as DocsInk’s, is better suited to those hesitant to use technology.

3. Better Communication, Improved Continuity of Care

Chronic disease management has taken a turn. While remote patient monitoring (RPM) has been in place for several years, the standardization of telehealth has pushed those with chronic conditions to expect more access to physicians when needed.

Utilization of RPM in situations such as this is only logical. Consider the enormous cost of high-acuity healthcare encounters for patient, payer and provider. Yet also consider the higher cost of not getting care. A recent survey found 10% of respondents were so worried about the impact of the pandemic that they would forego care altogether. This is where telehealth offers control over environment—not having to be in public—and subsequently improves health outcomes.

Yet, beyond online appointments, there’s a new expectation of access that comes out of texting and instant messaging. This is one more way that DocsInk’s platform shines, as it makes it simple for patient or provider to message in real-time. Sudden onset of sharp pain may once have sent patients to the ER. Now, however, they can start by engaging in real-time messaging with the practice and perhaps forego this costly experience, avoiding hospital readmittance fees and improving health outcomes.

The New Era of Healthcare

The public recognizes this is a new era of healthcare. COVID-19, while still rampant and frightening, has instituted a number of positive cultural changes. Patients are more willing to be accountable for their own health, and this often means spending less time in a physician’s office. Practices that embrace this new world are the practices that will succeed.

If you’re still searching for a better way to serve and retain your patients, let’s talk. DocsInk may be the solution you’re looking for.

To learn more about DocsInk’s solutions, email or call 888.577.7409.

RPM: Lowering Hospital Readmissions, Improving Outcomes

Featured, Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)

Hospital readmissions are a dreadful reality for facility and patients alike. Remote Patient Monitoring is a viable solution for both.

Adverse effects for hospitals include enormous costs. Costs estimated to be in the vicinity of $26 billion annually. Operations suffer and HCAHP scores fall.

The negative effect on patients is also noticed. The undue stress and frustration may make them feel as their health issues are unmanageable.

There is hope, however. Research has demonstrated that the use of Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) can positively impact both hospitals’ concerns and the patients’ worry.

Although the effect of readmissions on hospitals is widespread, the populations experiencing readmission most are chronic and acute care patients. The top two of these chronic conditions are congestive heart failure (CHF) and diabetes. For these chronic conditions, remote patient monitoring reduces readmissions and generates recurring revenue. It has also has proven to increase health outcomes in those patients with CHF and diabetes.

Impact on CHF

Congestive heart failure is the leading cause of death in the United States. According to the CDC, one person dies every 36 seconds in the U.S. from cardiovascular disease. Progress in fighting the disease, however, improves annually with better medications, use of wireless sensors, and advances in sleep apnea treatment. Yet still, readmittance in this population is staggering. One in every five patients is readmitted within the first 30 days of discharge with a median readmission time of 12 days from initial discharge.

Readmission is expensive. The national mean cost of a CHF admission per year is $34,000 with an average 30-day, 60-day and 90-day readmission rate of 22.3%, 33.3% and 40.2% respectively. According to the American Heart Association, the costs of CHF readmissions continue to rise, at a current average of $13,500.

What is being done to help lower readmissions for heart patients?

Improvements in the management of Medicare beneficiaries, prior to and after initial hospitalization for CHF. This alone has the potential to prevent hospital readmissions. Not only are there cost savings, but persons living with this chronic condition see big benefits as well.

Secondly, we’re seeing more proof that RPM could be the key. The National Library of Medicine includes a study that demonstrates how RPM directly reduces mortality, hospitalizations, and improves quality of life for CHF patients.

By remotely monitoring blood pressure, heart rate, weight and ECG, health plans such as Geisinger have effectively managed patients with heart failure. Since 2008, Geisinger Health Plan has used RPM to reduce the risk of all-cause readmission for their Medicare Advantage members by 77%.

Geisinger is not alone. Similar studies demonstrate that when RPM is used to treat cardiac patients, readmissions related to heart failure are reduced by 64%. In turn, that results in a net savings of $5,034 per patient, per year when compared to standard care without RPM.

Impact on Diabetics

Diabetes is another leading chronic condition. In fact, more than 34 million Americans had diabetes as recently as 2018, according to the CDC. It’s an expensive illness, for those with diabetes incur average medical expenses of $16,752, roughly 2.3 times higher than those incurred by patients without diabetes.

Diabetes impacts Americans of all backgrounds, all ages. Veterans seem to suffer from it in larger numbers with a quarter of all veterans having diabetes. This led the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to conduct a study on diabetic veterans, each of whom had two or more prior hospitalizations or ER visits.

