TE: In our survey, 98 percent of respondents (both clinical and administrative) said improved communication with patients is required for effective population health management. Population health management requires an increasing number of clinicians to provide care for a single patient across multiple care settings. Care transitions will happen more frequently, and good communication between care team members is needed to make sure those transitions are happening as seamlessly as possible.

HCB News: What needs to be done to improve the communication?

TE: I think the most important first step is to understand the depth of this challenge. One of the most concerning results of our survey was how many people recognized the communication disconnect, but accepted it as the status quo. Because of the imperative to transition to population health management and value based care delivery models, we in the healthcare industry have a responsibility to get this right.

Once we accept that responsibility, we need to address the fundamental reasons clinicians aren’t communicating well. This means we need to provide them with tools and technologies that enhance and improve their workflow. And care team members need to work together to adopt best practices. As the reimbursement models change, new incentives are created to foster better communication. We just need to make it easy for clinicians to quickly connect with the right care team members—without hassle.

HCB News: Do you think this issue will be resolved in the next five years or will it take longer than that?

TE: Healthcare can be a slow-moving industry with many deeply embedded habits and technologies, but I’m optimistic that in five years we’ll be in a much better place. I see the shift to value-based care and population health management as a movement as the catalyst to drive this change. There is no question that the macro trends make it imperative that clinicians better collaborate to improve outcomes and increase efficiency.

It’s going to be especially important to make sure healthcare professionals across all care settings – hospitals, physician offices, patient homes, skilled nursing facilities, and so on – have the ability to connect quickly and easily. To meet this need, my company recently announced the new PerfectServe Synchrony platform to connect patient care team members in all different care settings. We’re really excited about this new development, and are working closely with MemorialCare Health System to implement this across their entire system later this year.

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