The VHA found when RPM was used for one year re-hospitalizations were reduced by 50% and emergency room visits were down 11%. Additionally, the average number of bed days were three days shorter. And finally, 95% of these veterans reported a high patient satisfaction rate with the RPM program. Satisfaction drives usage, and therefore ongoing health benefits can be expected.

Of course, it’s not just the VA that is looking to determine the efficacy of RPM programs. Comparison studies have been conducted by many other independent researchers, and the results are encouraging. Those using RPM saw a 77.2% improvement in their health, versus only 70.4% improvement in stability for those not using RPM solutions.

Benefits: Clinical and Fiscal

Based on the results of the above-mentioned research, patients benefit greatly from use of remote patient monitoring solutions. And of course, we have noted the benefits that hospitals and physician groups see. But there is also great benefit to insurance payers.

The Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (CTAC) and America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) published an article which sites several studies. Each of these reported positive clinical and fiscal benefits of RPM programs.

Patients in RPM programs reported significantly fewer care requests:

51% fewer on-call urgent visits
47% fewer physician visits
41% fewer phone calls related to patient care
40% reduction in hospitalization of senior citizens
Medicare members are 76% less likely to experience hospital readmissions when using RPM
94 – 97% of patients noted their satisfaction with the RPM programs.

Implementing RPM with DocsInk

With DocsInk’s RPM solution, implementation is seamless. Account setup and EHR integration takes only minutes to complete and patient onboarding has never been easier. DocsInk’s solution allows clinicians to quickly monitor, assess and address their patient’s health in real time and instantly bill for services rendered. With 475+ integrated monitoring devicesand multi-configurationRPM programs, DocsInk was built to fit the needs and workflow of any size healthcare facility. DocsInk’s solution can help manage chronically ill patient populations and in turn, decrease hospital visits, increase provider’s monthly revenue and improve overall health outcomes.

To learn more about how your organization can benefit from DocsInk’s RPM Solution, email or call 888.577.7409.

Increase patient engagement. Reduce costs. Maximize efficiency. Improve health outcomes.

Click Here to learn more about DocsInk’s RPM solution

Behavioral Health: The Next Tele(mental) Health Frontier

Featured, Telehealth

Anxiety. Depression. Substance abuse. Treating these and other behavioral health issues has historically meant in-person meetings with practitioners, therapists and physicians. However, the isolation-induced times in which we now live have escalated both the underlying issues and restricted access to traditional forms of treatment.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly one in five U.S. adults live with mental illness. Now more than ever there is a series of barriers that keep the experts from reaching their patients – namely social distancing and quarantining. As these precautionary mandates continue, the need for behavioral health services has increased.

The Need for Telehealth Services

Even before the current pandemic, research conducted by the University of Michigan showed only 18% of those needing substance abuse disorder treatment were receiving care. Prior to COVID-19, less than 10 percent of the US population used telehealth for a clinical encounter and only 18% of physicians provided such services. The study concluded a telehealth solution was needed in order to reduce this treatment gap.

Now, everything has changed. COVID has sparked an unprecedented urgency that pushed telehealth to the top of providers’ priority lists. The underlying technology supports this fast adoption. Advances in usability and access to broadband has increased; the result, therefore, is an enormous uptick in usage.

Telehealth not only reduces the need for travel, but also facilitates more appointments. It also address the spike in behavioral health issues caused by the novel coronavirus. One example of this comes from a report distributed by the CDC, that states 40% of U.S. adults reported struggling with mental health or substance use.

Mental health conditions are worsening. To address this growing need, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has broadened access to Medicare telehealth services so that a wider range of services can be made available. In March, CMS explained the 1135 waiver, where Medicare can pay for office, hospital and other visits furnished via telehealth. This includes mental health.

The new focus on utilizing telehealth to reach those with behavioral health needs has spawned a new term: Telemental Health (TMH).

Bringing Telemental Health to Life

Nearly all who struggle with mental health can benefit from TMH especially veterans and citizens of rural communities.

Veterans Benefit

When it comes to Veterans, most of the research revolves around PTSD treatment focusing on the success of treatment delivered via video teleconferencing. According to Veterans Affairs (VA) PTSD and telehealth studies, the major benefit of TMH is the elimination of travel. Travel can be costly, transportation may be unavailable, or, more importantly, it may be disruptive to treatment.

An additional benefit, TMH can be a useful tool in unusual situations. For example, some correctional and forensic settings make it difficult to transport the patient to a clinician. And finally, telemental health allows for care when unexpected circumstances make clinic access less possible, such as the patient’s need to travel or providing service within a disaster zone.

The impact and effectiveness of Clinical Video Teleconferencing (CVT) initially raised questions, especially as it pertained to suicide. However, the VA has gathered research that proves CVT delivery is feasible and clinically effective for PTSD treatments. Therefore, the VA has expanded the populations served via telemental health.

Rural Households Benefit

Unlike other types of health care, behavioral health care includes unique challenges facing the provider and the patient. These challenges are made worse in rural areas as discussed in the University of Michigan article mentioned above, The Use of Telehealth Within Behavioral Health Settings.

Several challenges to the provision of behavioral health services exist. The first is the unequal distribution of access to behavioral health providers. These workforce shortages in certain geographic areas are driven by multiple issues, yet telehealth can help alleviate those effects. TMH provides a link between clients in their home communities and behavioral health providers in other locations.

Additionally, anonymity and privacy can be important to individuals seeking services associated with mental illness. In small rural communities, individuals may face a lack of privacy and might resist face-to-face treatment. By offering services via TMH, individuals can maintain a higher level of privacy.

Who is serving, and how?

Telemental health has opened opportunities for providers to reach patients that would otherwise not be receiving treatment for behavioral health problems. Hospitals and even pharmacists connect with patients and consulting practitioners wherever they are. Additionally, studies have found psychiatrists, specifically, are the most common behavioral health professional to use telehealth, followed by mental health counselors.

Whether that patient is a Veteran, living in a rural community, or at risk for COVID-19, mental health professionals have stepped up their use of TMH. Here are a few applications:

For assessments, providers offer online substance use questionnaires
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is being offered via videoconferencing
Medication management and monitoring is being done through text message reminders
Continuing care is offered through group chats, which is helping to prevent relapses
Webinars are offered to further educate both clients and providers
Interactive video is being used for collaborative consultation

What are the barriers?

First, internet connectivity issues. Patients may still face lack of reliable internet access. Especially internet-disabled rural communities. That, however, has been being addressed one county at a time. Since October of 2019, the USDA has invested $744 million to bring high-speed broadband connectivity to 34 states. Many states have their own initiatives, and many internet service providers are working closely with local governments to enable households, healthcare centers and businesses with the high speed required by TMH.

Second, implementation costs and lack of reimbursement options. DocsInk’s One-tap Telehealth solution addresses these barriers. Their Mobile Charge Capture feature allows for instant billing, drastically reducing reimbursement concerns. Hosting all solutions on a single platform reduces implementation costs making their solution an affordable fit for any size practice.

Behavioral Health Success = Telemental Health

Telehealth is important to the success of hospitals and individual practices. More importantly, it is becoming an invaluable tool for improving access to services and quality of care.

With easy integration, virtual waiting rooms and no apps for patients to download, DocsInk’s One-Tap Telehealth is the solution for improving behavioral health outcomes allowing for more timely access to providers servicing patients in need of psychiatric and mental health services.

To learn more about how your organization can benefit from Telemental Health through DocsInk’s One-Tap Telehealth Solution, email or call 888.577.7409.

Increase patient engagement. Reduce costs. Maximize efficiency. Improve health outcomes.

Wearables and Virtual Care: Engaging Patients, Improving Outcomes

Featured, Wearable Technology

When Congress passed its 2018 bill expanding Medicare coverage to include telehealth and remote patient monitoring (RPM), options for delivery of patient care expanded. The government and insurance approval set the stage: clinicians could now offer virtual care via RPM and telehealth. It was officially a viable, safe, and effective alternative to traditional services and wearable technology is at the forefront of this healthcare industry change.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic early in 2020 further spurred adoption of RPM and telehealth. It became the primary solution for delivering care outside typical brick and mortar offices. Telehealth became the answer to the question: how can we protect the health of our nation’s population?

With government, insurance, and patients on board, we are well on our way to widespread implementation of these technologies. A 2019 study conducted by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) found that 68% of physicians strongly intended to use RPM. Now is the time for the remaining 32% to fully understand the positive impact that remote access to real-time data can have, specifically as it pertains to overall wellness, behavior change, and the treatment of both acute and chronic illnesses.

Consumers Like Wearable Technologies – Apple Health. Google Fit. Samsung Health.

While wearables come from many brands and in many forms, most people rely on at least one of these platforms to help them interpret the data their digital coach offers. More than one in four Americans currently use at least one wearable device. According to IDC, wrist-worn wearables are projected to increase to 105.3 million units by 2023.

These growing numbers demonstrate that consumers increasingly have a keen interest in taking some level of personal responsibility for their health. Clinicians have found that patient engagement is a critical component in meeting clinical goals and improved health outcomes.

According to the World Health Organization, 60% of factors related to individual health and quality of life are correlated to lifestyle choices. When medical professionals take advantage of technologies already adopted by their patients, they encourage positive habits and provide the feedback necessary for best results.

The combination of wearable devices and doctor/patient engagement has numerous benefits, including:

Correctly taking prescriptions
Getting enough exercise
Reducing stress

If people, then, are interested in being more involved, how can physicians better leverage this opportunity? How can they encourage these benefits for patients who are high risk due to acute or chronic illness?

It’s become a simple answer: incorporate RPM to promote proactive medical care, accessing real-time data and intervening when necessary, based on changes/declines in patient’s vitals and other physiologic metrics.

Impacting Crucial Metrics

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is shown to impact numerous factors, from curtailing recurrent rehospitalizations to better patient/provider care coordination. The holy grail, of course, is improving patient outcomes and reducing costs of care, while balancing workflow efficiency. All this can happen with the application of affordable RPM and telehealth technology.

Outpatient services is easily expanded. This is good news for all, but especially for underserved populations and patients in rural areas.
Reducing hospitalizations and hospital stays is one of the biggest demonstrable effects. A University of Pittsburgh study from 2020 indicated a 76% reduction in readmissions when RPM is utilized.
Improved patient outcomes are seen in more than 49% of those using this technology to manage health, according to the University of Pittsburgh study.
Reduced costs of care are reported by many independent studies, which specifically show a net savings of over $5k per patient per year for cardiac patients.
Improved compliance is near the top of the list of benefits for both critically and chronically ill patients. Clinical goals are met and conditions improve.
Patients more engaged in their health tend to remain healthier. Patient knowledge can result in fewer invasive procedures, fewer missed appointments, and authentic discussions on care options – all of which lead to better clinical outcomes.

Make It Easy To Implement, Easier To Measure

As with all science, measurement is the only way to improve. But it’s more than having a watch that tells you things about your health. Patients benefit from clinicians who can connect with them about their daily wellness monitoring. They also benefit from the capability to pair with medical devices which leads to disease management and recovery. The key is to simplify the implementation for both physicians and patients.

A recent addition to the DocsInk platform for example, provides the ability for clinicians to synch with over 200 wearables. This kind of accessibility takes the pressure off care givers and office managers. It also aligns the devices patients have already invested in with the platform used in the office. Giving patients the flexibility to use the device of their choice makes them more likely to remain engaged in its use.

In addition, when clinicians need to write an order for specific RPM devices to manage disease process(es), DocsInk connects to countless wearable devices to provide real-time data, notifications and alerts to promote best outcomes.

Many physicians have historically been concerned about what to do with all this data. How do they begin to sort through all the information to get to insights about the direction of patients’ health? DocsInk research found the best approach is to customize the information being analyzed. Then, deliver only the specific information requested back to each clinician. That data then alerts the appropriate clinical team member to initiate patient touch points and interventions.

While devices can monitor everything from respiratory rate, oxygen levels, pulse, blood pressure, body temperature and more, we understand that every patient and each provider that cares for them are different. That’s where DocsInk shines.

Now Is The Right Time

When the pharmaceutical industry began its meteoric rise in the 1950s and 1960s, the populations began searching for the next pill that would make them feel better. Today’s patient relies on technology more than pills as they proactively participate in their own health.

This monumental shift in how consumers approach health management results in an entirely new class of healthcare consumers who expect to be able to solve care problems without an in-person appointment. Patients, now more than ever, look for the option of remote care as they choose their medical providers.

Now is the time to take advantage of new approaches. Advancements in this field had been on the sensor technology in consumer products, but now there are technologies that provide improved ROI for the medical industry, in addition to providing better patient care.

Now is the time to implement RPM. The groundwork is laid with more than 284 million internet users in the USA – and that climbs daily with pandemic-inspired rural broadband implementation. Factors like global physician shortages and the evolving healthcare policy landscape should inspire pursuit.

Increase patient engagement. Reduce costs. Maximize efficiency. Improve health outcomes.

Click Here to learn more about DocsInk’s RPM solution

One Patient’s Perspective

Working for DocsInk

What it means to me

Increase patient engagement. Reduce costs. Maximize Efficiency. Improve health outcomes.

Healthcare and its Consumers: 3 Reasons Patients Take Charge in 2021